O's win last night had a heavy homegrown flavor

The Orioles will take small victories when they can get them right now. Heck, they will take any victories at this point. And last night they got one that had a distinctive homegrown flavor. At a time when the Orioles are looking to rebuild in the future and use some of their own draft picks to do so, their 2-1 win over Toronto was a product with a heavy farm system flavor Wednesday night.

The O's used spot starter Jimmy Yacabonis and four bullpen pitchers. Four of the pitchers used were original Orioles draft picks. The fifth was acquired with a Baltimore pick. The two players that drove in runs came from the O's farm and so did the rookie catcher that engineered it all behind the plate as the Orioles pitched a four-hitter with seven strikeouts.

Yacabonis (round 13, 2013 and 26 years old) began the night with four scoreless innings on two hits, producing his first career scoreless start. He pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the fourth. Mike Wright Jr. (round 3, 2011 and 28) followed him to the mound with two scoreless, pitching out of his own jam in the sixth when he struck out Kendrys Morales and Kevin Pillar with sliders. Then Miguel Castro (23) went 1 2/3 innings and allowed a homer for the only Toronto run. The Orioles acquired Castro in a trade on April 7, 2017 from Colorado. They traded one of their own draft picks in pitcher Jon Keller to get Castro. Lefty Tanner Scott (round 6, 2014 and 24) got one out on one pitch to end the Blue Jays eighth. Then right-hander Mychal Givens (round 2, 2009 and 28) got the save getting three popouts on eight pitches in the ninth.

"It is always good when you get quality pitching and timely hitting. To have that tonight means a lot," said Givens, now 8-for-12 in save chances.

Givens threw some nice praise toward Yacabonis, who retired the first nine batters in order. Yacabonis got 14 swings and misses on his 64 pitches.

"I can't be more proud of him and his accomplishments," said Givens. "Especially (since) he was a reliever and now is trying to make the adjustments to being a starter. And he looked really good. He was attacking hitters. Can't ask for a better outing. I just feel like he's been maturing. He's been throwing a lot of strikes and his slider has been getting a lot better. That pitch can be nasty for him."

Givens has converted his last three save chances as he starts to get more comfortable pitching in the ninth and last night he had to protect a one-run lead.

"Trying to treat it the same," said Givens of getting save chances. "Still having an adjustment to it. But you are still trying to get guys out in the bullpen and help guys out. Been learning a lot each time out. Just trying to have fun out there."

Yacabonis threw 64 2/3 innings in 2016 out of the bullpen between Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. In 2017 he threw 82 innings between Triple-A Norfolk and Baltimore. This season as a starter for Norfolk and a sometimes starter for the Orioles, he's thrown 108 2/3 innings.

After last night's game, he said he's not sure whether the Orioles intend for him to start again next year or move him back to a full-time bullpen role.

"Going forward, I think it is something I'm going to have to discuss with the staff here and what kind of role they want to put me in for next year," said Yacabonis, who is 0-2 with a 6.34 ERA in 10 games. "What kind of work I'm going to have to put in this offseason to prepare. Whether I'm going to be a long guy, mid relief or a starter next year. It is something I will discuss and draw up a plan with the guys that helped me improve this year."

Austin Wynns (round 10, 2013 and 27) did a solid job catching all five pitchers last night and he also went 2-for-3 with a couple of singles.

"That was definitely a team win," he said. "On our pitching side, on our defensive side and that's what we need to do, going ahead. Bottom line, that is what we need to do. Jimmy did a great job right from the get go. He got into a bind but we got out of it which was huge and everyone contributed. Everyone."

The Orioles got a solo homer last night from DJ Stewart (round 1, 2015 and 24) in the third inning. It was his first career homer and in the seventh Stewart produced his first career double on the 12th pitch of at-bat. Then Cedric Mullins (round 13, 2015 and 23) drove him home with a single to left. Mullins produced his first career RBI off a lefty pitcher. He began the night batting .172 (5-for-29) versus southpaws.

The Orioles improved to 9-78 on the season when scoring three runs or less and 5-57 when scoring two runs or fewer.

The Orioles went 3-6 on their next-to-last homestand and in each series they lost the first two games but then won the series finale.

Adam Jones was on the front end of a 9-2 double play getting a runner at the plate to help Yacabonis get out of that jam in the fourth. It was Jones' fourth outfield assist of this year and the 99th of his career.

The Orioles ended the season series going 5-14 versus Toronto which included a 5-4 mark at home and 0-10 at Rogers Centre. The Orioles are now 4-13 in September and 12-26 in one-run games.

Coming one night after the Orioles set a team-record for losses, getting a win with such a homegrown flavor was a nice change.