DJ Stewart homers as O's and Phillies play to a 4-4 tie

Orioles outfielder DJ Stewart hit a two-run homer in the first inning today. It provided half of the O's runs as they played to a 4-4 tie in seven innings against the Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, Fla.

The Orioles, who are 0-1-1, host the Yankees in Sarasota tomorrow with John Means scheduled to start.

Baltimore took a 2-0 lead on Stewart's blast to right field. Austin Hays led off the game with a line single to center and scored ahead of Stewart's homer. It came on a 2-2 pitch off an Aaron Nola breaking ball and was his first spring training home run in his 63^rd career spring at-bat.

"The biggest takeaway of today, first two at-bats, they were both with two strikes," Stewart said during an in-game Zoom interview. "So just kind of shortened up and put it in play. We talked about hitting the ball to all parts of the field, but felt like I did a pretty good job of hitting the pitches where they were located. Austin did a great job in the one-hole of getting on base for me to make my job easier. I was just trying to honestly move him over and make something happen."

Stewart said he chokes up sometimes in his two-strike approach and sometimes even before that in the count. He said may try to become more aggressive earlier in counts.

"It's actually a weird concept. I was actually talking to Don (Long, O's hitting coach) the last couple days about it," he said. "Yes, I know I have a good eye, but there are also times early in the count that I'm a little bit too selective, I feel like. I know I can do damage with those pitches, but I'm also comfortable hitting with two strikes. But sometimes you get the nastier stuff with two strikes. So it's a balance thing that I am trying to work on this spring. To be aggressive early, but also shortening up and putting (the ball) in play to do the job. Today was a good day for me, but I know it's going to be a task that I'm working on every single day."

For the second day in a row, the O's starter struggled.

Right-hander Jorge López quickly got into trouble in the last of the first. Andrew McCutchen singled and moved to third on Jean Segura's line drive double to left. Andrew Knapp then lifted a fly ball to deep left. O's left fielder Ryan Mountcastle lost the ball in the sun and it hit the warning track and bounced out of the park. The two-run ground-rule double tied the game 2-2. The Phillies went on to load the bases with no outs, but López got Matt Joyce to ground into a 5-2-3 double play and he got out of that inning.

López pitched around a one-out double in the second to complete two frames, allowing five hits and two runs with one walk and no strikeouts. It was the first spring outing for the righty, who went 2-2 with a 6.34 ERA for the 2020 Orioles.

"Today was a little bit of everything," López said of his outing. "I had a pretty long first outing where I had to battle with all the pitches. Tried to get my arm shape and my rhythm and timing where I want to. I think that is the most important thing right now. To just be healthy and try to locate every single pitch.

"My mechanics have been really simple. To try and get that has been really good. That is one thing I focused on the whole offseason. It was good to back on the mound and with the fans back it was motivating to be there."

López talked about the pitching competition in camp.

"Everybody has the same purpose to be here," he said. "When I was young and trying to compete for a spot, you just try and take it day by day. There are lot of good arms on Baltimore and it's awesome to be around them. With veterans and young guys, I try to keep my eyes and ears open to anything they have. It's really a blessing to be here."

Joyce hit a two-run homer off Shawn Armstrong in the Phillies third inning to produce a 4-2 lead for Philadelphia. The O's scored twice in the fifth to tie it at 4-4. They used two batters hit by pitches, an error that scored a run on Stewart's grounder and a Mountcastle sac fly to even the score.

Lopez and Armstrong each gave up two runs. Zac Lowther pitched out of some trouble to record a scoreless fourth inning. Rule 5 pick Mac Sceroler pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the sixth to put up a zero. Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh allowing a walk.

The O's had six hits and Hays, who went 2-for-2, was the only Oriole with a multi-hit game. Stewart had a three-RBI day.