O'Hearn confident that hits will come again (plus other notes)

The key moments from the eighth inning of yesterday’s game could be plucked from multiple spots.

Start with the tapper near the mound that Adley Rutschman turned into his 13^th infield hit of the season, beating the throw from Twins reliever Jhoan Duran with one out. Anthony Santander saw nine pitches, including three clocked higher than 102 mph, and lined a single into center field. Aaron Hicks tied the game with a single that interrupted his 2-for-26 streak, getting the barrel on a 102.6 mph fastball.

Rookie Jordan Westburg stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and was drilled behind the left hand, the impact of a 101.3 mph heater sending the ball over the protective screen behind the home dugout. The pitch sending the Orioles to a 2-1 win at steamy Camden Yards, enabling them to avoid the sweep.

Within the chaos was a Ryan O’Hearn walk, after he came off the bench to hit for Ramón Urías and got ahead 3-0. Two curveballs and a 101.5 mph fastball missed the mark, and the Twins put him on base intentionally.

O’Hearn has struggled to reach it lately, mired in his own 2-for-26 slump before yesterday. Manager Brandon Hyde sat him against Twins right-hander Sonny Gray, a matchup that otherwise would have put O’Hearn in the cleanup spot.

“It’s the game. You get hot, you cool off, you get hot again,” O’Hearn said in the morning.

“My swing feels fine, mechanics are good. Just maybe some balls that haven’t found holes the last few games, and just got to get back to seeing it good. Continue to hit the ball hard, they’ll fall. We’ve got to get a couple guys going and I think the team kind of catches fire and the lineup gets hot as a whole and then it becomes a lot easier to put up numbers and win ballgames.”

So, hitting is contagious. It’s a real thing.

“That is a fact,” O’Hearn said.

“I think we’re fine and I feel fine, and we’ll just keep going.”

O’Hearn would be more concerned if he felt lost at the plate or couldn’t make hard contact. I've seen some very loud outs.

“No doubt,” he said. “It’s part of the game. Sometimes, stuff like this happens. Just keep on going.”

* The Orioles keep rotating minor league catchers into their clubhouse for the taxi squad. Ramón Rodríguez had a locker at Camden Yards this weekend and said he was on the trip to New York.

Rodríguez, 24, signed a minor league deal in March 2021 after the Dodgers released him. He’s appeared in five games this season with Single-A Delmarva, 21 with Double-A Bowie and three with Triple-A Norfolk and hit a combined .272/.356/.402.

The majors have eluded Rodríguez, 24, but he’s getting to experience it on the taxi squad.

“We have a really great group of guys here,” he said. “I’ve really been enjoying the good vibe that we have here and the winning culture that we’ve created. We have a really bright future for us at the big stage, so I’ve been enjoying being here and over there, too. We have a really good culture over there, too.”

The Orioles are providing Rodríguez with the chance to learn from Adley Rutschman and veterans James McCann and Anthony Bemboom. Rutschman, the first-overall pick in the 2019 draft, was chosen yesterday to the All-Star Game. McCann began his injury rehab assignment with Bowie, while Bemboom serves as backup again.

“Those guys have really good experience here,” said Rodríguez, who’s 5-for-12 with Norfolk. “It’s a great group of guys.”

Rodríguez also played for three affiliates in 2021 before his assignment to the Arizona Fall League, and for three more in 2022. The Orioles keep moving him around to fill holes in the rosters.

“It’s all about the experience,” he said. “I’ve been in this game basically for six, seven years, and I know my role, and I’m just trying to get all the experience as I can and enjoy as much as I can.”

* Ryan Mountcastle was Norfolk’s designated hitter last night and went 1-for-6 with a three-run homer in the eighth inning, his first on his injury rehab assignment.

Colton Cowser led off after not playing Saturday and went 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs scored. He’s batting .330 with a .996 OPS.

Austin Hays is day-to-day with a bruised left hip, and Westburg had his left hand wrapped in ice. We’ll find out later today whether the Orioles make a roster move to avoid possibly playing with a short bench.

* The Orioles appeared to be headed for a second consecutive 1-0 loss yesterday, which would have been a club record.

The franchise hasn’t experienced back-to-back 1-0 losses since the 1909 St. Louis Browns dropped three straight by that score to the White Sox, according to STATS.