O's game blog: Cade Povich makes his MLB debut in the Toronto series finale

TORONTO - O's fans get to see a major league debut today as lefty Cade Povich gets the start for the Orioles in the fourth and final game of their series in Toronto.

Povich has gone 5-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 11 Triple-A starts this season with Norfolk. Over 56 2/3 innings he has allowed 42 hits, including five home runs, and recorded 21 walks and 75 strikeouts for a 3.3 walk rate and 11.9 K rate. He has given up 1.11 WHIP and a .203 opponent average with the Tides.

Povich, originally a third-round pick by Minnesota in the 2021 MLB Draft out of Nebraska, got off to a great start to his 2024 season. In five April starts with Norfolk, he was 2-1 with a 1.03 ERA and 0.76 WHIP.

He took a 2.35 ERA into his most recent start Friday versus Gwinnett, but allowed a season-high six runs on four hits over three innings in easily his poorest start of this season.

But he is one of the club’s top pitching prospects and ranked No. 8 on the O’s top 30 by Baseball America, and No. 9 via MLBPipeline.com.

Lefty Yusei Kikuchi (2-5, 3.66 ERA) will get the start for Toronto in the series finale. In 12 outings this season for the Blue Jays, he has thrown 66 1/3 innings, allowing 69 hits, including six homers, He's walked 14 and struck out 65 batters. He has allowed 1.251 WHIP and posted a 1.9 walk rate and 8.8 K rate.

But Toronto is just 3-9 in his starts this season, losing the last seven in a row since April 27.

Over his past two games, versus Detroit and Pittsburgh, he allowed 11 runs (10 earned) on 17 hits over 8 1/3 innings for an ERA of 10.80. He allowed a batting average of .447 in those games, with an OPS against of 1.187.

The Orioles (39-21) begin play this afternoon 3 1/2 games behind the New York Yankees (44-19) for the American League East lead. The O's posted a 7-2 win Monday at Rogers Centre, romped to a 10-1 victory Tuesday but lost in the last of the ninth, 3-2, last night.

The Orioles have scored 19 runs on 25 hits with eight homers this series. They have scored 31 runs the last five games, 54 in the last nine and 77 in going 10-3 their past 13 games.

Overall, they have won five of seven and 10 of 13. They are 3-2 versus Toronto and 13-5 in division games this season. They have gone 20 straight series without losing an AL East series and will do no worse than a split in this one.

Anthony Santander opened the scoring Wednesday with a solo blast to right field in the second inning, his 12th home run of the season. That extended his hitting streak to a season-high eight games. During that span, he is 11-for-30 (.367) with three home runs, six RBIs and a 1.124 OPS.

In his last 17 games against Toronto, Santander is batting .308 (20-for-65) with three doubles, seven home runs, 16 RBIs, a .677 slugging percentage and 1.060 OPS. Santander has 17 homers in 72 career games against the Blue Jays, his most versus any club.

Infielder Ramón Urías extended his hitting streak to six games with an RBI double in the second inning, finishing the night 1-for-2 with a walk. Over those six games, Urías has gone 7-for-12 (.583) with two homers, four RBIs and a 1.833 OPS. He has eight hits his last 17 at-bats.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa had the walk-off hit that ended last night's game off righty Craig Kimbrel. It was Kiner-Falefa's first walk-off hit as a Blue Jay and the fourth of his career. The most recent was May 27, 2023, while with the Yankees, against San Diego. He finished the night 2-for-4 with two RBIs, his 12th multi-hit effort of the season. Over his last 14 games, he is batting .340 (17-for-50) with three doubles, a triple, a pair of home runs, seven RBIs, a .560 slugging and a .949 OPS.