Wild pitch means wild win as O's walk it off again

BALTIMORE -- The Orioles went from nearly having a perfect game pitched against them ... to again winning in walk-off fashion. It was yet another early symbol of just how well things have been going in Baltimore of late.

The O’s completed a three-game sweep of the Tigers as Adam Frazier scored from third base on a wild pitch in the 10th inning for a 2-1 victory over the Tigers on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards. Baltimore (14-7) has won six straight games and 10 of its past 12.

“Those kinds of wins, at the end of the season, they add up,” said Frazier, who was doused in Gatorade for the second time in three days after previously collecting a walk-off RBI on Friday night. “That’s how you make the playoffs. A lot of good teams can win series, but to sweep a series is hard to do.”

It may seem a bit early for postseason talk, especially when the Orioles have much more challenging stretches ahead. Over the past two weeks, they’ve racked up wins against the A’s, White Sox, Nationals and Tigers -- four teams that didn’t make last year’s playoffs and aren’t particularly strong on paper.

But Baltimore’s roster is brimming with confidence, which has carried over from its 83-win 2022 season. The O’s have had only two better starts in team history (since 1954) -- in ‘66 (16-5) and ‘68 (15-6), the former resulting in the franchise’s first World Series championship.

“I said it from day one of Spring Training -- the talent here is incredible,” said catcher James McCann. “The chemistry from the young guys that have been together is very apparent from the moment you walk in the clubhouse, and now they’re learning how to win, and win together.”

Win together -- even on a day when Baltimore’s first 20 batters were set down in order. That was the Sunday accomplishment of Detroit left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez, who has often been a thorn in the Orioles’ side since they traded him to the Red Sox in July 2014.

The only blemish in this outing for Rodriguez (who has a 1.56 ERA over his past 12 starts vs. Baltimore dating back to 2018) was a two-out single in the seventh by Ryan Mountcastle, who ended the southpaw’s perfect game bid. The other 21 hitters Rodriguez faced all made outs.

However, the game was still scoreless after seven innings due to another stellar performance from the Orioles’ pitching staff. Grayson Rodriguez (the club’s No. 1 prospect and MLB Pipeline’s No. 5 overall prospect) turned in his finest outing yet in his fourth big league start, striking out six over five scoreless innings.

Over the past five games, Baltimore’s starters have allowed only one earned run in 31 innings (a 0.29 ERA).

“We’ve got a lot of special pitchers in this clubhouse,” Rodriguez said. “I think some good things are just starting for us, so it’s going to be exciting to see how we do, as pitchers, from here on out.”

Several players came off the bench to fuel the Orioles’ victory. Anthony Santander delivered a game-tying pinch-hit RBI double with two outs in the eighth, plating Jorge Mateo, who scored from first. Terrin Vavra pinch-hit to open the 10th and dropped down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Frazier, who started the inning as the automatic runner on second, to third.

Then, Frazier, who entered the game as a pinch-runner, scampered home for the winning run when Tigers right-hander Mason Englert’s first pitch to Mateo, an 81.9 mph curveball, hit the dirt and rolled off to the left of home plate.

A large amount of the credit for Baltimore’s hot stretch, though, should go to the pitching staff, which has recorded a 1.15 ERA during the six-game winning streak. Teams don’t lose many games in which they give up fewer than two runs, and the O’s have done that in each of their past five contests.

“The pitching is starting to go, and pitching is definitely contagious,” said left-hander Keegan Akin, who earned the win with a scoreless 10th. “It helps a lot when other guys are setting the standard.”

Discussing Baltimore’s strong April, manager Brandon Hyde brought up last season. The Orioles were 7-14 at this point last year and still nearly ended up making the postseason, finishing three games shy of an American League Wild Card berth.

So Hyde is aware a lot can change between now and October.

“I’m happy with our start, I think we’ve played fairly well; [I] would love us to get better over the course of the year, like we did last year,” Hyde said. “For me, that’s what really good teams do.”

The O’s strongly believe they’re a really good team this season. More wins like Sunday’s would continue to prove that.