Orioles win in 10th inning on walk-off throwing error (updated)

Tyler Nevin thought he hit his second major league home run tonight, his fly ball carrying to the fence in center field. Kiké Hernández reached up and made the catch, and Nevin slapped his hands together in frustration as he rounded first base.

Every at-bat is important, but especially with the pending roster changes. Who stays, who goes. How to get down to 26 players on Monday.

The out still impressed. Take it as a win, no matter the result.

Solid contact was scarce against Nathan Eovaldi, who didn’t allow a hit until Cedric Mullins lined a double down the left field line with two outs in the sixth inning. One night after Rich Hill retired the first 12 batters.

Runs weren’t plentiful, either. The Orioles didn’t score until the bottom of the eighth, when Mullins doubled on a fly ball to shallow left-center field and came home on Anthony Santander’s single up the middle to tie the game against reliever Matt Barnes.

Hirokazu Sawamura fielded Robinson Chirinos’ bunt and threw the ball over third baseman Rafael Devers’ head to score automatic runner Jorge Mateo in the 10th inning and give the Orioles a 2-1 victory before an announced crowd of 19,927 at Camden Yards.

Six relievers followed Spenser Watkins and combined for 5 1/3 scoreless innings, the last two by Jorge López, and the Orioles ended their five-game losing streak.

“They’ve been great all year,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “We pitched extremely well. Started off with Spenser. I thought he threw the ball great. He got into the fifth inning, they were squaring him up a little that inning. Brought in Bautista, who walked the first but then got a big out. And then the rest of the guys – (Bryan) Baker, (Joey) Krehbiel, (Cionel) Pérez, (Dillon) Tate, Lopey – they gave up two hits the rest of the way. All with great stuff, all working ahead in the count. Just a gutsy performance by our pitching staff.”

"Everybody has confidence in those guys," Watkins said. "They're nasty, they're absolutely nasty."

López stranded the automatic runner in the 10th to keep the game tied, a two-out walk not hurting him.

"Extremely impressed," Hyde said, "especially when you're facing (Trevor) Story, Devers, (Xander) Bogaerts, (Alex) Verdugo. That's one of the best tops of the order in the game. I like his stuff and I'm going to take my chance with him. If that game stayed tied, he was begging me to go back out for the next inning. He just wants the ball, so really happy for him."

Austin Hays reached on Bogaerts’ throwing error leading off the second. He almost broke up the no-hit bid with a line drive at right fielder Jackie Bradley Jr. to end the fourth.

Mullins ended the drama with his double on an 0-1 fastball clocked at 97 mph. Santander grounded out, but the Orioles denied Eovaldi his place in baseball history.

Ryan Mountcastle and Hays had back-to-back singles to open the seventh. Eovaldi stayed in the game, and the lead remained 1-0.

Hyde said Trey Mancini was unavailable tonight with bruised ribs after running into the right field wall Friday night. Hyde's hoping Mancini can play Sunday.

Watkins held Boston to one run and five hits in 4 2/3 innings, coming out at 69 pitches after Devers’ two-out single. Bautista walked Bogaerts and stranded both runners.

Nevin started at third base last night after the Orioles recalled him from Triple-A Norfolk. He served as the designated hitter tonight, with Ramón Urías at third, Chris Owings at shortstop, Rougned Odor at second base, and Kelvin Gutiérrez on the bench for the second night in a row.

The starters went a collective 0-for-14. Owings struck out in the sixth inning, right before Mullins’ double, for the 12th time in 17 at-bats. Odor flied out in the seventh after Hays’ single, Urías lined to right, the runners moved up on a wild pitch, and Nevin struck out on a curveball.

Odor and Urías were the last two outs in regulation. Ryan McKenna batted for Nevin leading off the 10th and drew an intentional walk.

After getting through the weekend, the Orioles could hold onto Nevin as an option in the corner infield and outfield while perhaps removing two other position players. Or his stay here could be brief. He doesn’t know what’s in store.

“I just focus on today,” he said before batting practice. “Facing Nathan Eovaldi, so got to take care of that before I can think about months from now. I think if I play well and do the job I’m supposed to do, that’s the goal, to play in the big leagues. If I can perform, then that would be good.”

The Orioles weren’t going to break camp with Nevin, but he didn’t make it through the month at Norfolk with a .364/.434/.546 slash line, six doubles, two home runs and 17 RBIs in 17 games.

“I was just focused on what was in front of me,” he said. “If I got caught up in what was ahead of me, I might not be able to take care of business. Just be where your feet are. I was just going about each and every day, what was in front of me.”

Nevin’s father, Angels third base coach Phil Nevin, couldn’t attend last summer’s major league debut because he was quarantined with COVID-19. He won’t be here tonight because he tested positive again.

“He feels fine, both of my parents feel fine,” Nevin said. “He said, ‘Hey, I got COVID again, so I feel like you might get called up again.’ But they can watch from home. I’d like to have them here, but he missed the debut, so I think we’ll have to wait until we play Anaheim again for him to see me in person.”

The Red Sox led 1-0 after three batters. Story had a leadoff double, moved to third base on Devers’ groundout and scored on Bogaerts’ single through a drawn-in infield.

Hernández walked with two outs and was stranded. Bobby Dalbec was hit by a pitch with one out in the second and was stranded. Verdugo singled with two outs in the third, after Hays robbed Bogaerts with a diving catch in left field, and he was stranded.

Watkins retired eight of nine batters before Kevin Plawecki’s leadoff single in the fifth and lowered his ERA to 2.55 in four starts.

"Just having control of all my pitches," Watkins said. "I seemed to be a little bit of a one-dimensional pitcher last year, so this year being able to have a couple more dimensions to add, let the fastball play a little bit more, and just a good heavy mix and the preparation we've been putting in before games has been great."

Down on the farm, Adley Rutschman went 4-for-5 in his fourth rehab game with high Single-A Aberdeen. He’s 6-for-13 with three doubles with the IronBirds.

Connor Norby hit his fifth home run of the season.

Infielder César Prieto wasn’t in tonight’s lineup due to a strained right hamstring. He exited last night’s game after a home run and double.

Double-A Bowie’s Zach Peek held Richmond to one run in four innings, with three hits and three strikeouts.