Highs and lows from O's loss to Angels
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BALTIMORE -- For more than a week now, the Orioles' roster has been something it hadn’t been all season: stable. An April dizzy with transactions gave way to a relatively tranquil first nine days of May, courtesy of a strong stretch of starting pitching and a position-player crop that’s remained injury-free.
That’s likely to remain the case for at least one more day after Miguel Castro saved the bullpen in Baltimore’s 8-3 loss to the Angels at Camden Yards on Friday, the first in a stretch of 20 consecutive games for a club that may also need to contend with some more questionable weather this weekend.
Given the forecast and the schedule, some reshuffling could be on the horizon for a relief corps that’s shown marked improvement over the past week or so, with Castro in particular riding a strong stretch that dates back further. Castro’s trio of scoreless frames Friday give him 7 1/3 consecutive of the sort, stretched across his last six appearances. The right-hander’s longest appearance of the season also marked his first of three or more shutout innings since July 23, 2018, against the Red Sox.
Castro seemed on the roster bubble as recently as a few weeks ago, after he lugged a 10.80 ERA over his first 10 appearances.
“I saw confidence out there tonight, a guy who was throwing strikes, working ahead a lot of the time, pitching with conviction,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “The sinker really plays. If he can just harness that, and locate it ... it can be devastating.”
Trending in the opposite direction is right-hander Evan Phillips, who allowed the Angels to put Friday’s outcome largely out of reach before a one hour and 49 minute rain delay.
In relief of losing pitcher Dan Straily, Phillips allowed both inherited runners to score and two runs of his own in the Angels’ five-run fifth, ballooning the right-hander’s ERA to 7.11. It was the third consecutive outing in which Phillips allowed multiple runs.
Here are a few other notables from a soggy spring night at Camden Yards.
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Who’s hot? Mancini moonshot
If Trey Mancini was going to let the frustration of being on the wrong end of Jackie Bradley Jr.’s incredible game-saving play fester, he wasted no time squashing that narrative Friday. In his first at-bat since Bradley robbed his would-be walk-off homer Wednesday night, Mancini hit a ball where not even Mike Trout had a chance.
Mancini put the Orioles on the board in the first inning by lining his seventh home run of the season to dead center field off winning pitcher Trevor Cahill. At a projected 438 feet per Statcast, the solo shot was Mancini’s longest of the season and tied for second furthest of his career. Mancini also went 438 feet last Aug. 28 against the Blue Jays, and on Aug. 10, 2017, against the A’s. His career high is 459 feet, set on July 29, 2017, at Toronto.
“He was yelling as he came back into the dugout,” Hyde said. “He was yelling, ‘Catch that one!’ It was awesome. He squared that up. That’s strong.”
Vindication continued a torrid stretch for Mancini, who is white-hot again after recovering from a minor right index finger injury. He’s connected for extra-base hits in three of his past six plate appearances, and would’ve had another on Wednesday if not for Bradley’s acrobatics. All told, Mancini is hitting .326/.377/.572 with 45 hits and 26 runs scored. Through this point last season, Mancini was slashing .268/.331/.413.
Who’s cold?
Enduring the opposite reality is Renato Nunez, who was dropped to seventh in Hyde’s order on Friday amid a significant slump. After hitting .301 with an .894 OPS over his first 25 games, he’s gone 4-for-48 without a walk over the last 12 contests. By striking out twice in four hitless at-bats Friday, Nunez dropped his strikeout-to-walk rate to 42/7, tied for sixth worst among qualified Major League hitters.
Behind enemy lines
No stranger to Camden Yards, Trout enjoyed his first night back at a ballpark that’ll always be significant for him. It was here that Trout launched his first career home run back in 2011, and now sports eight more after taking Straily deep to left-center in the third. Trout added an RBI double to chase Straily two innings later, before the Angels tacked on against Phillips.
“He hurt us tonight,” Hyde said. “That’s why he’s a great, great player.”
While Trout may always be remembered here for the home run robbery of J.J. Hardy in 2012, he’s long found comfort in the hitter-friendly confines of Oriole Park. He’s now homered nine times in 26 games at the venue, his most at any ballpark outside the American League West.