The series opener between Baltimore and Detroit delivered plenty of drama.
The host Tigers took a combined no-hitter into the ninth inning on Friday night before Gunnar Henderson broke it up with a two-out triple. Detroit, however, held on for a 1-0 victory and handed the Orioles (83-65) their fifth loss in their last six games.
The second contest of the three-game series will be Saturday evening.
Detroit (76-72) has won five of its last six games as it continues to chase Minnesota for the final wild-card spot in the American League. The Tigers trail the Twins by 2 1/2 games.
“Just an incredible game and a huge win,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said Friday.
Kerry Carpenter supplied the only run of the contest with a home run in the first inning.
“It was intense, but it was fun playing that team over there,” Carpenter said. “We know we can match up with anybody in this league. To match up well with that team was pretty cool.”
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde hopes his team can have a short memory.
“It’s one game, and we’ve got to come back tomorrow,” he said. “It’s not from a lack of effort — we just didn’t get any hits tonight except for Gunnar with two outs in the ninth. We’ve just got to take some better at-bats, and hopefully our guys will rebound and come out tomorrow and compete.”
The Orioles’ offense, which was humming in the first half of the season, needs a spark. The team has just 15 runs in the last eight games (2-6).
“We’ve had a tough second half offensively,” Hyde said. “We’ve had some guys really struggle for the first time in their careers.”
Orioles ace Corbin Burnes (13-8, 3.18 ERA), who will start Saturday’s game, has not been his usual dominant self since the beginning of last month. He had a 7.36 ERA in August and lost his last three starts that month.
He won his first September start against the Chicago White Sox, although he came out after five innings. He lost his last outing on Sunday against Tampa Bay, although he allowed only two runs in six innings as the Orioles fell 2-0. He gave up seven hits and two walks but limited the damage.
The Rays scored their runs against him on Jonny DeLuca’s two-run homer in the sixth.
“The difference in the game was one swing of the bat,” Burnes said. “Threw the ball pretty well, got a lot of weak contact. A lot of weak contact went for hits, but kind of how it goes. The 1-1 slider wasn’t a bad pitch, kind of went down and (DeLuca) got it and put a good swing on it, and that was the difference.”
Burnes has needed to get more outs via contact lately. He hasn’t struck out more than four batters in his last four starts.
He’s 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA in three career outings against the Tigers, including two starts.
Detroit has not named a starting pitcher for Saturday’s game. Hinch has pieced together bullpen games often in the second half of the season.
–Field Level Media