SEATTLE — The deeper into the season this goes, manager Brandon Hyde has wanted to avoid these situations. Félix Bautista has thrown a lot. He’s thrown a lot because he’s so reliable in high-leverage situations. And, because he’s so reliable, the urge is understandable — Bautista gets the ball.
The Orioles closer pitched another two innings, remaining in the game once Baltimore grabbed a lead in the top of the 10th inning, and Bautista gutted through a rising pitch count and the top of the Seattle Mariners’ batting order to supply Baltimore a nail-biting 1-0 victory in extra innings to even the series.
Bautista has entered Cy Young Award discussions because of his ability to pitch more than one inning, and he showed again late Saturday night how great he can be. Bautista struck out Josh Rojas, Julio Rodriguez and Eugenio Suarez to strand the automatic runner at second base.
“What he’s done this entire season is unbelievable,” Hyde said. “There’s no other closers that are doing that. Five-out save, Toronto. Ninth, 10th innings, what he’s doing — and doing it in the fashion he is, too, we’re just so fortunate to have him. He is just incredible.”
In a game in which a crack was all it would take to cause a cave-in, Bautista threw 28 pitches and recorded his seventh win of the season. He was in that position because Baltimore had finally broken through in the top half of the frame. Hyde left the choice up to Bautista whether he’d return, and the closer said he wanted the ball if the Orioles scored.
As the automatic runner on second to begin the 10th inning, Cedric Mullins immediately gave the Orioles an advantage. There was no need to bunt him over; Mullins stole third himself, giving his team three outs to attempt to score the go-ahead run.
Ryan Mountcastle came through with a hard-hit single through the middle, registering his second hit of the night — and accounting for half of Baltimore’s output.
It was a slim offensive night for both teams. Mariners right-hander George Kirby threw the first nine-inning shutout against the Orioles since right-hander Shane Bieber in 2019, but it came in an eventual loss. The gem from Kirby followed what Luis Castillo produced in a blowout win Friday night. Baltimore managed two hits and one run against Castillo, and Hyde called him “a playoff pitcher” for his overwhelming stuff that included a high-velocity fastball.
Kirby showed much the same adeptness as he carved through the Orioles lineup. He threw 19 pitches at 98 mph or faster, mixing a four-seam fastball and a sinker that drew a combined seven whiffs. His splitter was untouchable, and his curveball was a put-away pitch.
If these are the types of arms the Orioles will see routinely in the playoffs — part of an imposing Seattle pitching staff at large — the batting order’s performance in two consecutive games left much to be desired.
The pitching performance for the Orioles, though, made up for it.
“It was insane. Cole [Irvin], the whole staff, I mean, Félix, obviously, at the end was unbelievable,” Mountcastle said. “For them, Kirby was dominating. He did really well. Just seemed like whoever scored first was going to win.”
Irvin has been yanked in many different directions this season. The left-hander entered spring training as one of two offseason starting pitching acquisitions, and as such he was seen as a lock for the rotation.
But, after three inauspicious starts, the Orioles optioned the left-hander to Triple-A Norfolk. He returned to Baltimore, pitched one-third of an inning and was sent back down. He returned again, a month later, and started a handful of games before the Orioles decided he would be best out of the bullpen.
And then Saturday, for the first time in over a month, Irvin took the mound as the starter, in the rotation again because Baltimore is now operating on a six-man schedule.
Irvin took advantage of his chance.
“Smooth seas didn’t make a skillful sailor,” Irvin said. “So, I’m just going to stick to that and keep grinding. But like I said, I think a lot of the bullpen work really translated tonight into kind of a new mentality I haven’t utilized before, inning to inning, pitch to pitch, all about execution and just staying aggressive.”
He pitched five scoreless innings, allowing two hits and a walk while striking out six. Irvin did it so efficiently because he hurled 16 first-pitch strikes to the 18 batters he faced, yet because of his tighter pitch count, the bullpen took over the final four innings.
For how well Irvin pitched, Kirby matched him — and then some. Entering the eighth inning, the Orioles had managed one baserunner against Kirby, when Mountcastle singled to right field in the second inning. Austin Hays’ single to right with two outs in the eighth finally gave Baltimore another man on base, but Kirby got out of the frame to complete eight scoreless innings.
Finally, once Kirby was out of the game, Baltimore broke through. And then Bautista impressed again in a performance that emphasizes his place among the game’s best.
“He’s unbelievable,” Mountcastle said. “He’s been our rock the whole year.”
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