Lowther impresses but Orioles lose lead and game (updated)

The door opens so wide for Orioles in search of an opportunity, it's a wonder that the hinges don't snap in half.

Faces have been reddened by that same door slamming shut, the failures bound to leave a mark.

Zac Lowther got his latest chance this afternoon after making one appearance each in April, May and June, and two in July. Manager Brandon Hyde suggested that the rookie would receive multiple starts and, hopefully, open some eyes in the front office.

Maybe wider than the door.

Lowther hadn't gone more than 2 1/3 innings in the majors or 5 2/3 in the minors this year until completing the sixth today in his second start with the Orioles, who squandered their lead in the eighth and lost to the Royals 3-2 before an announced crowd of 11,973 at Camden Yards.

The organization's 22nd-ranked prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com, held Kansas City to one run and three hits but was denied his first career win after Salvador Perez created a tie in the eighth against Cole Sulser and Andrew Benintendi broke it.

Lowther returned for the sixth at 82 pitches and needed 10 to induce three fly balls and receive a nice ovation heading back to the dugout.

"I thought he just located really well and he was spotting his changeup great down and away to those right-handed hitters and that was making his fastball play up more like it was 96 instead of 90-92," said Austin Hays. "I thought he just did a really, really good job of going changeup down and fastball up, keeping the right-handed hitters off balance."

"Zac threw the ball really well, really happy with the strikes, worked ahead of hitters," Hyde said. "I liked the tempo on the mound. Thought he had a good tempo on the mound. Only walked two, gave us six really good innings. Three hits, only the home run to (Hanser Alberto). That was it. Left with the lead and looked a little sharper than he did when he was up here previously."

Jorge López replaced Lowther, making his fifth appearance in seven days, and lasted just one batter. He covered first base on Benintendi's ground ball to Ryan Mountcastle, rolled his ankle and collapsed in pain.

The Orioles (43-93) announced that López was awaiting further diagnostic testing on the ankle.

"He rolled it pretty good on the base there, so won't know until later tonight, maybe tomorrow," Hyde said. "It did impact (the bullpen) because we had a number of guys down. Pitched a lot out of the bullpen here the last week. Was hoping Lopie could go through the seventh there and possibly even the eighth.

"I wanted to stay away from Tyler Wells unless we absolutely had to pitch him there in the ninth inning. That was an emergency-only situation there with him, just because of his workload lately. It definitely affected how things lined up toward the end."

Conner Greene, who had warmed earlier, was rushed out of the bullpen, allowed a single to Michael A. Taylor and retired the next two batters. Sulser handled the eighth and gave up a leadoff double to Whit Merrifield, who hit the out-of-town scoreboard, moved to third base with one out and scored on Perez's broken-bat bloop single over second baseman Jahmai Jones.

Carlos Santana and Benintendi singled with two outs to give the Royals a 3-2 lead. Benintendi caught Anthony Santander's fly ball at the top of the left field fence leading off the ninth.

Cedric Mullins hit his 26th home run with two outs in the fifth inning for a 2-1 lead after former Orioles infielder Alberto tied the game in the top half with his second.

Alberto's ball traveled 426 feet, per Statcast, and landed above the home bullpen. His 106.2 mph exit velocity exceeded his highest reading as an Oriole, when he was more placement than power.

Lowther nailed No. 9 hitter Hunter Dozier and retired his last five batters, beginning with Whit Merrifield's double play.

"I was able to clean up some mechanics recently, being able to attack some guys," said Lowther, who allowed 10 runs and 13 hits in 8 1/3 innings with the Orioles before today. "The plan going forward we laid out was pretty good, I really liked it. I thought I executed well. The biggest thing, though, I go back to is mechanics and mentality. Early in the year I was feeling a little off, but recently had a rehab stint, so was able to work on a lot of things and kind of get myself back on track.

"It's been really different, for sure, going from a starting role to a reliver role. I wasn't really used to that, but I thought I took it in stride as much as I could. And then the injuries, I wasn't able to give everything I had and my stuff wasn't as crisp as I would like. I think that the injury kind of gave me a good reset. I was able to go down to Florida, get my body right, get my mind right, and then as I worked my way back up I was able to kind of feel out what I needed to work on and what would get me back to Baltimore, and I was able to do that pretty quickly."

The previous high in innings for Lowther this summer came in his last start with Triple-A Norfolk before he got the call as Spenser Watkins' replacement in the rotation - the Orioles choosing him over Mike Baumann among available 40-man roster candidates with the Tides.

"I just want to show them there was a reason I was put on this team, and just being able to kind of go out there and do everything that got me to this point and being able to execute going forward," Lowther said. "The beginning of the season wasn't exactly how I wanted it to go, from my standpoint, whether it be performance-based or health-based. So being able to finish this year strong is my main point, and being able to show them that this is what I'm here to offer."

Mullins led off the bottom of the first, in his major league debut as a designated hitter, with a double into left-center field against Kris Bubic. He never made it past second base.

Mullins reached third base yesterday with no outs in the first and also was stranded. He's batting .367 (44-for-120) in the opening inning this season.

The All-Star began today leading the Orioles in average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, hits, doubles, triples, runs scored, stolen bases and walks. He was tied with Mountcastle for the home run lead with 25 and moved ahead in the fifth inning.

A leadoff single for Jorge Mateo in the second gave him 28 hits in 26 games with the Orioles. He's reached base in 23 of 24 starts.

Mateo was thrown out trying to steal, the call upheld on review, and Ryan McKenna struck out for the ninth time in 12 at-bats since rejoining the Orioles.

McKenna became 0-for-13 with 10 strikeouts in the fourth.

Catcher Austin Wynns reached on an infield single with one out in the third. Alberto made a leaping catch at third base to rob Mullins, Mountcastle walked and Hays grounded an RBI single into center field for a 1-0 lead.

Hays extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

"I think my luck has increased a little bit, gotten some balls to fall," he said. "I'm just trying to stay in the zone and just be on time for the fastball and lay off the off-speed stuff out of the zone. Nothing crazy, no mechanical adjustments, just continuing to try to do the same things that I've done the whole year, and I think something finally clicked and I'm starting to have some positive results here."

Pinch-hitter DJ Stewart singled off Scott Barlow with two outs in the ninth to represent the tying run, but Jones struck out with the count full.

Hyde said Trey Mancini wasn't available to pinch-hit. Mancini's only action was to catch Eddie Murray's ceremonial first pitch.

"Trey's just got some general soreness," Hyde said. "He got hit with a ball on the foot yesterday. We were staying away from him today entirely."

The last five games have been decided by one run.

"I'd like to see us score some runs to take some pressure off the pitching," Hyde said. "Would like to win these close games, especially when you have the lead late."

Zack Burdi stranded a runner on third base in the ninth while becoming the 56th player used by the Orioles this season, two short of the club record set in 2019. He joined them on Aug. 30.

Dusten Knight, optioned this morning, could rejoin the Orioles if López goes on the injured list.

Rookie Alexander Wells starts Tuesday night, with Matt Harvey and John Means pushed back.

Note: The Orioles made the following minor league promotions:
Outfielder Kyle Stowers: Double-A Bowie to Norfolk
Infielder Willy Yahn: Single-A Aberdeen to Bowie
Outfielder Mason Janvrin: Single-A Delmarva to Aberdeen
Pitcher Jake Lyons: Delmarva to Aberdeen
Outfielder Mishael Deson: Rookie-level Florida Complex League to Delmarva

Stowers, the 71st-overall pick in the 2019 draft out of Stanford University, leads the system with 24 home runs and is moving up to his third level this summer.