CLEVELAND — This was the future the Orioles have been imagining.
Adley Rutschman, Jackson Holliday, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser and now newcomer Coby Mayo, who made his MLB debut on Friday, filling their lineup. They are all homegrown players, all first- or second-round picks from general manager Mike Elias.
The only thing that would have made it sweeter would have been the addition of All-Star Jordan Westburg, whose placement on the injured list with a fractured hand was the reason Mayo was there. And a win. A win would have made it much sweeter, but newly acquired reliever Gregory Soto shuddered, allowing four runs in the Guardians’ 8-4 win.
There’s often an adjustment period when coming up to the majors, especially when the average age of the infield is only 23 years and 169 days, the fifth youngest in Orioles history.
“We hope the talent can rise up,” manager Brandon Hyde said prior to the game. “This is a really, really tough game to play, especially at this level and at this time of year with pressure and everything that goes along with it.”
That wasn’t the case Friday. A lack of communication between Cowser in left field and Mayo at third base almost led to a collision as they chased a bloop from Josh Naylor. Neither caught the ball — but Cowser came close — and the Guardians scored two runs to take a 4-1 lead.
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“That’s a play we have to make, 2-1 game at that point,” Hyde said. “For me, that’s a couple young guys’ inexperience. Lack of communication on that play, but the ball needs to be caught there.”
The Orioles could have come back from that, even with the additional defensive mishaps they would make. But Soto, added to help their bullpen, instead fell apart.
Soto, who has had an up but mainly down season, asked the Phillies for a trade because he wanted a new environment. They obliged and sent him at the deadline to Baltimore, where he could fill in for the injured Danny Coulombe.
Soto took the ball for the first time in an Orioles uniform in the sixth inning, and the new air did nothing to alleviate the control issues he had in Philadelphia. Soto went single, walk, single, single, walk as the Guardians scored two runs before he recorded an out. He finally got Lane Thomas, the sixth batter he faced, to fly out to Anthony Santander.
“He struggled with command a little bit,” Hyde said. “Leadoff hit, struggled with command. He hadn’t been out there in a few days, and it just didn’t look like he had his best command tonight.”
The bases were still loaded, and what should have been a routine sacrifice fly from José Ramírez allowing just Brayan Rocchio to score instead brought in Austin Hedges as well. Mountcastle caught the relay throw from Cedric Mullins and sent it to Holliday at second. Holliday and Mountcastle found themselves in a rundown between first and second base with Steven Kwan. As they were chasing Kwan, Hedges started making a move toward home. No one adjusted to cover first base, and Hedges scored with Kwan safe at first.
The Orioles picked up a little steam in the seventh, scoring three runs on RBI singles from Holliday and Cowser and a sacrifice fly from Santander. The deficit Soto and the defense built was too much, by then, to overcome.
Holliday had two singles, the first multihit game of his career. Mayo had two walks in his MLB debut.
“Driving in today, seeing the ballpark, I was like ‘Gosh, this looks nothing like a minor league park,’” Mayo said. “Just unreal experience. Glad it’s over, getting the first one out of the way, and tomorrow will be a normal day.”
