Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde didn’t mince words when asked about his ever-fluid bullpen Monday afternoon.
“I’m kind of searching for guys to get outs in the back third of the game right now,” Hyde said.
A few hours later, Hyde’s search grew both clearer and fuzzier.
The Orioles will look to bounce back from another late-inning defeat when they oppose the New York Mets on Tuesday in the middle game of a three-game interleague series.
Right-hander Dean Kremer (5-9, 4.48 ERA) is slated to start for the Orioles against left-hander Jose Quintana (6-8, 4.26).
Francisco Alvarez hit his first career walk-off homer with one out in the ninth Monday to give the Mets a 4-3 victory and knock the Orioles out of a first-place tie in the American League East with the idle New York Yankees.
Alvarez’s round-tripper on a 3-0 pitch against Seranthony Dominguez was the Mets’ first hit since the fifth inning and snapped a streak of 11 straight outs recorded by relievers Colin Selby, Keegan Akin and Dominguez. The trio recorded nine strikeouts and allowed just one ball out of the infield before Alvarez’s homer traveled 421 feet to left-center field.
Orioles relievers rank 21st in the majors with a 4.14 bullpen ERA.
Finding a set closer hasn’t been easy. Craig Kimbrel leads the team with 23 saves but hasn’t been used in a save situation since July 25. Dominguez, acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies the next day, has the Orioles’ past three saves and pitched in a closer-type role in the ninth inning of a tie game Monday.
“Losses hurt,” Hyde said. “We’re having a sprint at this point and we’re trying to win as many games as we can.”
Alvarez’s homer snapped a lengthy slump for the catcher and provided the Mets a much-needed boost in their playoff race. New York, which is 4-6 in its last 10 games, pulled within 1 1/2 games of the idle Atlanta Braves, who occupy the third and final National League wild-card spot.
The homer was the first since July 26 for Alvarez, who hit .177 with two RBIs and 16 strikeouts in his next 53 at-bats.
“I know things haven’t been going as well as he would love, but that doesn’t mean anything to him in those situations — he just needs that one time and he always looks for it,” Mets outfielder Brandon Nimmo said. “Huge for the team. Huge for ‘Alvy,’ and we’ll hope to build on that (Tuesday).”
Kremer earned a win on Wednesday after giving up one run over six innings in the Orioles’ 4-1 victory over the Washington Nationals. He didn’t factor into the decision in his lone start against the Mets on Aug. 4, 2023, when he surrendered two runs in 5 1/3 innings in Baltimore’s 10-3 win.
Quintana didn’t factor into the decision on Thursday when he allowed four runs over four innings as the Mets fell 7-6 to the Oakland Athletics. He is 2-5 with a 3.66 ERA in 10 career games (eight starts) against the Orioles.
–Field Level Media