Means allows two solo homers in return and Orioles lose 5-2 (updated)

John Means came out of the dugout first tonight, the honor bestowed upon the starter, the one-time ace. The September addition who hadn’t pitched since April 13, 2022.

Means received a loud ovation during introductions, with many fans standing to cheer him. It happened again after he reached the mound and heard his name on the public address system.

The enthusiasm over his return wouldn’t die. Paul Goldschmidt’s two-out home run in the first inning only impacted the score.

Means also surrendered a bases-empty, two-strike homer to Towson University’s Richie Palacios in the fourth in a 5-2 loss to the Cardinals before an announced crowd of 15,526 at Camden Yards. He allowed three runs and four hits in five innings, with no walks and one strikeout.

He’s back. That’s a win for the 91-53 Orioles, who remain three games ahead of the Rays, that might impact the division race on another night.

"It's great to see him pitch the way he did," said manager Brandon Hyde.

"It's his first start in (17) months, and to go five innings, 75 pitches, only making a couple mistakes throughout, holding his fastball velocity, it was pretty close to where our target was for him in his first time out. The adrenaline in the big leagues, everything else that goes along with it, is way different than any sort of minor league rehab start. So, really happy with how he looked."

The outing seemed normal to Means, rather than a grand return from surgery, after he walked onto the field.

"I had a lot more nerves, I think, before the game than I usually do," he said. "Kind of felt like a debut again. But once I got out there and started pitching again, it felt natural."

Means said he wanted to avoid soaking in the atmosphere and risk losing focus.

"I tried to just take it like any other start, try to stay in the moment and not worry about anything outside," he said.

"He looked to be pretty much in control of his emotions, everything, in the bullpen," McCann said. "He had a really good bullpen pregame. ... I didn't think there were any emotions or anything that was kind of holding him back. I thought he was pretty zoned in from the get-go."

Shut out for four innings and with the top of the order due, the Orioles broke through against Adam Wainwright and scored twice to reduce the lead to 3-2. Adley Rutschman drew his second walk, Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander singled and Ryan O’Hearn reached on a force.

The first two batters reached against Matthew Liberatore in the seventh and Cedric Mullins grounded into a double play. James McCann hit into two, the second after Jordan Westburg’s one-out walk in the eighth.

The Orioles were 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base.

"Every game right now is important," Hyde said. "Unfortunately, we didn't have the best night offensively. Had traffic all night but couldn't push runs across, unfortunately. But it was nice to see him out there."

Jorge López replaced Means and retired his first four batters before Palacios hit another home run in the seventh for a 4-2 lead. Palacios totaled one in 69 career games before tonight, and he wasn’t in the lineup.

Cionel Pérez inherited a runner from López and Lars Nootbaar delivered an RBI single.

Hyde removed Means after 75 pitches and 55 strikes, the last a fastball clocked at 87.2 mph. Means threw 86 pitches in his penultimate start with Triple-A Norfolk.

"I think it was good enough, maybe," Means said. "I thought the changeup was good, I thought the fastball was OK. I just had no breaking ball, so try to work on that in the coming days. But other than that, I felt healthy.

"I don't really believe in moral victories, to be honest with you. I wanted to get the win today, but just didn't quite pitch well enough."

"It was great seeing him out there," Hyde said. "I'm sure he had a ton of butterflies. I haven't talked to him since, but I thought he had really good stuff. I thought the fastball velocity looked, it was 93-94. Thought he had some good changeups. Made a mistake there to Palacios with the curveball, but fastball-changeup were really good."

Most noticeable about Means was the way he pounded the zone. Twenty-three of his first 26 pitches were strikes through 1 2/3 innings. Wainwright threw nine strikes among 24 pitches in a scoreless first.

"Threw a ton of strikes," Hyde said. "That's something he does. He looked like John Means."

"For me," McCann said, "a guy coming back who's been away from the game as long as he has, pound the zone the way he did, coming right at guys, that was good to see."

McCann was most impressed with Means' tempo, saying it was "phenomenal."

"He got the ball, got on the rubber, and he was ready to go," McCann said.

An 11-pitch fifth while retiring the side in order left Means at a count that suggested he might return for the sixth, but he was done. His lone strikeout came on a changeup to Nootbaar, his next-to-last batter.

Asked if he considered another inning for Means, Hyde said, "Not at that point with what the score was and where they were there with Goldschmidt there and (Nolan) Arenado coming up with a 3-2 game. Do I push him for eight to 10 more pitches? I thought the right thing to do was to get Lopey in there."

Means’ first pitch for the Orioles in 17 months was a 92.8 mph fastball for a strike. He needed only eight to complete the inning. Nootbaar flied out on a 93.5 mph fastball, Tommy Edman grounded a changeup to third. Goldschmidt launched a 93.8 mph fastball 401 feet to the bullpen, and Arenado popped up a changeup.

"The solo homer to Goldschmidt in the first inning, got to tip your cap," McCann said. "That ball was at his neck and he found a way to get good wood on it."

The Cardinals loaded the bases with no outs in the second on two bloop singles and a fielder’s choice, with Means late covering the bag. Nolan Gorman reached and came out with right hamstring tightness.

Jordan Walker’s fly ball increased the lead to 2-0. Means prevented further damage with a liner to center and bouncer to short. Twenty-seven of 33 pitches were strikes.

After retiring the side in order in the third, Means got two outs in the fourth on fly balls and hung an 0-2 curveball to Polacios, who came off the bench to replace Gorman. Means bent down with his hands on his knees.

He straightened and finished strong, and he should be able to make a few more starts before the regular season ends.

Does Means stay on schedule?

"We're talking about a lot of things right now," Hyde said.

For Means, there's joy in pitching in meaningful games with postseason implications. It's brand new to him.

He was cognizant of limiting the pressure placed on himself and not trying to do too much too soon.

"Just try to stay within, work on the breaths, and kind of be in the moment mentally," he said. "I've had a lot of time to try to work on that over the past couple seasons. Try to take that, take it day-by-day, and take what I've learned."

Wainwright, who’s retiring after 18 years in the majors, walked the first two batters he faced and escaped the jam. His curveball didn’t crack 70 mph. He got a called third strike on Santander with an 86.1 mph fastball.

Westburg, who missed the past two games, grounded a single into center field with two outs in the second and was stranded. Henderson had a bloop double with one out in the third and the next two batters grounded out.

Austin Hays and Adam Frazier had back-to-back, one-out singles in the fourth. Westburg grounded to Arenado, who booted the ball to load the bases, but McCann bounced into a 6-4-3 double play.

Wainwright’s last pitch in the fifth, with two runners in scoring position following Hays’ double, was a 74 mph curveball to strike out Frazier. He left with a 3-2 lead and snapped a seven-start losing streak. He now has 199 career wins.

Means owns 20, but can find plenty more in the coming years. He isn't nearing the finish line of his career.

"Today felt great physically," he said, "better than I felt in a long time."

* Norfolk’s Justin Armbruester allowed three runs and two hits in six innings. He walked five batters and struck out six. Tyler Wells retired all three batters and got a strikeout.

Coby Mayo had an RBI single.

John Rhodes hit his 17^th home runs for Double-A Bowie and TT Bowens hit his seventh. Alex Pham allowed one run in five relief innings.