‘Just wasn’t our night offensively’ – The Denver Post

No team over the past two weeks has been hotter than the Orioles. None had been colder than the Tampa Bay Rays.

They swapped places Friday night.

In the Orioles’ first game in sole possession of first place in the American League East this season, the Rays played like they had before their dismal July, silencing Baltimore’s bats en route to a 3-0 victory.

The Orioles were stymied by starting pitcher Zach Eflin and Tampa Bay’s bullpen, tallying just two hits, striking out 14 times and failing to score a run for the seventh time this season.

“Just wasn’t our night offensively,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish continued his recent stretch of excellence, pitching six innings of two-run ball. Over his past seven starts, the right-hander has a 1.62 ERA. The last time he allowed more than two runs in a start was June 8. It’s been two months since he’s given up more than three.

Designated hitter Harold Ramirez hit an RBI single to put the Rays up 1-0 and end Bradish’s scoreless innings streak at 16 1/3, and third baseman Isaac Paredes clobbered a solo home run off Bradish in the sixth.

“I think it’s been a good little stretch,” Bradish said of his recent success. “Obviously, would’ve liked a different outcome today. That home run kind of irritated me, just can’t really happen right there in the sixth inning when the guy on the other side was kind of dealing like he was.”

In the seventh, catcher Jose Siri hit his 20th long ball of the season off reliever Shintaro Fujinami, who made his Orioles debut after joining the team Wednesday via a trade from the Oakland Athletics.

After Thursday’s extra-innings win, the Orioles gained sole possession of first place in the AL East for the first time since Aug. 12, 2016. At 59-38, they’re now tied with the Rays, who improved to 61-40.

The Orioles reached base in just four innings, advancing a runner into scoring position in one of them. Designated hitter Ryan Mountcastle doubled with one out in the second, but the Orioles went 0-for-2 in their only opportunities with runners in scoring position.

Eflin, the former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher, struck out eight in seven shutout innings to lower his ERA to 3.36 as a member of the Rays’ dominant rotation. Only three of the Orioles’ 15 batted balls off the right-hander had exit velocities over 100 mph. Aside from Mountcastle’s double, the only other Oriole to record a base hit was first baseman Ryan O’Hearn. Adley Rutschman walked twice to boost his total to 58, which ranks second best in the AL.

“He was definitely sharp tonight, using both sides of the plate,” Hyde said. “They were getting balls down for strikes. He didn’t leave a whole lot of balls in the middle part of the plate for us. We just had a tough time getting anything going against him.”

Relievers Colin Poche and Pete Fairbanks followed with scoreless innings to maintain the shutout, both striking out the side. The Orioles have struck out more than the 14 times they did Friday just five times this season.

“No,” Hyde said when asked if he was concerned with the strikeouts. “We’re taking a shot with Poche there, who’s a strikeout guy, and he punched the side out. And Fairbanks has got a ton of punchouts also, he’s got great stuff.”

Bradish (6-5) mixed his five pitches for his fifth straight start of six or more innings and his seventh in a row without allowing more than two runs. The 26-year-old threw his slider 35% of the time and his curveball 23%. The two breaking balls are the two best offerings in his arsenal, according to Baseball Savant’s run values. He induced five whiffs with the slider and three more with the curve.

His 3.05 ERA is best among Orioles starting pitchers, ahead of Tyler Wells (3.54), Kyle Gibson (4.76), Dean Kremer (4.80) and Grayson Rodriguez (7.33).

“I think fastball command has been really good,” Bradish said. “Using both my breaking balls. Not walking guys. Just kind of out there pitching.”

Fujinami’s Orioles debut didn’t go as planned, as the 29-year-old right-hander allowed a solo homer on the first pitch he threw in a Baltimore uniform — a 99.4 mph four-seam fastball that Siri deposited 359 feet over the left field fence.

Fujinami quickly bounced back, though, and displayed the excellent stuff that piqued the Orioles’ interest enough to acquire him in exchange for Triple-A left-hander Easton Lucas on Wednesday. The 6-foot-6 Japan native retired the next three batters, including a strikeout of All-Star Wander Franco, averaging 100.5 mph on his fastball and topping out at 101.5 mph. He threw six splitters that averaged 93.9 mph and two sweepers, a pitch that several Orioles pitchers have learned in recent years.

“He got ambushed there that first pitch, but after that, wow,” Hyde said. “I thought he had great stuff. Throwing over 100, got a really nice split. Siri came out of the on-deck circle ready to swing, guy’s first pitch with us after being on a flight all night last night. But he settled in and pitched great after that.”

Orioles at Rays

Saturday, 4:10 p.m.

TV: MASN

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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