More on Brooks' relief outing and minor league award winners

The Orioles went the more traditional pitching route last night in a 7-6 loss to the Mariners at Camden Yards.

Asher Wojciechowski was the starter instead of an opener. No reliever worked more than Dillon Tate's 2 1/3 innings. Manager Brandon Hyde used six of them as the game marched into the 13th.

The seven relief innings logged Friday night by Aaron Brooks rank among the most in Orioles history. As you might expect.

Brooks was the fourth pitcher in the majors this season to throw seven or more innings in relief, according to the research department at STATS. The Mariners' Wade LeBlanc and the Angels' Félix Peña have done it twice and the Angels' Dillon Peters once.

Brooks' seven innings, in which he allowed only one run and one hit after replacing Richard Bleier, were the most for the Orioles since Arthur Rhodes worked seven on July 13, 1995 versus the Royals.

Rhodes entered the game in the first inning after, get this, Mike Mussina allowed six runs and six hits in two-thirds. Rhodes held the Royals to one run and three hits and struck out 10 batters in a 9-8 loss.

Mike Oquist tossed seven innings on May 21, 1994 in the Bronx, Jay Tibbs worked seven on Sept. 26, 1988 against the Yankees and Dave Schmidt worked seven on May 9, 1987 in Chicago.

Scrolling deeper into the club's bullpen history, Sammy Stewart worked 7 2/3 innings on Aug. 31, 1985 against the Mariners and Ken Dixon worked 8 1/3 on Aug. 12, 1985 versus the Indians.

Who holds the club record for longest relief outing?

According to STATS, Billy O'Dell went 11 2/3 innings on Aug. 2, 1957 against the Kansas City Athletics. Hoyt Wilhelm handled 10 innings out of the bullpen on Aug. 6, 1959 against the White Sox.

O'Dell replaced Jerry Walker in the first inning of Game 1 of a doubleheader at Memorial Stadium and allowed two runs in 11 2/3 in a 5-4 win. George Zuverink retired two batters and earned the decision.

Last night's game started after the Orioles honored their minor league award winners, including co-Pitchers of the Year Michael Baumann and Grayson Rodriguez.

Baumann, 24, posted a combined 2.98 ERA with 142 strikeouts in 24 games (22 starts) between Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie. He tossed a no-hitter for the Baysox on July 16 and allowed only one run with 32 strikeouts in his first 27 innings after the promotion.

"I think the biggest thing was just with my consistency," he said. "Cleaning some stuff up with my delivery and also polishing up some secondary pitches and command.

Baumann was promoted to Bowie and thrust in the middle of a spirited playoff push that carried the team to the Eastern League Championship Series.

"It was a blast going into that situation," he said. "The rotation and the bullpen were all pitching well, and I'm a firm believer that winning's contagious and they set the bar high. I think we were all just going out there and trying to ride the momentum."

"Mike was a big piece of that second half for us," said Bowie manager Buck Britton. "For him to keep up where he left off in Frederick is pretty impressive for a guy making the jump. From A ball to Double-A is a pretty big jump, especially from the pitching side. He did a nice job and he helped solidify that rotation once we lost (Bruce) Zimmermann."

Rodriguez, 19, was named the South Atlantic League's Most Outstanding Major League Prospect after he went 10-4 with a 2.68 ERA and 129 strikeouts in 20 starts with Single-A Delmarva in his first full professional season. The Orioles made him the 11th overall pick in 2018.

"I'm very happy with it," he said. "Our goal coming in was just to get better every day. Results were something that would come second. At the beginning of the year, it was all about just getting better each and every day and the results were there in the end and I'm pretty happy with it."

There's always room for improvement.

"I guess just overall pitching," he said. "It's something that can always get better. Off-speed, whether it be the changeup, a newly acquired pitch I started throwing this year. Just perfecting that and being able to come out and throw more strikes."

The Shorebirds were eliminated in the South Atlantic League playoffs after posting the best record. The pain fades slowly, but it does go away.

"Making it to the playoffs is something big anyway and that's a positive," Rodriguez said. "Kyle Moore, our manager, told us at the beginning of the year that he wasn't really worried about wins and losses this year. He was just worried about us getting better. He told us if we got better each and every day, that was a win in his book.

"I think everybody was able to do that, everybody had a great year and we were very happy we made it to the playoffs. It wasn't the end result that we wanted, but it definitely was still a successful year."

Shorebirds pitching coach Justin Ramsey earned the organization's Cal Ripken Sr. Player Development Award after his team led the South Atlantic League in ERA (3.00), WHIP (1.18), and strikeouts (1,389), and allowed the fewest home runs (67). Delmarva set the SAL record for the most strikeouts in a single season.

"Just him coming out and introducing all the new stuff that the organization's putting into our system," Rodriguez said. "A lot of guys kind of took it and ran with it. We saw success with it early and just kept with it throughout the whole season."

The data "kind of lets you know what kind of pitcher you are," Rodriguez said. "It lets you know more in-depth your strengths and weaknesses on paper. And seeing what you can attack hitters with and having the odds in your favor."

Rodriguez, Gray Fenter, Drew Rom, Ryan Wilson and Nick Vespi each struck out 100 batters in fewer than 100 innings.

"I've been saying the whole time, you keep giving good players to me it makes me look like a better coach," Ramsey said. "So it helps getting Grayson and Rom and Fenter, and the list goes on and on. Even starting me with Blaine Knight and the guys that moved up in the ranks.

"I think it's just an exciting time. You see the development for a lot of guys worked at all the levels and just seeing what the future's going to bring, it's very exciting for all of us."

Britton made the managerial jump from Delmarva, where he debuted last summer in the role. He joined Moore and the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League's Alan Mills as minor league Managers of the Year.

Britton spotted some distinct differences at the two levels.

"I think first off, the player gets a little older, so the age gap gets a little closer," he said. "But as far as the managing side of it, just the speed of the game and how quickly things can escalate. And just the ability of learning how to slow the game down and then thinking ahead, which helps in that process."

Britton also has seen the benefits of the data provided to his players.

"I think the biggest improvements we've seen are on the pitching side," he said. "They brought in a lot of technology and these guys are starting to understand how their stuff plays in the strike zone. I think we saw the biggest jump on that side of it. The hitting side is still coming along.

"I think we're going to see some more technology being implemented this next year. But it's good. The players love the information and they're learning how to use it, which his important."

Britton is returning to Bowie next season, but others in the system haven't been as fortunate.

"It's tough," he said. "Whenever a new regime comes in you know there's going to be changes. We lost a lot of good guys. I know Mike (Elias) is going to get a full offseason and we've seen the people that he's brought in just in a half off-season that he had and we're looking forward to some guys coming in with new energy, a new focus and continuing where we left off this year and building blocks as this thing turns around."

I've also reported that Moore is expected to manage Frederick next season. He filled in for Kevin Bradshaw last summer at short-season Single-A Aberdeen before joining the Shorebirds for their historic season.

"What jumps off the pages is 90 wins, but for me it's just about how much better the players got this year as a whole," Moore said. "I think the entire pitching staff got better. Everybody they sent us got better and we promoted 14-15 guys because of how much better they got.

"That was kind of the foundation we built everything on was everybody who comes in this clubhouse has to get better, and so even though we got a lot of praise for the 90 wins and all that, an overwhelming majority of the guys got better considerably."