PHOENIX – The Orioles’ offense got off to a blistering start. Charlie Morton did not.
In his first 13 pitches of the game, Morton threw just three strikes. A hit by pitch and two walks comprised his 10 balls. But, after loading the bases with no outs, the veteran found a way to get out of trouble with minimal damage.
The three outs that followed felt like vintage Morton. Josh Naylor grounded into a double play, only scoring one, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. grounded out to Gunnar Henderson. When Morton is at his best, he’s keeping the ball on the ground and limiting damage.
And his offense had his back to start the game.
The Orioles’ offense quickly loaded the bases in the top of the first, and Cedric Mullins delivered yet another big hit. A single to right scored two, and gave Morton some early breathing room.
Even Baltimore’s outs were loud off of Diamondbacks’ starter Merrill Kelly. In the first two innings, balls in play that resulted in outs had the following exit velocities: 109.1 mph, 107.5, 98.9 and 107.7. In a process based approach, that was a sign of good things to come.
As it turns out, that sign read “stop,” and the O’s weren’t the next offense to strike.
In the third inning, Corbin Carroll did Corbin Carroll things, taking Morton deep for a solo home run to knot things at two runs apiece.
Entering play, Carroll was in the 96th percentile in expected slugging percentage, 92nd in average exit velocity, 88th in barrel rate, 89th in hard-hit rate, and 86th in launch angle sweet-spot percentage. He’s the type of player that you can only hope to contain.
After a rocky first inning, both starters found a groove.
Six Orioles came to the dish in their two-run first frame. After O’Neill’s double play to end the inning, Kelly sat down 11 consecutive Birds. Jackson Holliday would’ve been the 12th, if not for an error from Eugenio Suárez.
Morton, on the other hand, was far from as clean, but found ways to bob and weave out of trouble until the fifth inning.
The veteran was fortunate to see a Pavin Smith double be of the ground rule variety, leaving runners on second and third. It felt like the type of bounce that you get when things are going your way.
Instead, the next at-bat ended with two runs on the board for Arizona, as Naylor took Morton’s curveball 110 mph down the right field line for a game-changing double.
The veteran righty’s day didn’t last much longer. After Suárez reached on an error and Moreno on a walk, Morton was pulled in favor of Keegan Akin. Akin promptly worked out of trouble, and kept the score at 4-2.
In the bottom half of the frames, Kelly just kept on rolling. After Mullins’ two-run single in the first, 17 consecutive Orioles went without a hit.
It’s no surprise that Mullins was the one to break that streak with a double to kick off the seventh inning.
The next batter, Tyler O’Neill, maybe (probably) got away with a checked swing on a potential strike three, and later walked. First base umpire Laz Díaz didn’t like what Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo had to say about it, and Arizona’s skipper was ejected from the game. Regardless, Merrill Kelly’s day was done.
If you thought that that would be the end of the seventh inning circus, you would be mistaken.
Holliday, with the bases loaded, flew a ball to left field. Gurriel made an outstanding sliding catch, but launched a ball juuuuuuust a bit outside of home plate. Mullins tagged and scored from third, but O’Neill did not tag up at second base and was instead tagged out at third for an inning-ending. It is important to note here that the third base umpire did not appear to make an out call on the catch, which is not particularly helpful for a baserunner.
There was still a baseball game after the circus, and Jorge Mateo delivered some more excitement. Unfortunately for the Orioles, it wasn't all positive.
Mateo pinch ran for Adley Rutschman in the top of the eighth, and immediately stole second and third. Really good! He was then tagged out in a pickle between third and home on Ryan Mountcastle’s ground ball back to the pitcher. Not so good.
The bullpen was, once again, outstanding. Keegan Akin, Bryan Baker and Seranthony Domínguez combined to toss four scoreless innings, allowing just one hit along the way.
But ultimately, it wasn't enough. Justin Martinez and his wicked splitter closed things out, and the O's fell short in a 4-3 loss.
The Orioles can still win the series in tomorrow's rubber match. Dean Kremer and Brandon Pfaadt hit the hill.