Back at home, O's get back in the walk-off business

BALTIMORE -- This week, the Orioles have been playing tight, low-scoring games. And they’ve had success while doing so.

Baltimore continued the trend Friday night, pulling out a 2-1 walk-off win over Detroit at Camden Yards. The O’s have won a season-high four straight and eight of their past 10, riding the strength of their pitching staff to one close victory after another.

Let’s break down some key numbers from the Orioles’ latest triumph.

34: The final number of consecutive scoreless innings thrown by the pitching staff
In the ninth, Félix Bautista was one strike away from sealing a Baltimore win. However, the 6-foot-8 closer hung a 2-2 splitter that Javier Báez smacked to left for an RBI single that tied the game at 1.

It was the first run allowed by an Orioles pitcher since Sunday, when Grayson Rodriguez was tagged for four runs in the first inning of a win over the White Sox in Chicago. Baltimore then notched back-to-back shutout wins in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, before opening Friday’s game with eight scoreless frames -- the first seven pitched by right-hander Tyler Wells.

“We sit there and we constantly push each other, whether that’s in bullpens, whether that’s in catch play,” Wells said of the staff. “We’re always trying to feed off each other, learn and apply that into the games, and so far, that’s worked out for all of us.”

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the pitching staff’s 34-inning scoreless streak was the sixth longest in Orioles history (since 1954). The club record is 54, set from Sept. 1-7, 1974.

“They’re pitching their butts off,” first baseman Ryan Mountcastle said. “It’s a lot more enjoyable to play behind when guys are throwing really well like that.”

7: The number of innings thrown by Wells in his career-long outing
Prior to the 2022 season, the O’s decided to convert Wells from a reliever to a starter. As part of that process, the righty’s innings were monitored. He surpassed 80 pitches in only eight of his 23 starts.

This year, Wells doesn’t have those restrictions. The 28-year-old can go as deep into games as his performance dictates. Before Friday, he had still never gone more than six innings. But in this win over the Tigers, he went a career-high seven on 95 pitches (tied for his most in a big league outing).

“It’s definitely nice this year, being able to let him go pitch,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “That [process] was something we needed to do last year, and had to do and should do. But this year, obviously, the leash is longer, and it’s fun to watch him go out there and go as long as he can.”

Wells allowed only three singles, and retired 19 of the 23 batters he faced. He recorded five strikeouts and one walk, while generating 14 whiffs -- including five of the 10 swings against his changeup, per Statcast.

3.2: The number of seconds for Mountcastle to go from third to home to score the winning run
Watch out, Cedric Mullins and Jorge Mateo. The Orioles have a new speedster in Mountcastle.

“I don’t think they want to race me right now. I’m feeling good, my legs are feeling loose,” Mountcastle said. “I feel fast.”

Even if Mountcastle’s comments were in jest -- and his sprint speed of 27.7 feet/second was well shy of Statcast’s elite mark (30 or more) -- he was quick enough to score the winning run. Baltimore had runners on the corners with one out in the ninth when Adam Frazier hit a grounder to first baseman Spencer Torkelson.

Torkelson threw home, but not in time to nab Mountcastle, who had a primary lead of 15.6 feet and a secondary lead of 18.2 feet.

“Right off the bat, I just took off and beat it,” Mountcastle said. “I got a pretty good lead, pretty good jump and beat it by a good amount.”

2: The number of consecutive home games ending in a walk-off
This ending wasn’t as flashy as the one in the O’s previous home contest, when Adley Rutschman belted a ninth-inning walk-off homer vs. the A’s on April 13. But Baltimore prevailed despite a mostly quiet night from its offense -- Austin Hays’ seventh-inning solo homer marked its only run before the ninth -- and a blown save from its typically shutdown closer.

To Hyde and his players, that speaks to the team’s resiliency, a trait it developed in 2022 and has carried into ‘23.

“We won some games early in the year kind of by outslugging, and the last three games, we’ve won because we’ve pitched extremely well,” Hyde said. “You have to win in different ways and find a way -- that’s the bottom line.”