Franco on getting hit: "It shouldn't be like that"

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said today that he hasn't spoken or reached out to Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo since yesterday's heated exchange on the field after Alek Manoah appeared to be aiming at third baseman Maikel Franco in the fourth inning and benches and bullpens emptied.

Manoah nailed Franco on the shoulder with a 93.8 mph sinker after surrendering back-to-back home runs to Ryan Mountcastle and DJ Stewart in the fourth inning. The Orioles hit six home runs on the day. Franco getting hit became a big story.

"Those things happen during competitive games and today's a new day," Hyde said this morning in his Zoom call with the media.

Manoah pleaded innocent after the Jays rallied for a 10-7 win.

"I'm just out there competing, man," Manoah told reporters. "I threw (Franco) a ton of sliders his first at-bat. Reese (McGuire) wanted to throw a slider again, but I said no because of that. I previously gave up two home runs on a fastball in and slider in to Mountcastle that stayed down the middle, and I need to pitch in. I tried to get that fastball in, and it slipped away. I was kind of confused at his reaction and was questioning what's going on. Those were my hand gestures as I was walking towards him. I was trying to figure out what was going on."

Franco had a pretty good idea what was happening.

Asked today if he still believes the pitch was intentional, as Hyde stated yesterday, Franco replied, "At some point, I think, yes and at some point no, but that's just part of the game and I don't really worry about it. That was last night, that happened. ... I'm not even worried about that."

Franco suspected that he might be a target after the two home runs.

"At the end of the day I'm going to say yes," Franco said. "He had been working the zone pretty good, you know what I'm saying? But for me, maybe I get mad sometimes because if you want to hit somebody, try to just pick a spot, you know what I'm saying? Like my shoulder or my neck, kind of close to my face, at the end of the day it's not fair, so pick a spot and be more careful what you do."

It's part of the game, but Franco doesn't have to like or accept it.

"It shouldn't be like that," he said. "If we hit back-to-back home runs, as a pitcher the only thing you say is make an adjustment and make a good pitch. It shouldn't be like that."

The Orioles led 7-4 heading into the ninth yesterday and surrendered six runs. Paul Fry took the loss and Rule 5 pick Tyler Wells was tagged with a blown save.

Fry was charged with four runs and Wells allowed two after letting three inherited runners score. Tanner Scott allowed a run in the seventh and Marcus Semien homered off Hunter Harvey in the eighth.

Scott, Harvey, Fry and Wells were pitching on consecutive days, but Hyde isn't using it as an excuse.

"I think you've got to be able to pitch back-to-back to be a reliever in the big leagues," Hyde said. "That was Hunter's first time this year, that's something he's going to do again. Tanner has done it a bunch, Paul Fry has done it a bunch, so I didn't think that was a factor.

"We just played Cleveland. Those guys went three days in a row, the back end of the bullpen. Same thing in Chicago, same thing in D.C. when we faced those guys. So that's part of being a back-end bullpen reliever is being durable, and you've got to be able to pitch on back-to-back days."

Cesar Valdez threw a bullpen session this morning. He hasn't pitched since June 13 and has made only four appearances this month. Adam Plutko has pitched three times in June, most recently on Tuesday.

Hyde said it isn't a physical issue.

"It's just matchup-wise," he said.

Fry's has been falling behind hitters more frequently of late. He walked two more batters yesterday and his ERA increased from 1.78 to 3.12.

"Every pitcher's going to have tough times during the season," Hyde said. "It's a six-month season, you're going to have good times, you're going to have some times when you're maybe not going to be your best. Paul has been unbelievable for us this season and he had a great year last year, too. The last few times, maybe the command hasn't been quite what he has been when he's going really well.

"We have confidence that he's going to get back and next time he's available and we're in a big spot, he's going to be back out on the mound."

The Orioles are starting Keegan Akin, Jorge López and Thomas Eshelman for the three-game series against the Astros that begins Monday at Camden Yards. The Astros are starting right-handers Jake Odorizzi, Zack Greinke and José Urquidy.

For the Blue Jays
Marcus Semien 2B
Bo Bichette SS
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 1B
Teoscar Hernández DH
Randal Grichuk CF
Cavan Biggio RF
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. LF
Santiago Espinal 3B
Reese McGuire C

Hyun Jin Ryu LHP