Reviewing how Orioles walked to last night's road win

As Orioles manager Brandon Hyde soaked in the loud music last night and other celebratory sounds coming from the auxiliary tent that serves as the visiting clubhouse at Sahlen Field, the end of a 20-game road losing streak playfully compared to a wild card victory, he highlighted the key points that enabled his club to overtake the Blue Jays.

Less flashy than the big hits were a bunch of walks that validated his lectures to his hitters, young and experienced, about the importance of plate discipline and patience. Nightly examples set by opponents that applying pressure to a pitching staff, rather than taking it off the hook, can lead to runs.

The Orioles took a 6-5 lead in the top of the 10th inning because they milked three walks from Trent Thornton after Trey Mancini stood on second base as the automatic runner.

Anthony Santander walked after Ryan Mountcastle's popup and before Austin Hays grounded into a force. Hays moved to second on Maikel Franco's walk and Mancini scored when Pat Valaika stayed alive during an eight-pitch at-bat and laid off a 96 mph fastball that darted out of the strike zone.

"I'm going to keep promoting walks," Hyde said after the game. "We need to walk more."

Orioles pitchers walked two batters on the night and their offense totaled seven to raise their season total to 209, which ranks 28th in the majors and sits only three from the bottom.

"If you watch, especially with runners in scoring position, we'll expand (the strike zone) and help out the pitcher a lot, and that's something we have to improve on," Hyde said in today's media Zoom call. "The good clubs, they really shrink it on you and they make it really, really challenging on the pitcher. ... We have a long ways to go with that and we're slowly getting better."

Mountcastle impressed after his August call-up by walking 11 times in 140 plate appearances, proof that the message delivered to him in the minors had been received. He has only 11 walks this season in 275 plate appearances, but his total includes three in the past two games, as many as his amount in the previous 40.

"I just see, especially with him, slowly improving just in much better strike zone management," Hyde said. "Ryan went through a rough patch kind of early this season, very, very normal for a year-two player, a young player, for the league to expose him at times and continue to pitch to weaknesses. Ryan's done an amazing job of understanding, trying to make adjustments. It's not going to be an overnight fix, it's not going to be an overnight fix. It's going to be hard and he is working hard at it, understanding the strike zone, because when he swings at strikes and he swings at pitches he can drive, good things do happen.

"Example for me is we just played Houston. You watch those at-bats, those guys do not chase outside the strike zone and that's why they don't strike out, that's why they do damage. They're really good players, but also they draw walks and they're tough to pitch to. ... I think it's good for some of our hitters to see that, too, and I think Ryan recognized that, also, that the more you can shrink your strike zone, the more success you're going to have.

"Ryan's young enough, he can improve on it and I've been really encouraged by the last week or two of his swing decisions."

Santander wasn't in the lineup last night, more rest provided as he deals with a sore left ankle, but he had a pinch-hit RBI single in the eighth and crucial walk in the 10th. He's slashing .143/.192/.184 (7-for-49) with two extra-base hits in his last 15 games.

"I wasn't planning on playing Tony at all yesterday, and for him to come off the bench there, I know that made him feel good," Hyde said. "He's grinding. He wants to produce. He knows he's a much better hitter and player than what this last couple months have shown, and he wants to help the team out. So, last night, for him to come through the way he did, that was huge."