Rodriguez picks up where he left off with dominant return

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles were eager to welcome back Grayson Rodriguez, who returned to an already strong rotation in style on Saturday night at Camden Yards.

In his first start after a 19-day stint on the injured list due to right shoulder inflammation, Rodriguez tossed six scoreless innings of one-hit ball in Baltimore’s 4-3 loss to Seattle. The 24-year-old right-hander didn’t allow a hit until the sixth, when Julio Rodríguez legged out a one-out infield single on a dribbler to the right side of the infield.

Rodriguez, who did not go on a Minor League rehab assignment before getting reinstated, recorded seven strikeouts and navigated around three walks and a hit batter in an 82-pitch outing.

“Way more than I anticipated,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “The guy missed a couple weeks, and we were going to keep him right around that 80-pitch mark.”

Despite that pitch restriction, Rodriguez turned in a stellar showing, picking up where he left off prior to his IL stint by extending his scoreless streak to 12 innings. He tossed 5 2/3 sterling frames vs. the Yankees on April 29, two days before the Orioles placed him on the injured list.

After sitting through a rain delay of 2 hours and 58 minutes, Rodriguez mowed down the first five Seattle batters and 15 of the first 18 he faced.

“That was big for me,” Rodriguez said. “I wish I could have been in the strike zone a little bit more, got a little wild with the heater.”

Hyde also thought Rodriguez was “a little erratic” early. Of his 82 pitches, 50 were strikes. But Rodriguez made big pitches when he needed to -- none larger than his final offering of the start.

The Mariners had runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth, and the O’s had a pair of pitchers (left-hander Danny Coulombe and right-hander Albert Suárez) warming in the bullpen. It was clear that Mitch Garver (who stepped to the plate in that situation) would be the final batter Rodriguez faced before his night was over.

Garver worked the count full after taking a slider in the dirt low and away. But Rodriguez came back with another slider near the bottom of the strike zone and induced his 13th whiff, getting Garver to go down swinging.

Rodriguez was visibly fired up, turning around and emphatically pumping his right fist while letting out a roar.

“Obviously, those guys can swing it,” Rodriguez said. “Ran into trouble there. Wish I wouldn’t have, but was glad I was able to pitch out of it. Like I said, those guys can hit. I think that was a big confidence boost for me.”

It was another electric home performance for Rodriguez, who has a 1.14 ERA in four starts at Camden Yards this season. He has a 0.83 ERA over his past 10 home outings.

Following Rodriguez’s gem, Baltimore’s bullpen couldn’t preserve a 2-0 lead. Coulombe allowed two runs in the seventh, as Seattle tied the game on a Ty France RBI double. Then, righty Yennier Cano gave up two more in the eighth, a Mariners rally that included a go-ahead RBI double by Cal Raleigh.

The struggles were uncharacteristic for Coulombe (who entered with a 2.16 ERA in 20 appearances, none of which featured more than one run allowed) and Cano (who entered with a 2.14 ERA in 22 outings).

“We just made a couple bad pitches there in big spots,” Hyde said. “They’ve been excellent this year and couldn’t ask for anything more out of those guys. It was just one of those nights where we couldn’t quite close it down.”

Although the Orioles were disappointed with the final result, they couldn’t be happier to get Rodriguez back on their pitching staff. Over 15 games from April 29-May 17, Baltimore recorded an MLB-best 2.12 ERA, despite not having the 2018 first-round Draft pick for much of that span.

With Rodriguez again in the fold, the O’s plan to soon shift to a six-man rotation that will also feature ace Corbin Burnes, Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer, John Means and Cole Irvin. It’s a group that has the potential to power the club to success throughout the summer.

“Everybody’s throwing the ball well. We’re going to try to keep that going,” Rodriguez said. “Any time I can get back and contribute to that, I look forward to that. As we go down the road, it’s going to be a lot of fun throwing the ball for this starting rotation.”