O's pull it out in the eighth to get the homestand off to strong start

As the Orioles look to cut into their deficit in the American League wild-card race, they now get to do so for a long stretch at home. Baltimore beat Oakland 5-2 last night and that was just night one of a 10-game homestand.

It started a stretch where the Orioles will play 17 of their next 22 games at home  and they will be home for 20 of their last 32 games starting Friday.

This should be good news throughout Birdland as the team is 38-24 (.613) with one of the best home records in the league. They are 21-7 in their last 28 home games since June 22.

Tied 2-2 in the eighth last night, the O's pulled out a win on Adley Rutschman's pinch-hit bases loaded walk and a Jorge Mateo two-run single.

The Orioles (70-61) improved to nine games over the .500 mark for the first time since May 20, 2017. After starting April this year going 7-14, the Orioles are 63-47 since May 1.

Right-hander Dean Kremer allowed two runs over six innings and did not get a decision. He did deliver the club's eighth quality start in the last nine games with a rotation ERA of 1.83 in that span. O's starters have an ERA of 2.29 the last 16 games. Yep, that is some darn fine pitching. 

The O's bullpen threw three scoreless last night between Bryan Baker and Dillon Tate. The O's pen has now recorded 10 2/3 scoreless innings in the past four games.

O's pitchers have allowed two runs in the last three games, 11 in the past seven games and 29 runs in the last 12 games.

Gunnar’s best advice: When asked about some of the best advice he got this year before Friday's game, young Gunnar Henderson said for him it came early in the season and it came from infielder Tyler Nevin, who he would later play with on the Triple-A Norfolk Tides.

“One of the biggest things is just be where your feet are,” Henderson said. “Don’t look too far ahead or dwell on what is behind you. I feel like I’ve embraced that this year and really took it to heart.”

Gunnar had two doubles Friday and is 5-for-12 with three extra base hits to start his MLB career. Last night, he became the first player in O's history to start his first three games at three different positions, playing third, short and then second base.

Henderson cited being added at the end of last year to the Double-A Bowie roster when the Baysox were in a pennant race as something that could help him now. Very different levels and much more at stake on a big league field, but at least it is some level of pro experience for him to draw on.

“Last year I kind of got to experience that going up with Bowie at the end of the year, just got some playoff experience. I feel like that will help me going into this. It’s on two different levels. But I feel like being able to do that and have that experience is really going to help me down the stretch,” he said.

In his latest interview with O’s reporters before Friday’s game, Henderson talked about his excitement to make his home debut and told us why he would be paying extra attention during the national anthem.

“Really looking forward to playing my first game here. Hopefully the Yard is packed tonight. Definitely being at the home park for the first time tonight, I’ll take it all in. And just experience it. And then go to work after that.

“Now I get to experience it with a lot of fans that are rooting for us. Be surreal to experience that. Honestly been looking forward to hearing the O in the national anthem. That’s been a thing I wanted to hear ever since I got drafted and first experienced it. Made me jump when I first heard it. Looking forward to it tonight,” he said.

The high praise for Rutschman: No doubt the improvement of Orioles pitching in recent weeks can be at least partially linked to  Rutschman. He has settled in completely back there and become a real leader from behind the plate. The rookie catcher is helping the pitchers in just about every way possible and manager Brandon Hyde noted that before Friday’s game when discussing the back-to-back shutouts with Rutschman catching in Cleveland.

“We’re watching a young player that’s going to be really special,” Hyde said. “Like I told him in the kitchen today, it’s not just normal that you catch back-to-back shutouts against a first-place club on the road. I think he kind of thinks that this … because he’s won so much in his life and he’s had so much success. It’s not easy to do. Just from the defensive side, how he’s handling our pitching staff, the preparation he has going in, the in-game adjustments he makes, everything is off the charts.

“And then the at-bats are so competitive. The lack of chase. He hasn’t even, for me, tapped into the kind of … He’s going to be a really good hitter just because he understands the strike zone, and when he starts piling up at-bats, it’s going to be pretty scary how good he’s going to be.”

Hyde on Hall: Also yesterday Hyde was asked if he plans to get lefty DL Hall right into high leverage situations or would he rather ease him in? The answer is he’d love to ease him in but the club seems to play so many close games that chance may not even present itself.

“How many low leverage spots have we had?” said Hyde. “He’s going to get thrown in there. The way we play, honestly and type of games we play I don’t see another way unless there is a low leverage spot where I could get his feet wet. But I want to see him pitch and I want him to experience this. And we’ll see.”