Jack Flaherty dominates in debut, Ryan Mountcastle paces Orioles’ offense in 6-1 series-clinching win over Blue Jays – The Denver Post

Jack Flaherty, in Jordan Hicks’ estimation, is at his best in situations such as Thursday’s sixth inning.

Flaherty cruised for much of his Orioles debut, starting against the Toronto Blue Jays two days after Baltimore acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals for three prospects minutes before the MLB trade deadline. But the sixth inning saw his dazzling debut in peril, with Toronto plating a run and threatening for more with the bases loaded and one out.

Manager Brandon Hyde had two relievers warming but showed trust in his newest starter. Flaherty rewarded it, retiring the next two Blue Jays to propel the Orioles to a 6-1 series-clinching victory.

“They definitely got one of the most fierce competitors I’ve met,” said Hicks, a Toronto reliever who St. Louis also traded away this week. “He’s always gonna go out there every time and leave it all out there.”

Flaherty allowed one run over six innings while striking out eight, becoming only the third Orioles pitcher to record that stat line in his team debut along with Tom Phoebus (Mount Saint Joseph) in 1966 and Charlie Beamon in 1956. In an up-and-down four months with St. Louis, the 27-year-old right-hander threw eight pitches 96 mph or harder, according to Baseball Savant. He delivered seven such pitches Thursday, doing so three times in the sixth, and reached 97 mph for the first time this season in the first.

“It was just new energy and new everything,” Flaherty said. “Sometimes, it can be a little bit tricky, but [catcher Adley Rutschman] was just awesome back there. Coaching staff was great, getting me prepped for it. I didn’t really have a lot of time to get prepped for these guys. Normally, I take a handful of days to do it. Everything was kind of rushed together, but he did a really good job calling the game, and they had a really good game plan.

“All in all, everything has been unbelievable.”

Hicks noted that Flaherty is particularly intense on the days he pitches. About two hours before first pitch, Flaherty walked into the Orioles’ dugout wearing a pair of red headphones, spending a few minutes in silence.

“I’m pretty quiet,” he said after the game. “I don’t really like to talk to guys. Couple guys — you don’t know until you get a guy on his start day and try to have a conversation. I just kind of just keep to myself.”

In that sense, he wasn’t necessarily out to make an impression in the clubhouse or on the mound, joking that with his outing complete he can now get to know the names of his new teammates and adding that having extra motivation for his first start with them would have caused him to “try to do too much.” But he left them impressed regardless.

“He looked phenomenal today,” Rutschman said. “I’m excited to catch him going forward.”

Rutschman and Flaherty’s unfamiliarity was quickly tested, with the opening inning of Flaherty’s Orioles tenure beginning with a single and a walk. Yet he made it through the frame unscathed, sparking a run of 15 straight Blue Jays retired. Only Dave McNally, with 17 in 1962, posted a longer streak of outs in his first outing for the Orioles.

Baltimore’s bats, meanwhile, built a three-run lead against former Orioles starter Kevin Gausman on RBI singles from Austin Hays (4-for-5 with a double) and Rutschman in the second and a sacrifice fly by Ryan Mountcastle in the fifth. It marked the only time Mountcastle was retired Thursday as he finished 4-for-4 to go 11-for-13 in Toronto, tied for the most hits in a four-game series in franchise history. In 49 career games against the Blue Jays, Mountcastle has an OPS of 1.054.

“I’m gonna put a massive Rogers Centre banner in his locker, just to remind him what it feels like to hit here,” Hyde quipped. “There’s some intent in that swing. If he can swing the bat somewhat like this the rest of the way, we’re in good shape.”

Mountcastle’s success hasn’t come against only Toronto. He’s gone 23-for-50 (.460) in 18 games since spending a month on the injured list with vertigo.

“It’s easier when you’re just seeing one baseball instead of three,” Mountcastle said.

Three of the first four Blue Jays (60-50) who faced Flaherty in the sixth singled, and a walk followed. But Flaherty struck out Matt Chapman with a nasty knuckle curve before Alejandro Kirk flew out to left-center to end the threat. Hyde had Danny Coulombe and Mike Baumann warming as Flaherty threw more than 30 pitches in the frame, but he allowed Flaherty, in his seventh major league season, to pitch out of trouble.

“It means a lot,” Flaherty said. “My job is to continue to make pitches until he comes and takes the ball from me and tells me that’s it.”

Including his final five starts with the Cardinals, Flaherty has a 2.78 ERA in his past six outings. His knuckle curve was responsible for five of his strikeouts, including one of former teammate Paul DeJong in the second. Like Hicks, DeJong was traded from St. Louis to Toronto, with the shortstop having played behind Flaherty for the past several seasons.

“Jack works harder than anybody I’ve seen as a starting pitcher,” DeJong said. “No matter what day it is, he’s in there doing something.

“He really takes pride in what he does.”

The Orioles (67-42) scored three times across the final two innings while Coulombe, Yennier Cano and Baumann each pitched scoreless frames behind Flaherty. Baltimore is 8-2 against Toronto this season after taking three of four from the Blue Jays on the road less than two weeks after doing the same against the Tampa Bay Rays, who were off Thursday as the Orioles’ lead in the American League East increased to two games.

“They’re a complete team,” Flaherty said of his new one. “You kind of knew that coming in, and then you kind of get around them and see what they’re about, and guys go about their business, and they work. They’re a complete team.”

Around the horn

• Outfielder Anthony Santander was named the Orioles’ nominee for the Heart & Hustle Award, given annually to a player “who demonstrates a passion for the game of baseball and best embodies the values, spirit and traditions of the game.” “He just brings so much passion to our team,” Hyde said. “It’s been fun watching him develop and grow into a major league player these last four or five years, how far he’s come and the way he plays the game with joy and passion and energy and heart and hustle. That’s pretty much who he is.”
• Injured relievers Keegan Akin (lower back discomfort) and Mychal Givens (right shoulder inflammation) had their rehabilitation assignments transferred to Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday. After pitching prospect Cade Povich allowed a run on one hit and one walk over six innings, Akin pitched a scoreless seventh with a walk, and Givens worked the next two frames with the only base runner being a hit batter.

Mets at Orioles

Friday, 7:05 p.m.

TV: MASN

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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