Cade Povich put his hands on his head as Colton Cowser scaled the center field fence. A spectacular catch would limit the damage in the fifth inning and make it easier for the Orioles to rally. Having the ball fall on the other side would hasten his departure and complicate a comeback attempt.<\/p>\n
Cowser landed on the track without the ball. Spencer Torkelson circled the bases with a 419-foot home run. And Povich was gone after one more batter.<\/p>\n
A winning West Coast road trip was followed tonight by a 5-3 loss to the Tigers before an announced crowd of 20,291 at Camden Yards. The Orioles are 13 games below .500 again, with the return of a couple more injured players unable to provide a needed spark against the best team in baseball.<\/p>\n
Povich was done after Zach McKinstry\u2019s triple. He allowed five runs and nine hits with one walk and six strikeouts. The start drained him of 98 pitches and raised his ERA to 5.46.<\/p>\n
Jordan Westburg marked his return from the injured list with a leadoff homer off Will Vest in the ninth, his first since April 19, but the next three batters were retired.<\/p>\n
“I know he’s been working his butt off, and I heard he had a good week down in Triple-A, so I was really happy to see him have success up here,” said Gunnar Henderson. “And yeah, glad to see it right off the start.”<\/p>\n
The Tigers led 1-0 in the second inning on McKinstry\u2019s one-out triple into the right field corner and Wenceel P\u00e9rez\u2019s fly ball to right. Povich had four strikeouts through the second.<\/p>\n
A rally in the third inning, fueled by singles from Jahmai Jones and Riley Greene, ended with Dillon Dingler\u2019s second strikeout. Povich was up to 58 pitches but keeping the game close.<\/p>\n
A tie manufactured in the bottom of the third dissolved in the top of the fourth when P\u00e9rez doubled off the left field wall with two outs and scored on Javier B\u00e1ez\u2019s single to right.<\/p>\n
Two-out damage struck again in the fifth on Greene\u2019s double to right-center and Dingler\u2019s fly ball that fell inside the right field line for a 3-1 lead \u2013 Detroit\u2019s seventh hit of the night. The eighth followed on Torkelson\u2019s two-run shot.<\/p>\n
“I think you get through three innings and then you give up a bunch of runs with two outs, I think anybody\u2019s gonna be pretty pissed off,” Povich said.<\/p>\n
“Apparently not making good enough pitches. I don\u2019t know. It’s soft is what it is.”<\/p>\n
Interim manager Tony Mansolino said the rallies with two down and nobody on base were talked about among the staff in the dugout.<\/p>\n
“I think it was three out of the five innings that he started off, it was two quick outs and then traffic,” he said.<\/p>\n
The Tigers started left-hander Brant Hurter as an opener and he stranded a runner in each of the first two innings after an error and a hit by pitch. Jackson Holliday singled in the third, stole second base with two outs and scored the tying run on Henderson\u2019s single.<\/p>\n
Chase Lee replaced Hurter, who had a 1.62 ERA in 18 appearances, 17 in relief, before tonight\u2019s game. Sawyer Gipson-Long entered in the fourth and tossed four scoreless innings with one hit before Holliday doubled in the eighth and scored on Adley Rutschman\u2019s fly ball to the left field track.<\/p>\n
The Orioles put two runners on base with two outs, but Ryan O\u2019Hearn struck out with the count full against Tommy Kahnle. O\u2019Hearn should have drawn a four-pitch walk, but plate umpire Alex Tosi blew the call on a 3-0 changeup that missed low.<\/p>\n
The Orioles are 26-39 this season and 4-14 against left-handers. They\u2019re going to see another one Thursday when Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal closes out the series.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The bullpen keeps doing its job, logging 4 1\/3 scoreless innings tonight and allowing one run in the last 28.<\/p>\n
The Orioles lost Jorge Mateo earlier this evening with left elbow inflammation but reinstated Westburg and Cedric Mullins from the injured list. They\u2019re creeping closer to the roster that they envisioned, so they\u2019ve got that going for them.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back on Opening Day and the guys who we started with and just kind of the impact that had on the team early, and to lose a lot of those guys, yeah, definitely affected the team,\u201d Mullins said this afternoon. \u201cGuys coming back healthy, especially this early in the season, we\u2019re hoping for good things out of ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n
But is there enough season left to do it?<\/p>\n
\u201cThe previous two years I\u2019ve been up in the big leagues, we\u2019ve had ballclubs that are in first and second place at this time, and I haven\u2019t really had to gauge that question,\u201d Westburg said. \u201cI don\u2019t know how to answer that. I hope there is. I really like the way that the team\u2019s playing just from afar the last couple weeks. I\u2019m pretty confident in this group. I\u2019m gonna try to focus on the positives and try to stack one day at a time and we\u2019ll see what happens at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a long season. I know I\u2019ve said that and I\u2019m sure you all are tired of hearing that, but it is and there\u2019s a lot of things that can change.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, it started off slow,\u201d Mullins said. \u201cGood teams do that year after year. It\u2019s a matter of how you respond. We\u2019ve been responding pretty well as of late, so it\u2019s just continuing to keep that momentum going.\u201d<\/p>\n
To dig out of this hole, Westburg suggests that the Orioles take the cliched approach of one day at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s certainly what I\u2019m doing now that I\u2019m back and healthy,\u201d he said. \u201cJust try to take one pitch at a time, one day at a time, and stack good performances, stack team wins, stack the positives. Staying positive is a huge thing, I think. It\u2019s easy to get negative, it\u2019s easy to feel negativity from all the outside voices, and I think the guys in here just need to stay positive and stay focused on one day at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Westburg got a much closer look tonight at what he\u2019s tracked from afar prior to his return. It pained him to count up the losses and know that he couldn\u2019t do anything about them or provide support.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally hard,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are my guys. I don\u2019t want to say that I could have done anything different, but I want to go through it with them and at least be a part of that group. Just kind of being separate and away was hard. It always is. Everybody on the IL feels that way. To be back in the clubhouse, I hope I can bring something to the table. I don\u2019t know what that is, but maybe a little bit of spark or some help. Something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mullins went 0-for-4 and didn\u2019t get the ball out of the infield. Westburg grounded out twice and was hit by a pitch before lining a 96.4 mph fastball over the left field wall for a last glimmer of hope.<\/p>\n
\u201cI liked the first at-bat, the ball he hit hard right at the second baseman,” Mansolino said. “When I saw that, that\u2019s Jordan Westburg. When he\u2019s flying off the ball and hooking stuff and out in front and breaking posture, that\u2019s not Jordan. But the guy that hits a bolt right at the second baseman, first at-bat, it\u2019s a really good feeling watching that. And I think those are the types of at-bats that lead to the home run later in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Orioles will take anything that might revive their season. It didn’t work tonight.<\/p>\n
“There\u2019s no quit,” Mansolino said. “There\u2019s no panic. They\u2019re competing. Again, the preparation day-to-day, is outstanding. You\u2019ve just got to keep playing.\u201d<\/p>\n
* Mansolino explained the reason why Mateo went on the IL.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had that collision, if you guys remember about 10 days ago, collision, inflammation\u2019s building up over time,” Mansolino said. “Just talking to us about it, bothering him a little bit. Got an image. Kind of saw what it was. Our group got together and made a plan to take care of Jorgie and made the decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny time you have a history like that and something pops up there is concern. I feel our medical staff isn\u2019t super concerned about it. I think it\u2019s more of a scenario of, ‘Let\u2019s take care of Jorgie, let\u2019s make sure he\u2019s healthy and give him the best chance to help us win and help himself.’\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n
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