Hyde pulls reins on Harvey after solid 6

BALTIMORE -- After recording two quick outs, Orioles starter Matt Harvey looked like he had his sharpest stuff in Friday’s series opener against the Rays at Camden Yards. Then, a quick three-run hiccup -- a walk and four consecutive singles -- extended the inning, leaving fans to wonder what type of outing this would be.

The righty quieted the naysayers, retiring the next 16 straight batters in Baltimore’s 6-3 loss. Harvey did not allow a hit for five consecutive frames. However, just as he seemed to be settling in, he did not return for the seventh inning.

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At the time, it was unclear why manager Brandon Hyde called to the bullpen when Harvey had tossed just 87 pitches.

When asked what contributed to the decision, Hyde pointed to Harvey’s innings total. Harvey has tossed 119 1/3 innings this season, 48 more than his last two seasons combined -- 59 2/3 in 2019 and only 11 2/3 in ‘20.

“This guy's throwing more innings this year than the last three or four years,” said Hyde. “He has posted for us almost every fifth day. What he did tonight was he did a great job after the first inning and the five scoreless following. I think the fatigue was setting in there after six.”

Harvey is still getting used to a longer season. The 32-year-old veteran is very in tune with his arm, and he knew that going out in the seventh would have been a selfish decision of wanting to go deeper rather than choosing to do what was best for the team.

“After sitting down [between innings], I felt like I was a little gassed at that point,” said Harvey. “I didn't want to, if we'd scored a run, go back out there and give up another run or put runners on and get into a tough situation and not have anybody warmed up. … I didn't want to put us in a bad situation. Fortunately, we had some time to get somebody warmed up.”

It made sense that Harvey was gassed. The right-hander averages 80 pitches per start, but he hasn’t been this locked in all season. In the sixth inning, Harvey tossed 11 pitches to record three quick outs, with his fastball ranging from 92.9 to 94.8 mph. His velocity was still there, but both he and his skipper were looking at the big picture.

Harvey has already started making adjustments heading into his final starts of the season.

“I definitely cut back to throwing in between,” said Harvey on his new preparation for a start. “Obviously, there's still work that we do with bullpen [sessions] and stuff. Instead of throwing, whether it's long toss or [whatever], just really kind of switch gears a little bit. [I] have taken some of the throwing off in between starts just so I'm a little bit more fresh when it comes to game time and then start day.”

The bullpen was well-rested after Keegan Akin went seven innings in Thursday’s 13-1 win over the Angels, so that also factored into the decision.

Hyde made a call to the bullpen, asking Tanner Scott to keep the one-run game close. The reliever allowed a three-run homer to Mike Zunino, breaking the game open for the Rays.