The Baltimore Orioles received encouraging performances from two members of their topsy-turvy late-inning relief corps Tuesday night — hours after getting even more bad news regarding their injury-plagued rotation.
Left-hander Cole Irvin will make his unexpected return to the rotation Wednesday afternoon, when the Orioles visit the New York Mets in the decisive game of a three-game interleague series.
Irvin (6-5, 4.85 ERA) will be recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to oppose Mets left-hander Sean Manaea (9-5, 3.46).
Anthony Santander and James McCann homered on Tuesday for the Orioles, who frittered away much of a six-run lead before Yennier Cano and Craig Kimbrel combined to get the final five outs in a 9-5 victory.
J.D. Martinez’s three-run homer off Burch Smith with one out in the eighth inning cut the Orioles’ lead to 7-5 and forced manager Brandon Hyde to call upon Cano, who had allowed at least one hit in seven of his first nine appearances this month.
Cano retired all three batters he faced — including Francisco Alvarez on a grounder to third base to lead off the ninth inning after Baltimore had scored twice in the top of the inning. Hyde then summoned Kimbrel, who lost his closer’s job by posting a 10.24 ERA in his previous 10 appearances dating back to July 14.
Kimbrel got Jeff McNeil to pop up and struck out Tyrone Taylor for his first clean outing since July 5.
“Fortunately, we got a four-run lead there and gave Craig a little bit of breathing room with one out,” Hyde said. “Trying to get him going. Also trying to get these guys going in the ‘pen, and Craig did a great job getting the last two outs.”
The stress-free outings for Cano and Kimbrel capped a day that began with bad news for the Orioles, who placed Zach Eflin — initially scheduled to start Wednesday — on the 15-day injured list due to right shoulder inflammation.
Eflin, who has won all four of his starts since being acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays on July 26, joins Grayson Rodriguez, Tyler Wells, John Means and Kyle Bradish on the injured list. The latter three are out for the season after undergoing elbow operations.
“It’s hard to replace the guys that we have (lost), but somebody’s got to do it,” said Baltimore starter Dean Kremer, who gave up one run in six solid innings Tuesday. “Every guy who comes up here knows that they have a job to do and try to do the best that they can.”
Irvin, who was outrighted to Norfolk on Aug. 2, hasn’t pitched for the Orioles since July 29, when he gave up one run over three innings of relief against the Toronto Blue Jays. He had a 4.05 ERA in two starts for Norfolk.
Irvin is 0-1 with an 8.22 ERA in four career games (one start) against the Mets.
The Mets were also reminded of the lack of depth in their rotation Tuesday night, when Jose Quintana took the loss after allowing seven runs in five innings. Quintana is 2-4 with a 6.27 ERA in his last seven starts dating back to July 14.
However, with Kodai Senga (left calf) and Christian Scott (right elbow) potentially out for the remainder of the regular season and one-time starter Jose Butto thriving in the bullpen, Quintana’s rotation spot is likely safe. The most experienced starters at Triple-A Syracuse are Tylor Megill, who has a 5.17 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) with the Mets this season, and Joey Lucchesi, who was outrighted in July.
“Right now he’s in our rotation and we’re going to need him,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Quintana.
Manaea earned the win in his most recent start, when he allowed three runs in seven innings on Friday as the Mets beat the Miami Marlins 7-3. He is 0-1 with a 16.88 ERA in two career starts against the Orioles.
–Field Level Media