Stewart stands out in 4-4 tie with Phillies

Yesterday's exhibition opener felt more like an orange carpet event marking the latest inspiring achievement in Trey Mancini's comeback from colon cancer surgery.

Today's game against the Phillies in Clearwater, Fla., which ended in a 4-4 tie after seven innings, placed the spotlight on a former first-round draft pick and a couple of Rule 5 selections.

Less emotion, for sure, but an important day for evaluating talent.

DJ Stewart said he's more of a "line drive, base hit guy," but he keeps hitting home runs, including today's two-run shot in the first inning after Austin Hays singled.

Stewart also reached on a fielder's choice that scored Tyler Nevin and lined into a double play started by right fielder Matt Joyce.

"He swung the bat really well today," Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said of Stewart in his Zoom conference call. "He dropped the barrel on a slider from (Aaron) Nola and got the ball up in the air to right field, and then he smoked that ball to right field in his second at-bat. I thought he had really good at-bats.

"I was pleased with Austin Hays' at-bats. We had better at-bats today than we did yesterday. ... Pretty good offensive day."

"The biggest takeaway of today, first two at-bats, they were both with two strikes, so just kind of shortened up and put it in play," Stewart said. "We talked about hitting the ball to all parts of the field, but I 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."

Hyde wants batters to be aggressive on balls they can handle early in the count, attacking the "hittable strikes," but there's also value in exhibiting patience and working the count. A tricky balancing act.

"This guy (Stewart) can do so much damage, I think he can be a little too patient at times," Hyde said, "but I was really happy with his approach today. Laid off some tough pitches. I liked the two-strike approach and I liked the swings that he took."

Jorge López worked two innings and was charged with two runs and five hits. Left fielder Ryan Mountcastle lost a fly ball in the sun in the first that turned into a two-run double.

"I just thought (López) was missing location the first inning," Hyde said. "A lot of time in these first outings in spring, guys can be a little over-amped, maybe not have the normal feel, just because they're anxious to get out there. And to me that's how he looked in the first inning.

"He tried to do too much, a lot of yanks with his fastball, and then the second inning I thought he calmed down and was in the strike zone more often, made more quality pitches."

Joyce hit a two-run homer off Shawn Armstrong in the third inning before the Orioles rallied to tie in the fifth.

Rule 5 picks Mac Sceroler and Tyler Wells each tossed a scoreless inning. Sceroler loaded the bases in the sixth and escaped the jam by striking out Brad Miller.

"I think the same thing with Lopey there in the first inning, I just thought they were really excited to get out on the mound, maybe trying to impress a little too much," Hyde said.

"You saw Sceroler with that curveball there to strike out Miller, that last pitch. He was kind of cutting it off the hitters prior, trying to do a little too much with it and then kind of settled into the inning and did a nice job of escaping trouble.

"Same with Wells, walked the leadoff hitter and then kind of settled down and made some better pitches after that. Like I said, a lot of times guys their first outing don't have great feel yet or are a little too pumped up and both guys settled down well into their innings."

Left-hander Zac Lowther and Evan Phillips each had a scoreless inning. Phillips struck out two batters.

"We're going to give Lowther a long look," Hyde said. "He's a guy who's had a really nice minor league career up to this point, put up some great numbers, and would like to see how that translates up here. I thought his fastball command was a little bit iffy today and that's something he needs to be sharp with to be effective. Today it was just a little bit erratic, but it was his first outing in big league camp this year and he'll get a lot more appearances."

John Means starts Tuesday against the Yankees in Sarasota and left-hander Wade LeBlanc starts Wednesday against the Braves in North Port. Atlanta is starting left-hander Drew Smyly.

The Orioles announced that Katie Krause has been named director of public relations. Krause will oversee the day-to-day operations of the PR department and "generate creative opportunities to publicize the club's efforts on the field and in the community," per the news release.

The 2021 season is Krause's 10th in professional baseball. She served as the senior manager of corporate communications for the Diamondbacks prior to joining the Orioles.