Santander slam still being felt

Anthony Santander didn’t save the Orioles season.

So why does it feel that way?

They were on the verge of falling 2 ½ games behind the first-place Yankees, with zero momentum or offensive thrust. The bullpen was a mess, whether middle, late or closing. Teams in the wild card chase were gaining ground.

I don't recommend panicking but I would have understood.

The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the eighth inning Friday night on a couple of singles and a brain cramp from Astros reliever Bryan Abreu, who fielded a comebacker and bypassed the force at second base or easy out at first. Up stepped Santander, who whipped a crowd of almost 40,000 into an absolute, playoff-feel frenzy with his fourth career grand slam to erase a 5-2 deficit.

Santander took a few steps, chucked his bat with tremendous force, clenched his hands into fists and yelled at the dugout before beginning his trip around the bases.

Maybe a loss wouldn’t have done much damage, but the Orioles were in a funk and these defeats can snowball in any kind of weather. They remained 1 ½ games back, and another thrilling come-from-behind win yesterday drew them within one-half. So yeah, seems like the kind of moment that can turn around a season, if not save it.

Manager Brandon Hyde said the entire dugout exhaled. Santander was more nonchalant about it, as if no one was worried about the decline in overall play.

“We take one day at a time,” he said. “We understand this is a tough game, and there’s still a lot of games. You have to come to the field, prepare, and go out there and compete every single game for the rest of the season.”

They competed yesterday and still trailed 2-0 in the sixth, the bats again resembling wet newspapers. Gunnar Henderson singled with one out, Eloy Jiménez singled with two – poking a sinker into right field – and Colton Cowser beat out a ground ball to first baseman Jon Singleton, who isn’t gonna win many foot races and didn’t have anyone covering the bag for him.

The other bad thing that happened on this play is Cowser dived into first and was safe, which goes against everything we’re taught and we lecture. You don’t gain speed that way. It slows you down. But instincts took over and it worked.

Just this one time.

Anyway, great hustle from Cowser, whose baserunning is one of his many impressive tools. It showed Friday night on Abreu’s attempt to nab him at third.

Jackson Holliday pinch-hit yesterday with the bases loaded, dragging an 0-for-20 streak to the plate, and lined reliever Tayler Scott’s first-pitch splitter into right-center field for a three-run double. The crowd went nuts again.

The bench was thin without Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins, who so far have avoided the injured list, but Hyde won’t back away from a matchup. He wanted a left-handed hitter to replace Emmanuel Rivera, the 57^th player used by the Orioles this season, and 0-fers weren’t going to deter him.

Jackson became the youngest player with three or more RBIs in a pinch-hitting situation since Jeff Burroughs in 1971. A MASN camera showed him grinning with two outs in the top of the ninth as he awaited the next pitch, and of course it was hit to him.

Holliday’s heroics were more fun when tied to the Golden Tee Gold arcade game that the company had delivered to Camden Yards yesterday. He didn’t get a chance to play it before first pitch, but there’s something about it that brings out the best in him - like the six hits in Cleveland, where he had a hole-in-one on a par 5.

The bullpen came up strong again after its four scoreless innings Friday. Keegan Akin, Yenner Cano and Seranthony Domínguez combined for 3 1/3 with two hits and five strikeouts. Domínguez has bounced back from two walk-off home runs at Citi Field to record saves on back-to-back days.

Santander might not have any influence on the relievers, but I’m giving him credit for them, too. It’s like the group is rejuvenated.

The Orioles can win the series this afternoon with Dean Kremer on the mound. He was chosen over Triple-A Norfolk’s Brandon Young, who started for the Tides last night and allowed two runs with 10 strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.

Young fans more people than MinkaAire, but Kremer has back-to-back starts with one run allowed in six innings and the game is on ESPN. Kremer isn’t getting the same extra rest as others in the rotation, but he went more than a month without pitching due to his biceps strain, so he should have plenty in the tank. Go with the hot major league hand.

A few notes from yesterday while I was off:

* Norfolk outfielder Daniel Johnson didn’t play after batting twice Friday and coming out of the game, which seemed to coincide with Mullins’ left quadriceps tightness. Maybe not. Anyway, he didn’t play.

* Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann cleared waivers and was outrighted to Norfolk, so the Baltimore native stays in the organization.

* Infielder Jorge Mateo still doesn’t know whether he’ll need surgery on his left elbow or if he’ll return in 2024. Nothing can be ascertained until the swelling is gone, and he’s soon going to get more testing.

Mateo and Jordan Westburg (fractured hand) are on the injured list, which likely kept Holliday in the lineup before yesterday despite that slump.