Sep 14 – There’s plenty of drama early in the series between Baltimore and Detroit.
The host Tigers entered the ninth inning with a no-hitter on Friday night before Gunnar Henderson started it off with a two-out triple. However, Detroit won 1-0 and the Orioles (83-65) suffered their fifth loss in their last six games.
The second match of the three-match series will be played on Saturday night.
Detroit (76-72) has won five of its last six games and continues to chase Minnesota for the American League’s final wild-card spot. The Tigers trail the Twins by 2 1/2 games.
“It was an unbelievable game, a huge win,” Tigers head coach AJ Hinch said Friday.
Kerry Carpenter hit the only one-run home run of the game in the first inning.
“It was tough, but it was fun to play against that team,” Carpenter said, “We knew we could play against anybody in the league. It was good to play well against that team.”
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde wants his team to have a short memory.
“It’s just one game and we’ve got to come back tomorrow,” he said. “It wasn’t for a lack of effort – we didn’t get any hits tonight other than Gunnar’s two out single in the ninth. We just need to have some better at-bats and hopefully our guys can bounce back and go out and compete tomorrow.”
The Orioles offense looked great in the first half of the season and now needs a spark. The team has scored just 15 points (2-6) in its last eight games.
“Our offense struggled in the second half,” Hyde said. “Some guys really struggled for the first time in their careers.”
Orioles ace Corbin Burnes (13-8, 3.18 ERA) will start Saturday’s game, but hasn’t been his usual dominant presence since early last month. He posted a 7.36 ERA in August and lost his final three starts that month.
Although he was out after five innings, he earned his first start in September against the Chicago White Sox. He lost his last start against Tampa Bay on Sunday, though he allowed just two runs in six innings, leading the Orioles to a 2-0 loss. He gave up seven hits and two walks, but did limited damage.
The Rays tied the score against them on Johnny DeLuca’s two-run home run in the sixth inning.
“The difference in the game is the hit of the bat,” Burns said. “The pitch was good, there was a lot of weak contact. Most of the weak contact was for strikes, but that’s it. The 1-1 slider wasn’t a bad pitch, it was a little low, and (Deluca) got the ball to take a good swing, that’s the difference.”
Burns needs to get more opportunities through contact these days. He hasn’t dismissed more than four batsmen in his last four games.
He is 1-0 with a 1.20 ERA in three career starts against the Tigers, including two starts.
Detroit has not yet named a starting pitcher for Saturday’s game. Hinch often strung together bullpen games in the second half of the season.
–Visual-level media
