Gibson thrives vs. former club, keeps Phils off-balance

PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Gibson spent more than a half-hour at Citizens Bank Park on Monday afternoon catching up with his former teammates in the outfield grass during batting practice.

Many of those same guys were cheering and smiling from the top step of the home dugout when Gibson was presented with his 2022 National League championship ring a few hours later.

But come Tuesday night, they were not nearly as happy to see him.

Gibson turned in one of his strongest starts as an Oriole, though his former club got the last laugh in Baltimore's 4-3 walk-off loss. With closer Félix Bautista unavailable for a second straight night after a week of heavy usage, fellow All-Star reliever Yennier Cano allowed a pair of runs in the ninth as the O's watched a one-run lead slip away -- and their AL East lead over the Rays shrink to 1 1/2 games.

"If we continue to play one-run games, we're going to lose some," said manager Brandon Hyde, whose club fell to 19-10 in one-run contests this season. "You just can't be perfect every night out of the bullpen."

Gibson allowed just two runs off four hits and no walks over six innings while striking out five, though he ultimately settled for a no-decision after allowing a game-tying homer to Bryce Harper in the bottom of the sixth.

Harper's homer was one of the few mistakes by Gibson, who retired 12 of the final 13 batters he faced. The only other three hits he allowed came on consecutive batters -- the Phillies' Nos. 7-9 hitters -- in the third inning.

"Gibby was really, really good. Just that one bad pitch to Harper,” Hyde said. “He kept them completely off-balance.”

That was no easy task on a night when the Phillies' lineup featured seven of Gibson's former teammates. Still, the veteran righty found a way to keep hitters guessing, with Philadelphia's top six hitters combining to go 1-for-16 with four strikeouts against Gibson.

All but one of those players -- shortstop Trea Turner -- shared a clubhouse with Gibson last season.

Perhaps most impressive is the fact that Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto -- a player who has caught more innings from Gibson than any active catcher -- struck out in each of his two plate appearances against his former batterymate.

"I'm pretty open with my preparation and what I do, so I have to try to figure out how much J.T. told everybody about what I'm going to do," Gibson said before his outing. "So I guess if I can just avoid throwing the pitches they think are coming, that'll be a good thing."

Outside of the pitch to Harper, Gibson did exactly that -- and his showdowns with Realmuto epitomized his unusual outing.

In the fourth, Realmuto fouled off a 3-2 sinker on the outside corner, only to have Gibson come back with the same pitch on the inside corner to get him swinging. Two innings earlier, Gibson got Realmuto to chase a 1-2 sweeper -- a pitch Gibson threw just 3.3% of the time last season -- well off the plate. But that came only after an 0-2 sinker sailed high and wide of the plate.

“Any time I face a previous catcher, I’m outthinking myself and trying to outthink him,” Gibson said. “That first at-bat, I threw an 0-2 [sinker] up and away -- I don’t know when the last time was that I threw a two-strike fastball up and away to righties. So I was just trying to throw the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink at him.”

Gibson's homecoming of sorts came amid an up-and-down stretch, in which he had posted a 7.03 ERA over his past six starts. He had outings like his 11-strikeout gem against the Twins on July 9, but others like his June 23 meltdown against the Mariners when he was unable to record an out in the fourth inning.

And while Gibson’s outing didn’t result in a victory this time around, it was certainly the type the Orioles will be looking for out of their veteran starter down the stretch.

Hyde is also hoping that his club took note of Monday’s pregame ring ceremony -- something he’s hoping his young core experiences in the near future.

“That was so cool, honestly, seeing him get the ring yesterday and watching their dugout applaud and the fans recognize him,” Hyde said. “That was a cool moment. I'm glad our guys got to see that. That’s what we're playing for.”