DETROIT — There have been times this season when it seemed the Orioles had finally hit their rock bottom.
There was the series in St. Louis in May, when the Orioles were swept for the first time in nearly two years. And in Boston this week, when the Red Sox walked it off.
Friday, though, has every moment beat. The Orioles, with three former No. 1 prospects, the third-best home run hitter in the league and a candidate for American League Rookie of the Year, could manage only one hit as the Tigers beat them 1-0.
They at least avoided history — because they could have been on the wrong side of the first combined perfect game in MLB history — when Adley Rutschman walked in the eighth. And they narrowly avoided being no-hit when Gunnar Henderson saved them with a triple when they were down to their final out.
That’s all a consolation prize. It was still another loss, their fifth in six games.
“It’s not from a lack of effort,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We just didn’t get any hits tonight, except for Gunnar [Henderson] there with two outs in the ninth. So we’ve got to take some better at-bats, and you know, hopefully, our guys will rebound.”
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Scuffling is nothing new for the Orioles, who have scored three or fewer runs in six of their last seven games. And the Orioles, despite their lack of quality at-bats recently, aren’t out of playoff contention — their magic number to secure at least the third wild-card spot is eight with 14 games to go.
This type of play, though, won’t take them far in the postseason.
“We’ve had a tough second half offensively,” Hyde said. “We’ve had some guys that have really struggled for the first time in their careers. We’re young. There’s a lot of things. But we’ve got to do the best right now with what we’ve got with our roster. We’ve got to come out tomorrow and compete and try to win a game.”
Is that the case? Do the young players just need to learn how to bounce back from losses?
“I mean yes and no,” Henderson responded. “At the same time, I feel like it’s good to be battle tested because last year we didn’t really get that, not being swept the whole year. This year, we have to play a little more gritty and just a little more together. Obviously not how you want to be right now, but I feel like all it takes is one little spark and we’ll get hot again.”
Hyde had a plan for Friday’s game. The Tigers were pitching a bullpen game, so Hyde crafted his lineup to alternate lefty-righty, or lefty-switch hitter, to erase any possible pockets where Detroit could take advantage of facing multiple hitters from the same side in a row.
That didn’t matter. The Tigers began with right-handed opener Beau Brieske, then brought out left-hander Brant Hurter in the second inning. But Detroit didn’t need to swap again until the eighth because Hurter cruised through the Orioles lineup. He pitched 5 2/3 innings, one out from tying his career high. Against Brieske and Hurter, the Orioles struck out nine times and put just three balls in the air, one of which had a launch angle of only 60 degrees.
Batter after batter, the Orioles retreated to the dugout, until finally Rutschman drew a full-count walk in the eighth to get on base to end Hurter’s outing.
Was Hurter having a phenomenal day? Or were the Orioles just taking bad at-bats?
“I think it’s probably a combination of both,” Hyde said. “You know you’ve got to give [Hurter] a lot of credit. It’s a funky arm angle. He was pumping strikes and getting ahead of us. We had a tough time staying on him, and we didn’t center him at all.”
Brenan Hanifee replaced Hurter, picking up where his predecessors left off. Eloy Jiménez reached first on a forceout, the Orioles’ second baserunner of the day.
As the top of the ninth arrived, the Tigers stood on the edge of the dugout as the Orioles slumped against theirs. Tyler Holton took the mound, the fourth Tigers pitcher of the day.
Emmanuel Rivera was up first. He flied out to right.
Then came Coby Mayo, pinch hitting for Jackson Holliday. Mayo, 3-for-32 in his major league career, became 3-for-33 as he struck out.
Down to their final out, it was up to Henderson to end the no-hitter. He did, hitting a triple and evoking relieved claps from the Orioles dugout. But Anthony Santander struck out, the game ending with just one hit and no runs on the scoreboard.
Zach Eflin pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just one run, keeping the team in a position to win if only the offense could summon something, anything. Instead, after Santander struck out, the Orioles retreated into the clubhouse solemnly.
“There’s a lot of talent in that room. There’s a lot of guys that have put up good big league numbers and put up good minor league numbers,” Hyde said. “We have the ability to make some adjustments. We just have to collectively do it together.”
