Kyle Bradish shoves and the Orioles club 4 homers in win vs. Royals

Kyle Bradish was blissfully unaware why the crowd at Camden Yards gave such a rousing ovation as the Orioles right-hander walked back to the mound at the start of the seventh inning. Bradish looked to catcher Adley Rutschman, who brushed off any significance.

“I was like, What’s going on?” Bradish said. “But then it crept in my mind.”

It was the fact Bradish hadn’t allowed a hit until that point. Through six innings, he had dominated the Kansas City Royals.

Of course, once that crept into Bradish’s mind, the no-hitter was gone. Jac Caglianone lifted a soft liner into left-center field, and the groans from this vibrant crowd during Saturday’s 6-1 victory soon turned to applause, recognizing another dominant performance from Bradish.

Many months ago, when dew gathered in the morning on the fields in Sarasota, Florida, and before a meaningful pitch had been thrown for the Orioles, Bradish was the center of an unknown.

One wondered then how Bradish would look as the spring turned to summer. Would he find his best? Would he look like his presurgery self? Would he look even better?

The beginning to Bradish’s season gave one answer — an incomplete answer, but it was enough of a sample to inspire worry about Baltimore’s ace. Bradish held a 5.03 ERA after May 2, when he allowed five runs in four innings against the New York Yankees.

Fast-forward to Saturday against the Royals, and every one of those questions has been answered in a more complete manner. Bradish put the finishing touches on a strong first half of the season, and he enters the All-Star break with another gem on his ledger.

“I think I’ve made adjustments when I’ve needed to,” said Bradish, whose ERA is now 3.61. “Obviously, the start of the year was not ideal. Had some good ones, had some bad ones, but I think as the year went on, first half went on, consistency got better. I think, for my standards, there’s still a lot left on the table. But I think, me personally, and as a team, we’re in a good spot.”

The Royals wound up scoring Caglianone with a sacrifice fly, and Kansas City managed one more hit before manager Craig Albernaz pulled his star.

But what Bradish showed Saturday — and what he has shown for months — leaves those spring training questions behind.

In Bradish’s last 12 starts, dating to May 8, he has pitched to a 2.95 ERA.

Bradish, who returned last year from elbow surgery and pitched an encouraging 32 major league innings, benefited from a full, healthy offseason. And, during his time away from the mound, Bradish said, he learned “what it takes to be an elite pitcher in the league, and obviously still working at that. I show flashes of it, but still working on that consistency.”

This may have been his best showing in that stretch, even though he didn’t rack up the high strikeout tallies of other starts. Bradish worked efficiently, and barring an error from second baseman Jackson Holliday, the defense made plays.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson snared a hot-shot, short-hop grounder from Lane Thomas for an out, Holliday responded to his error by making a stop to his left in the shallow outfield, and first baseman Pete Alonso dove to capture another might’ve-been knock.

Bradish recorded 10 ground-ball outs to only three flyouts.

“Velo was down, but command was better with the fastball,” he said. “Would have liked to throw a little more strikes with the breaking balls. Probably would have got more chase, but you know defense was working today, and so I had full confidence out there, just filling up the zone and creating contact.”

For a team that hasn’t played well in the field for the majority of the year, those defensive standouts appeared to be the sort of plays required in a no-hit bid. Caglianone ended the no-hitter with a line-drive single, but on the whole, Bradish dazzled.

He also had a healthy lead with which to work and energized fans behind him. Albernaz said he and bench coach Donnie Ecker thought the crowd, with an attendance of 28,958, was the liveliest it has felt since opening day.

It began with a rendition of the national anthem from Corp. Wilbur J. “Jack” Myers, a veteran from Williamsport.

“The guy singing the national anthem was 103 years old, and he’s out there dancing,” Albernaz said. “You felt it from the crowd, and our boys felt that.”

On Friday night, Samuel Basallo followed Alonso’s single in the eighth inning by powering a go-ahead two-run home run down the right-field line. On Saturday, after Alonso doubled, Basallo came through again. He lined a single off the right-field wall, and although he was thrown out trying for a double, Alonso scored the first run.

Alonso then found his own home run swing during his next plate appearance. Left-hander Noah Cameron spun a slider that dropped well below the zone. Alonso clubbed it anyway to straightaway center field, a two-run shot that gave Bradish more breathing room.

Then a pair of solo shots that couldn’t have been more different in style added to the Orioles’ strong offensive night. Coby Mayo, who reached the second deck in left field this week, blasted a ball 440 feet off the left-field deck’s façade in the fifth. And Taylor Ward, who had yet to homer at Camden Yards this year, lofted a high-flying homer that just cleared the right-field wall.

In the eighth, Henderson joined the homer barrage. He clobbered his 17th homer — his first since June 19 — to complete the series win against the Royals. Now Baltimore will close the first half with a Sunday matinee, giving the Orioles a chance at securing their first four-game winning streak and momentum heading into the All-Star break.

With that would come a more flattering win-loss record than it has been at times this year. Saturday’s win put the Orioles six games under .500 (45-51). That may well still be within reach of the postseason, even with how poorly Baltimore has looked at times. The Orioles are only two games out of the final wild-card position.

If Bradish pitches this well for the remainder of the season, perhaps there is room for optimism. But, just like the questions that hovered over spring training, all the answers will make themselves known in the months to come.

“I’m confident in this group that it can put together a really good run,” Mayo said. “With the American League wide open, it takes one good run to be right back where you want to be. We’ve got a lot of games left, and I think there’s absolutely no time to panic.”

This article has been updated.