Orioles keep Nationals’ hot lineup in check during series-opening win

What Coby Mayo can do against left-handed pitching is not in doubt. The Orioles infielder has established himself as a platoon threat. It’s his results against right-handers that have left more to be desired, and yet Mayo’s double against right-hander Brad Lord is what gave Baltimore breathing room.

Mayo rocketed a double that left his bat at 113 mph, plating a run that gave the Orioles the cushion required in their 3-1 victory against the Washington Nationals at Camden Yards.

The gap between Mayo’s results against righties and lefties is wide. Entering Friday, he held a 1.111 on-base-plus-slugging percentage against lefties and a .441 OPS against righties. But, with a double in the seventh, he allowed a tad more breathing room for Baltimore’s pitching staff, especially once the Orioles failed to capitalize on what could’ve been a big inning.

“It’s been my Kryptonite this year,” Mayo said of right-handed pitching. “I feel like I haven’t done my job vs. righties this year, and I know I can hit them. I’ve done it for a long time, and it felt really good to come through in that spot and take two good swings, first pitch and second pitch. So was definitely a good feeling.”

Tyler O’Neill, who had reached base three times to that point, struck out with two on after Mayo’s double. And Samuel Basallo, coming off a two-homer game in Los Angeles, snapped his bat over his knee when he struck out, too.

The Orioles wound up leaving 11 runners on base. But they benefited from a stout pitching effort against one of the best offenses in baseball. It began with left-hander Trevor Rogers and continued with right-hander Tyler Wells, left-hander Grant Wolfram and closer Ryan Helsley for the save.

“Three runs were enough to win the game,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “The goal is, just touch home plate more than the other team.”

That they did. This was, barring an error from shortstop Gunnar Henderson and a baserunning gaffe that wiped away a further run, the sort of clean game the Orioles required after a difficult end to their road trip. It, of course, was not flawless. But, in a way, perhaps this game could help flush the recent disaster in Anaheim.

The Orioles are coming off a trip that Albernaz considered a “mixed bag,” and first baseman Pete Alonso rued the fact they were only a couple of innings away from leaving the West Coast with a much better feeling.

Collapses last Friday and Wednesday against the Dodgers and Angels, respectively, left the Orioles with a 4-5 record at the end of those nine games, and they remain on the outside looking in at a weak American League playoff field.

Albernaz said there could be “tightened play” from his players because “they know where we’re at. They care. They’re trying to do the right thing.” And sometimes that mentality can force mistakes.

“The inconsistency is what’s keeping me up at night,” Albernaz said before Friday’s game. “Hopefully, here in the second half coming up, we start playing some real consistent baseball.”

There is room to grow in that department, and Friday wasn’t the cleanest effort. But it brought the Orioles a win.

“I think this was a perfect game for us to come out after an off day and kind of make a grindy, close win,” Mayo said. “It feels really good.”

Baltimore and Washington took turns stranding runners in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth, but the Orioles broke through in the bottom half of the fourth against left-hander Andrew Alvarez. Blaze Alexander, one of Baltimore’s hottest hitters, drove a two-out, two-run single to left field.

The Orioles almost had — should’ve had — a third run that inning when Taylor Ward lifted a single to right field. Jackson Holliday, on second, rounded third. Alexander, on first, attempted to reach third.

Right fielder James Wood threw behind the play and nabbed Alexander at third shortly before Holliday crossed the plate, which negated that possible score.

Wood said he learned from a play last week that throwing home in that situation probably wouldn’t result in an out. Instead, he fired to third and was rewarded. Albernaz, meanwhile, said Holliday mistook Henderson’s waving as a signal to slide rather than to hurry up to the plate, and that may have prevented a run.

“Luckily, it didn’t come back to bite us in the ass,” Albernaz said.

The Nationals halved that deficit an inning later when Keibert Ruiz lashed an RBI knock off Rogers.

Rogers was coming off the best game of his season when he allowed one hit in seven shutout innings against the Dodgers. He leaned on his fastball in Los Angeles, and he continued that trend in this series opener. More than half his pitches were four-seam fastballs, and his velocity was about 1 mph higher than his average this year.

He left the mound Friday after 6 1/3 strong innings. His seven strikeouts were a season high, and this was the second time this year Rogers didn’t walk a batter. He dropped his ERA below 5.00 (4.99, to be exact) for the first time since late April.

“I questioned my confidence a lot because it just seemed like, if I tried to change a game plan or tried something else, just nothing was going my way,” Rogers said of his difficult beginning to the season. “And that’s what’s hard about this game sometimes. I kind of leaned back on the mental skills that I’ve acquired over the past couple years, and to really trust the process and know that eventually that I’d get through it, and I’ve been able to be consistent, throw the ball really well over the last, I don’t know, four or five starts.”

Before Friday’s game, Nationals manager Blake Butera said what separates the best teams and best players is their ability to let the hot streaks ride for a long time and to curb the losing streaks and slumps.

The longer the Nationals prolong their losing streak, the more pressure will be on them. The fan base has legitimate expectations for competitive baseball for the first time since 2019.

But, while the Nationals never led and therefore never blew a lead Friday night, the offense went cold, which added to the frustration of not winning when they scored nine, four and five runs.

Washington had runners on second and third with no outs in the fourth inning against Rogers. Three consecutive outs ended the scoring threat — they were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Rogers was effective with his fastball in the zone with a 78% strike rate.

“I thought Rogers threw the ball really well for them,” Butera said. “Thought there was extra life on his fastball, a little bit more than we expected. He threw the ball very well, he’s a tough lefty for us, but look at it more like a blip [and] uncharacteristic with the way we’ve been scoring runs.”

Although all three losses against the Phillies were heartbreakers, they also signified the missed opportunities the Nationals had to build momentum. The team received strong defensive play and enough pitching to win Friday, but the offense didn’t have the same potency as the previous series.

That’s not to say the hitters are to blame after more than doing their part all season. It just makes it more pertinent that the Nationals win when the offense is humming because their margin for error is razor-thin.

The team hasn’t had a losing streak longer than five games all season. The Nationals can tie that mark if they drop Saturday’s game, but the players seem unfazed by the idea that their season can be slipping away. They’re confident in the roster, but Saturday is a big game.

With left-hander Foster Griffin on the mound, it might be their best chance to snap this skid before it spirals completely.

“Just moving past it and focus on playing good baseball the next day,” Wood said.

Lord, making his first appearance since allowing six runs in the ninth inning of Tuesday’s 14-9 loss, bounced back. He allowed one run over two-thirds of an inning, but he didn’t let it snowball despite dealing with traffic.

That run, courtesy of Mayo’s double, gave Helsley a two-run lead to hold. Orioles pitching did well all night to keep a lively Nationals lineup in check. The result was a series-opening win against their Interstate 95 neighbor.

This article has been updated.