O's losing streak continues; Elias on Rutschman's Triple-A debut

It was night when too many streaks continued for the Orioles.

They lost their sixth game in a row. They allowed runs in the eighth inning for the sixth consecutive game and they allowed nine or more runs for the sixth straight game. Captain Obvious called to state this was not a good development.

The Orioles (38-73) lost the series opener 9-4 to Detroit last night and have been outscored 63-23 during the losing streak. Where once they were 10-6 since the All-Star break, now they are 10-12.

On the plus side, right fielder Anthony Santander had another multi-hit game, and it was a two-homer game. He hit solo shots in the second and fourth innings for his fourth career two-homer game and first since Aug. 18, 2020 versus Toronto. Santander's 414-foot homer in the second landed on Eutaw Street. It was his second Eutaw Street homer of the year and the fifth of his career, tying him with Rafael Palmeiro for third place all-time. It was the 111th Eutaw Street homer in the history of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, and the 51st by Baltimore.

Over his past seven games, Santander is 12-for-28 (.429) with two doubles, three homers and five RBIs. His last two games he is 5-for-9 with a double and three home runs.

Cedric Mullins went 1-for-4 with a double and walk and extended his career-best hitting streak to 17 games. It is the longest active streak in the majors.

But the Tigers (55-60) inched closer to .500 by improving to 15-9 since the break and to 26-18 since June 19 as the Orioles moved further away from that same break-even mark.

The Orioles have now allowed 24 runs in the eighth innings of the past six games after allowing two last night. This string started when they gave up four in the eighth last Tuesday at New York, and the Yankees scored two in the eighth the next night. Then Tampa Bay scored six, five and five in the eighth over the weekend before the Tigers kept the streak going Tuesday night.

Keegan Akin had another poor outing and could be headed back to the farm after allowing seven hits and six runs over three innings on 68 pitches.

The Orioles will try to end all these streaks on Wednesday night when Matt Harvey (6-10, 6.13 ERA) faces Detroit lefty Tarik Skubal (7-10, 4.32 ERA).

Rutschman was pretty good: In his first game at the Triple-A level, catcher Adley Rutschman had a .500 batting average and caught a one-hit shutout.

So, not a bad way to debut with Triple-A Norfolk, which got a three-pitcher, one-hit, 4-0 home win over Memphis on Tuesday night.

In his third rehab start, lefty Bruce Zimmermann looked ready to rejoin the O's rotation. He threw five hitless and scoreless innings on 55 pitches. He walked two and fanned one and retired the last seven batters in a row as Memphis hitters went 0-for-14 against him.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish followed with three innings of one-hit ball. He allowed a base hit with two outs in the eighth to end the Tides' no-hit bid. Righty Félix Bautista, promoted yesterday to Norfolk, walked one and fanned three in a scoreless ninth to end it. He touched 99 mph with his fastball.

Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias joined the MASN broadcast in the third inning during last night's game and discussed Rutschman's move from Double-A to Triple-A.

"It is always nice to see somebody kind of get the monkey off of their back of that first base hit," said Elias. "You never know, and you don't want a guy to go 0-for-10 or 0-for-15 when starting at a new level, so it's great for him to get a single and a double and now he can just kind of settle in and adjust a level. I'm sure he'll have some new experiences there and have some periods where the production is not there, but it sounded like he swung the bat well and certainly, as is always the case, he'll help the pitching staff and called a great game. So, it's very fun to have him join the Norfolk Tides team and get him a little bit closer to our club here."

Elias was asked why this was the right time to promote Rutschman.

"I think that he had proven over a good number of plate appearances that he had gotten quite a bit out of Double-A," Elias said. "There was still work being done. He and (hitting coach) Ryan Fuller were working on some things mechanically. Getting the type of batted-ball quality on a more consistent basis that he is capable of and that we want.

"But ultimately, he got a couple of laps through the league. He hit .270 with a very good strikeout/walk ratio, and we wanted to get the challenge of facing the type of pitchers that you face in Triple-A. Which is typically more of a little veteran savvy, little better control of the strike zone, maybe not as much velocity as you often face at Double-A, but little better pitchability from your opponent. So this will get him at least several weeks of experience in Triple-A. We'll see where the year ends and he'll at least have that under his belt going into the offseason."

Speaking of first-round picks, Elias said his 2021 top pick, Sam Houston State outfielder Colton Cowser, should move very soon to low Single-A Delmarva and get his first taste with a full-season affiliate.

He has been tearing it up in the Rookie-level Florida Complex League, going 11-for-16 (.688) after a two-hit game yesterday. In five games in the FCL, Cowser hit three doubles and one homer, scored seven runs, drove in seven, stole a base and produced a 1.799 OPS.

So, not a bad start to pro ball for the overall No. 5 pick in the draft.

"It is Rookie ball, but to see a guy go (11-for-16), that is hard to do at any level," Elias said. "I'm not surprised. He's got very good contact, bat-to-ball skills. It's a really short swing. He's an elite contact hitter. And I think that people are going to be pleasantly surprised with the amount of power that he ultimately hits for in the next few years. Got a very projectable frame. He's a really good runner. Think he's a really improved player. This start is nice to see, and we've been excited about him since the draft."