Hyde on Means: "I look for John to have a really good September"

The Orioles are lifting the restrictions on John Means.

Manager Brandon Hyde has been providing incremental increases in pitch count and innings after Means returned from his second trip to the injured list. If the Mets cooperate with him, Means is going to move past four innings and 74 pitches in this afternoon's series finale at Camden Yards.

"I feel comfortable with taking him further than he's gone so far," Hyde said today in his Zoom conference call with the media.

"I think John's ready to be stretched out. He's a strong guy that feels good right now and I think that we're looking to push him a little bit to give us some length. We could really use it right now if possible. I think that John's, if not fully ready, very, very close."

A quality outing would benefit Means and the club.

Means began the season on the injured list with arm fatigue and later went on the bereavement and injured lists after his father, Alan, passed away on Aug. 5.

An All-Star and runner-up in American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2019. Means has registered an 8.59 ERA and 1.295 WHIP in five starts over 14 2/3 innings.

"John's a confident guy," Hyde said. "I thought he threw the ball well his last start. I think he felt good about it. He just made ... a couple homers. I'm sure he's looking to do that for the team and for himself also, to go out and give us some length today. That would be a huge pickup after the bullpen rat race here the last few three or four days.

"I look for John to have a really good September. Now that he's healthy and feels good, I look forward to him pitching well this last month."

Hyde used four relievers last night in a 9-5 win, but none exceeded 16 pitches.

"Our guys that are here have thrown a lot the last couple days, so with an off-day tomorrow that's extremely helpful, then an off-day on Monday that's very, very helpful. And two sevens on Friday," he said, referencing the doubleheader against the Yankees at Camden Yards.

"I would love for John to give our guys a little bit of a break if possible, just because I want to be rested and ready to go and not be pitching back-to-back and things like that. Some of our guys have pitched multiple innings here the last couple of days, too. (César) Valdez has thrown five innings in three innings. (Dillon) Tate has thrown multiple innings. (Travis) Lakins threw quite a few pitches a couple days ago. Used (Paul) Fry and (Tanner) Scott a lot.

"The off-day tomorrow is huge, but there are guys who are going to pitch in a little bit different roles just because of the loss of others. And I'm excited to see what they can do."

José Iglesias has multiple hits in six straight games, the longest streak since Danny Valencia on Aug. 4-Sept. 1, 2013. The club record is 10 by Rich Dauer in 1978 and Bob Nieman in 1958.

Alex Cobb and Jorge López will start in Friday's doubleheader against the Yankees at Camden Yards, with the order to be determined. Keegan Akin starts Saturday, with Sunday listed as TBD.

Reliever Brad Brach is making his first trip to Baltimore since he was traded to the Braves near the 2018 deadline.

"It's funny because these last couple days when I got out there and just coming out of the dugout on what feels like the wrong side was definitely strange for me," said Brach, who's allowed two runs in eight innings after re-signing as a free agent.

""Even though the names are different and the teams are different, the stadium's still the same and the memories you have of this place, I know for me personally that was the biggest chunk of my career to this point, and definitely the most exciting years of my career. And those feelings will never go away, those experiences will never go away. I think, honestly, with time they get even sweeter and they get even better.

"Obviously, you can think of when we won the division (in 2014) and the run we had in the playoff year in 2016, also. Those teams were a lot of fun and to this day I still keep in contact with a lot of the guys and we all look back on those days very fondly. So regardless of who's on the field or what guys are left from the team, the memories are still the same and the stadium is still the same. So those memories will never change. They were great years for me and my family."

Brach missed his team's summer training camp after testing positive for COVID-19. His wife, Jenae, also tested positive while 36 weeks pregnant with twins.

"The biggest thing is there's still not a ton of answers. I think that was the most concerning thing," he said.

"We didn't have answers, she didn't have answers if the boys were going to be OK. I think it was just me being in New York, too, by myself and her being in Nashville was the difficult part. I wouldn't say we were necessarily scared. It was just more of a nerve-racking time because they say nothing can get transferred to the babies when they're in the womb, but you don't know until they're here. But thankfully, it all worked out and she's up in New York now and the boys are healthy and everything. But definitely during that time it was definitely a nerve-racking few weeks there as the season was getting started up again."