Ruiz drew gains from minors trip, Sisco with something to prove

With as well as he is playing right now for the Orioles, on offense and defense, it can be easy to forget that third baseman Rio Ruiz spent some time in the minor leagues last year. It was just five games in late July and early August at Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. And to hear O's manager Brandon Hyde tell it now, this was more about mind than body or any swing tweaks for Ruiz.

On his postgame Zoom interview after last night's 5-4 win over Philadelphia, Hyde recalled the conversation he had when he told Ruiz he was being sent out.

"For me, the underlying part of that conversation was, 'Get your confidence going. We believe in you. And we want you to go down there and start letting it eat with the bat,'" Hyde said. "When he came back up, you saw more aggressive swings. He took that into the offseason and added some muscle and some really good weight to a really athletic kid already.

"Now, he's stronger and swinging the bat with that aggressiveness. That ball that he hit to right-center (for a homer in the fifth), he didn't hit that in the first half last year. I think more of the reason was, I really like his ability, but I needed him to play with more confidence, like you belong here. He's just taken that to the next level right now and is playing like he's an everyday third baseman in the American League East."

Ruiz's homer, hit 405 feet to right-center, was his fourth of the year and put the Orioles ahead 4-3. In the last of the eighth, his diving stop to his left and backhand shuffle pass of the ball while falling led to a forceout at second base. It thwarted a Philly rally and kept Baltimore in the lead.

It might have been the defensive play of the year for the Orioles.

"That was a huge play. It was crazy," catcher Chance Sisco said. "Just going in the hole is a tough play. Then, I don't know what it takes just to get that ball out of the glove. Great play by him. That was crazy."

Added Hyde: "He's just playing outstanding defense at third base. That play that he made in the hole was a big stop against (Andrew) McCutchen, that was game-saving. Really won us the game."

The win was the Orioles' fourth straight and came on a night their starter went less than four innings, their hitters struck out 15 times and went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position and they fell behind 3-1 in the third. Yet they won again. Two one-run wins in two games versus the Phillies and now they go for their second three-game series sweep of the year this afternoon. If they get it, they can add another three-game sweep in the completion of the suspended game with Washington tomorrow.

It's not often you can record two three-game series sweeps in two days.

During the shutdown of baseball Ruiz and Sisco spent a lot of time together in the Sarasota area. Now both are showing work done then is paying off now.

"We worked out together every single day," said Sisco. "He would come to my house and we would lift. Then we'd go to a local field and throw each other BP and flips and stuff. Honestly, it was really good for both of us to get that work in together. We bounced ideas off each other and we kind of helped each other in a lot of areas. Spending that much time together and learning each other's swings is really cool because coming into this season, now we have a lot better idea of what each other does. And we can help each other whenever we can. And things are going good so far."

Sisco was a co-star with Ruiz last night, among others who played big roles. The 25-year-old lefty-batting catcher drove in three runs with a two-run single to tie the game in the fourth, and he hit a solo homer in the seventh for Baltimore's fifth run.

Sisco is 8-for-21 with two homers and four RBIs. He's batting .381/.536/.762 with a 1.298 OPS. Hyde said he is seeing a more confident Ruiz this year and added that Sisco is showing more confidence as well.

"A lot more. A lot more," he said. "What a treat to have two catchers that can really do a lot of damage offensively. Two guys that are improving defensively, but also big-time offensively. Their confidence level is rising. Nice to see a right-left combination of two young catchers coming into their own. (Lefty reliever Adam) Morgan is not an easy at-bat left-on-left. He has really, really good numbers. For (Sisco) to stay in there closed (against Morgan's slider) and to get that thing out of the park, that was really impressive. Chance is doing a nice job offensively so far this year and playing with a lot of confidence."

A former top O's prospect, Sisco said he and many of his teammates had something to prove beginning this year. Sisco entered it with a .203 career major league average in 132 games, and he hit .210 last year. Others among his teammates had been released or designated for assignment by other clubs.

"All of us kind of have something to prove," said Sisco. "Very few of us on this team don't have something to prove. That makes it fun, that makes it competitive. Games like last night and tonight we're going back and forth with these teams playing hard baseball. They beat that into us last year in spring training, that no matter the results of the games, we're going to play nine innings and as hard as we can every single night."

Sisco said his constant work to improve his defense has paid off as well.

"I feel really good receiving the ball," he said. "I'm in a really good spot. Done a lot of work this season and offseason and the end of last year on receiving the ball. And trying to do different things with receiving and feel I'm in a really good spot with that."

The Orioles are now 4-2 in series, a year after going 10-34-8 in series play. They also now have eight games with 10 hits or more and have scored 47 runs their past six games, counting Sunday's game at Nats Park.