Awaiting word on John Means, plus other notes

The Orioles' bid for the season's first four-game win streak came up short in Saturday's 10-4 loss to the Cleveland Indians. The series is now tied at one win each with the rubber match today in Baltimore.

But beyond the loss, the O's concern was for their ace pitcher, John Means, who gave up two solo homers in the first inning and then left after facing just five batters with left shoulder fatigue, something that apparently had been an on-and-off issue over the last few weeks.

Means' results had been more mortal in his last three starts. Means went 4-0 with a 1.21 ERA, gave up five homers and had an OPS against of .438 over his first eight starts of this season. But in his past three starts leading up to Saturday's game, he was 0-1 with a 4.42 ERA, allowing six homers with a .770 OPS against. He took his first loss a week ago Saturday and took his second yesterday.

Means said via Zoom: "It's not major. It's nothing serious, it's more annoying than anything."

But manager Brandon Hyde said Means will get an MRI on Sunday to take a deeper and fuller look.

He's been one of the best pitchers in the majors this year. The Orioles, said Captain Obvious, are very much hoping for good news on Means moving forward.

They continue to get good news on center fielder Cedric Mullins, who went 5-for-5 Saturday with two solo homers, three singles, three runs, two RBIs and 11 total bases. He raised his average from .298 to .314 and his OPS from .839 to .890.

Mullins also went 5-for-5 on April 4 at Boston. According to STATS, the last O's player with multiple five-hit games in a season before Mullins was Tommy Davis in 1974. The team record is three by Luis Aparicio in 1966. Heading into yesterday, Mullins was one of six players in the bigs this season with a five-hit game and none had more than one such game.

According to MLB Stats, Mullins joined two Orioles Hall of Famers in going at least 5-for-5 with two homers in the same game. Brooks Robinson did that on Sept. 4, 1970 and Cal Ripken Jr. did as well on June 13, 1999.

The clubhouse remained solid: The Orioles lost 14 games in a row, a streak that ended on Tuesday, but inside the clubhouse, the players remained upbeat. That was not easy to do. A few wins helped keep it that way.

"I think it's just natural for everybody to be a little looser, and it's a little lighter in there when you're winning and that's just human nature," Hyde said before yesterday's game.

"But even in our tough stretches these last few years, I've always been impressed with the guys in our clubhouse and the coaching staff kind of setting the tone and a consistent mindset. Our clubhouse has always been good. But, yeah, when you're winning, it tends to be a little more talkative, the music's always a little bit louder, the food always tastes a little bit better."

But when the Orioles were not winning, Hyde said he could count on a trio of veteran players to try and keep the team energy up.

"Freddy Galvis and Trey Mancini and Matt Harvey," said Hyde. "They were talking a lot to our younger players. Freddy is always talking to our players and Matt was chipping in also. And Trey is becoming a really nice clubhouse leader. So we have a nice little group there that did a good job of kind of getting our guys together. Hanging out a little bit after games, which was nice to see, talking baseball. Those three guys were really the key guys in our clubhouse to keep the good environment."

The new bird: The Orioles claimed 25-year-old infielder Domingo Leyba, a switch-hitter, on Friday from the Arizona Diamondbacks and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk. Leyba was batting .457 this year (16-for-35) in eight games at Triple-A Reno with four homers and 14 RBIs, but he was 0-for-22 in the big leagues. He batted .280 (7-for-25) with an OPS of .807 in the big leagues in 2019.

Leyba was a perennial top 30 prospect for two teams every year from 2014 through 2019.

2014: No. 8 for Detroit
2015: No. 9 for Arizona
2016: No. 13 for Arizona
2017: No. 3 for Arizona
2018: No. 12 for Arizona
2019: No. 24 for Arizona

Leyba was originally signed as an international amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic by Detroit for $400,000 on July 2, 2012.

For his minors career, he has made 356 starts at shortstop and 214 at second base. In the majors, all seven of his starts have come at second base, where he has played 68 innings, with nine innings at short and three at third base. Scouting reports give his glove decent marks but some feel his arm strength is not what it was before he had shoulder surgery in 2017.

On the farm: The Orioles had a rare rough night in the minors, going 1-4, including High Single-A Aberdeen losing a doubleheader to Hickory. Double-A Bowie's eight-game win streak ended with an 8-7 loss at Hartford in 10 innings. After the Baysox scored three runs in the top of the 10th, they gave up four in the bottom half to fall to 21-6. But coupled with a loss by Triple-A Nashville, it appears they still have the best record in the minors. Adley Rutschman went 3-for-5 and hit a game-tying solo homer in the eighth for Bowie.