Orioles use unconventional lineup to beat Nats (updated)

The Orioles broke out their Sunday lineup a little early.

Or maybe it was too late. They should have tried it last night.

An injury to his starting center fielder and an opposing left-handed starter had manager Brandon Hyde digging into his bench and providing opportunities that eluded a few players.

Chris Davis and Dwight Smith Jr. sat against Nationals southpaw Patrick Corbin. Bryan Holaday served as the designated hitter for the first time in his career. Pat Valaika made his third start in left field and first since 2017. Andrew Velazquez made his first start in center field.

Just crazy enough to work?

Like a charm.

Velazquez registered his first career triple and RBI in the second inning to score Holaday, who singled, and build on an early lead, Rio Ruiz homered again and the bullpen pitched a shutout in the Orioles' 7-3 bounceback win over the Nationals at Camden Yards.

Asher Wojciechowski left after surrendering Trea Turner's home run on the first pitch of the sixth inning. Tanner Scott retired all five batters he faced in the latest dominant performance, Cole Sulser recorded the four-out save and the Orioles improved to 12-8 while trotting out a lineup that included six waiver claims.

Velazquez reached base three times, swiped second, scored twice and moved from center to left in the eighth. Holaday reached twice and scored a run before Smith pinch-hit for him in the sixth.

Juan Soto hit a two-run homer off Wojciechowski in the fourth, the ball traveling 417 feet to the home bullpen and reducing the lead to 4-2, but Ruiz led off the bottom half with his sixth homer of the season.

The stench from last night's 15-3 loss cleared out in a hurry - even without fans.

Pedro Severino had a two-run double off Corbin with two outs in the first inning. The Orioles worked Corbin for 28 pitches, including a slider with the count full that Severino pulled down the left field line.

José Iglesias fueled the rally with his ninth double out of 20 hits this season. Severino improved to 9-for-26 (.346) with 11 RBIs with runners in scoring position this season and 6-for-14 with five RBIs lifetime against his former team.

Holaday lined a single into left field with one out in the second and came home on Velazquez's ball into the right field corner. Alberto flied to center field and the Orioles led 4-0.

Turner's error in the fourth allowed Holaday to reach after Ruiz's home run and Velazquez followed with a single for his first career multi-hit game. Halfway to the cycle, just as Hyde drew it up.

Ruiz had one home run against a left-handers last season in 74 plate appearances. Tonight's shot that caromed off the front of the flag court was his second in 11 plate appearances.

Getting him back on the field after a bout of shoulder soreness has been critical to an Orioles team that's wading through various health issues.

Austin Hays was placed on the 10-day injured list today with a small fracture in his ribcage, an injury caused by a 96 mph fastball from Marlins rookie pitcher Jorge Guzmán during an Aug. 6 game at Camden Yards. Hays was struck in the sixth inning and Mike Morin replaced Guzmán.

One batter too late for Hays.

Velazquez reached on a fielder's choice grounder in the sixth, stole second, moved to third on catcher Yan Gomes' throwing error and scored on Hanser Alberto's double for a 6-3 lead as a light rain fell.

Iglesias collected his third hit with a run-scoring single in the eighth. He was wincing due to his sore quadriceps muscle but didn't leave the field.

Anthony Santander's RBI streak ended at eight games, but he walked twice and singled to extend his hitting streak to 10.

Wojciechowski allowed three runs and five hits in five-plus innings and 78 pitches. Soto's homer, his sixth in 35 at-bats, was followed by two more hard-hit balls that resulted in outs and Wojciechowski yelled at himself as he left the mound, slamming his glove against his leg while approaching the dugout steps.

What followed was a shutdown inning, Turner's ambush and more bullpen usage in the middle of a game.

The Orioles didn't need a position player on the mound tonight. The situation never grew that dire.

Hyde detests doing it, but felt like he had no choice last night with two outs in the ninth inning, the Nationals ahead 14-3 and his bullpen out of available pitching.

An obvious reason to give catcher Holaday the ball - his fifth relief appearance with four teams.

"I thought the game was out of hand and I didn't want to use any of the other bullpen guys," Hyde said earlier today on his Zoom call. "Was hoping Cody (Carroll) could get through that second inning. Didn't want to push him further than he went, so Bryan picked us up and finished it off for us."

The ability to carry extra relievers on an expanded roster doesn't necessarily ease the challenge of managing a bullpen.

Hyde is trying to keep everyone healthy and avoid pushing guys past their physical limits. If that requires staying away from certain pitchers in certain situations, he's more than willing to do it and live with the results.

"I think that was challenging last year," he said. "We only had a few guys available on a lot of nights and it was just because our starters had a tough time getting to that third time through the order and we extended guys a little bit.

"Looking back, I didn't pitch anybody three days in a row out of the bullpen, and that was because I was trying to take care of them as much as I possibly could. I wanted them to try to perform at their best, knowing that it was going to be a tough year. Didn't want to blow anybody out and tried to take care of them as well as I possibly could.

"The same goes with this year in that I want to try to keep these guys healthy. There have been some nights recently where I wouldn't have used certain guys, just because even though it's a short sprint, September does matter and having these guys as fresh as they possibly can. That's not always realistic, though, and that's part of being a big league bullpen arm, is that you've got to be resilient, you've got to be ready, and I feel like we do the best job we can in putting these guys in positions to have success and try to keep them on the mound."

Scott induced three ground balls and struck out two batters. He's allowed one run and two hits with 11 strikeouts in eight innings.

Mychal Givens retired three of four batters and hasn't allowed a run in eight innings. Sulser stranded a runner in the eighth and notched his fifth safe after tackling the heart of the Nationals' order.

The one that didn't include six waivers claims.

Hyde on bullpen: "Once again we threw the ball outstanding out of the 'pen. Went to Tanner Scott really with the heart of their order, two through six, and retired all five of those outs. Just big outs. Then Mychal Givens, another outstanding job. Faced four right-handers. Just gave up that one single that wasn't hard hit off Rio's glove. Unlucky there. And Sulser with four big outs there. Those guys pounded the strike zone. Just impressed with how they're pitching."

Hyde on Velazquez: "Athletic guy with a lot of sped and plays multiple positions. He's kind of a wild card on our team in that he covers us in a lot of ways. Started in center, went to left, can play shortstop and second base. Really athletic guy with great feet and an accurate arm and can go get it. He's a threat when he's on the bases, he's a bunt threat. There are a lot of things to like about Drew."

Hyde on guys having fun: "I think our guys are playing with an attitude like they don't really care what people think. They're playing with nothing to lose, and I hope that continues for the next six weeks."

Wojciechowski on bullpen: "It's been great. The bullpen has just been pitching very well. We have so much confidence in them and they have confidence in themselves. Just like what they did tonight. Tanner looked outstanding tonight. I mean, his stuff was really good. And Givens coming in, he looked just as good. And Sulser came in and shutting the door on them. They've been throwing the ball extremely well. And us as starters, we need to start working deeper into games so they're not working quite as much, but they've been doing a great job."

Wojciechowski on whether surprised by team's success: "No, I'm not surprised at how we're playing. We all believe in each other, we all push each other. We're getting familiar with each other playing every day, pushing each other. We're here to win, we're here to compete and to play the best we can, and that's what we're doing."

Wojciechowski on whether perception of team changing: "Honestly, I don't care what people think. We know what we have here. We're going to push each other, we're going to keep on getting better each day, and that's the goal. Just don't listen to any of the outside noise."

Severino on why the team is successful: "We've been working hard. We play hard every day. It doesn't matter what team we play."

Severino on Scott: "I want to say we do a very good job, everybody - starting pitcher, bullpen, offense, defense. Scott, he can throw more of his pitches in the zone. He's got a good slider, fastball 98 is hard to hit, and now he's got a sinker. Every time he's ahead in the count it's hard for the other guy to hit the ball."