Kyle Bradish spins a career-high 12 strikeouts, dazzling in Orioles’ win vs. Mariners

SEATTLE — Kyle Bradish kicked his leg up, stopping his strikeout strut prematurely. He thought his final pitch to Dominic Canzone during the first plate appearance of the seventh inning would be a called third strike, because so many of Bradish’s pitches had dotted the zone exactly where he intended.

It was a rare miss on a pinpoint night. Canzone walked — not that it mattered with how quickly Bradish mowed through Canzone’s Mariners teammates to complete the seventh inning anyway.

When Bradish is pitching like this, there are few who can match him.

In his best outing of the season, Bradish showed he’s all the way back. After two starts in which he surrendered five runs in four innings each, he was his most dominant self during Baltimore’s 5-3 win at T-Mobile Park.

“The pairing of the two breaking balls with the heater was really fun to watch,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “There were some really good pitches on some really good hitters that they got them to chase, and that just speaks to the stuff that K.B. has.”

Bradish was on point with his sinker, curveball, slider — it didn’t matter what he threw, seemingly. Bradish had feel for it all. And, by the time Albernaz walked to the mound with two outs in the eighth inning to retrieve his ace, Bradish had recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts.

Even with all of those whiffs, Bradish said he was able to work efficiently and deep into the game because “I was just on attack all day. If I fell behind in a count, I was getting back in zone.”

With early offensive support courtesy of Gunnar Henderson’s two-run homer, Bradish settled in to produce his longest outing since Sept. 26, 2023, when he pitched eight scoreless innings. That was before elbow reconstruction surgery and before a rehab process that wiped away the better part of two seasons.

This year, Bradish’s first full season since returning, hasn’t always been smooth. He faced hiccups to start the season and dealt with a few more to begin June, including a poor performance last week against this same opponent. At Camden Yards, Bradish allowed three homers and five runs to the Mariners.

Looking back on that outing, Bradish maintained that he didn’t have to make sweeping changes to his attack plan. Still, he altered some of his pitch locations Wednesday, “and you saw that out there today. We got a lot more chase and swing and miss,” he said.

In Seattle a week later, Bradish found his curveball command and that unlocked everything. He recorded three whiffs last week with his slider and curveball. He managed 15 combined on Wednesday as part of the 18 total swings and misses induced.

“Wasn’t going to let the last two outings kind of effect me going into today,” Bradish said. “It was just really challenging guys. We’ve been working on that, and I think it kind of got away from me the last two outings, but really getting back in zone with everything.”

That display, coupled with a homer from Henderson and add-on runs in the sixth, seventh and ninth innings, produced an all-around strong performance by the Orioles (35-40). These haven’t come consistently. In Tuesday’s series opener, for instance, Baltimore managed three hits against the dominant Logan Gilbert.

The Orioles found more success against right-hander George Kirby and the bullpen.

“He can change the game with one swing of the bat,” Albernaz said of Henderson before the game. And then Henderson changed the game with one swing, when he launched a fastball from Kirby deep to right field for a two-run home run in the third inning.

“They have really good pitching on that side,” Albernaz said. “It doesn’t matter who they throw, it’s real stuff. They attack the strike zone. So, especially with two outs at the time, Gunnar being able to put one in the seats, that was awesome.”

Leody Taveras’ triple in the sixth scored Pete Alonso from first base. Blaze Alexander recorded three hits to raise his average to .310. And in the ninth inning Jackson Holliday lifted a solo homer for another insurance run for right-hander Ryan Helsley, who made his return from the injured list Tuesday.

Helsley needed it. His first two pitches were skied for home runs from Canzone and Cole Young. Albernaz said it wasn’t so much rust from Helsley as it was the Mariners ambushing a pair of first-pitch heaters.

The lone run against Bradish came in the fourth, when Julio Rodríguez doubled and Canzone followed with a single. The Mariners might have produced more, but two strong defensive plays helped erase opportunities.

In the fifth, one of those strong defensive plays followed a weak one. Taveras stopped short of a drooping liner in center, attempting to block it for a single rather than diving for the potential out. The tentative play didn’t work. The ball skipped off Taveras and trickled deeper into the outfield.

But Henderson bailed Taveras out. With a quick transfer and release, he caught the throw from Taveras and unleashed a seed to Alexander at third to nab Connor Joe.

“Everyone was giving me props for the pick, but really I didn’t even move my glove,” Alexander said. “I had my glove there. I was just trying to stay calm, and Gunn threw a bullet. Perfect play, perfect relay.”

And in the sixth Tyler O’Neill robbed Cal Raleigh of a homer when he waited for the high fly ball in right field, timed his jump and snagged it.

“Changes the game,” Bradish said. “T.O., he robbed the homer right there. It kind of keeps the game at bay, and then we get some add-on runs later in the game.”

Bradish didn’t need much help beyond that. He showed just how imposing he can be.

Bradish said he wants to find greater consistency this season, but he feels he’s on the right track. If there is any track to follow, Wednesday is the template — a thoroughly captivating performance from an ace.

“It’s just unbelievable. I don’t know the stat line, but I know it’s pretty freaking good,” Alexander said. “When you’re out there on defense ... it kind of feels like five pitches go by and you’re already running back in the dugout.”

This article has been updated.