Following emotional trade deadline, Orioles get back to work with win over Angels

A day after their lead executive traded away big pieces of their team and declared “The future is strong, and I think it starts right now,” the Baltimore Orioles set about finding out exactly what that future looks like — at least in the short term.

At catcher and left field, that meant new starters. On the mound, it meant Cade Povich starting for the first time since May.

But while the foundation of Camden Yards may have figuratively shook Monday when president of baseball operations Mike Elias traded catcher Adley Rutschman, the ballpark is still very much standing. From Elias on down, the team’s messaging is resolute: The Orioles are still fighting for their narrow odds of reaching the playoffs this fall.

So on an oddly normal-feeling Tuesday, 18,585 fans took in the pleasantly warm summer air and stuck by their team, who obliged the faithful with a scrappy 3-1 win to kick off a series against the Los Angeles Angels.

Baltimore fans may be feeling some disappointment at the sell-off that happened just before the trade deadline — indeed, a swath wore “Rutschman” jerseys and shirts in tribute to the departed star — but they didn’t seem to bring that glumness to Camden Yards.

Picking up from a soggy mess of a series against the Phillies over the weekend, they cheered as Pete Alonso feathered a two-run single into shallow center, and they roared when Tyler O’Neill hit a solo shot in the eighth inning to retake a two-run lead. They hailed Povich, who logged six shutout innings with seven strikeouts and successfully picked off two runners at first.

It’s not exactly the same Orioles they’ve known this season, down a few key pieces, and before the game, a somber clubhouse grieved the departures. But the fight for the postseason, while less robust than it was a week ago, continues.

Povich was sensational after spending much of the season in Triple-A Norfolk, thrust immediately into unfamiliar circumstances with a brand new catcher. But after a rocky start allowing five hits through three innings, Povich settled for the remainder of his appearance.

Newcomer Carlos Narváez, part of the return for Rutschman from the Red Sox, caught a strong game despite arriving in Baltimore in the wee hours of the night after a long drive.

“He was fully ready to go when we had our pregame meeting,” Povich said of Narváez. “For a guy I’ve only pitched against a couple of times, we already had a good mix back there. When I wanted something, he was already putting it down. I couldn’t have asked for a better first outing with him.”

Former Orioles sent away in trades could haunt this team for a while, but one made his Camden Yards return in the game: starter Grayson Rodriguez. The 2018 first-round pick took the mound for Los Angeles and pitched his best start of the season, going seven innings with three hits, a walk and six strikeouts.

For the first time, Rodriguez walked in and out of the visiting dugout instead of the home. But aside from that, and a bit of friendly banter from his former teammates, he wasn’t thrown off his game.

“It was weird,” Rodriguez said. “It kind of felt almost normal, but it was a lot of fun hearing those guys chirping in the dugout over there. That was definitely pretty funny.”

The Orioles traded Rodriguez in the offseason for Taylor Ward, who was just traded to Seattle at the deadline. Ward’s replacement in left field kicked off the third inning that blemished Rodriguez’s start: Rookie Christian Franklin drew a walk in his first big league at-bat, the first of three straight hitters to reach base.

Alonso’s RBI single gave the Orioles a lead that they didn’t relinquish. Aside from an eighth inning RBI double from Vaughn Grissom, the Angels had trouble giving Rodriguez any support.

Franklin’s best moment might have been a tough catch against Baltimore’s oddly configured left-field wall in the seventh inning, grabbing a 372-foot shot by Zach Neto. Playing in front of his parents who flew in from Kansas City, the rookie held his own in a challenging position.

“There’s a lot of room out there. That was the first thing that I noticed,” he said. “I knew that, just talking to [Dylan] Beavers and [Colton] Cowser, that you can’t give up on any ball that’s hit out there. It’s like anything that goes up, just sticking with it.”

There’s two months of baseball left, and the Orioles slightly improved their odds in a crowded playoff field. While emotions were still high for them following their goodbyes, the work ahead doesn’t change, manager Craig Albernaz said.

Sticking with it is all they have.

“At the end of the day, it’s a man’s game. That’s it,” he said. “No one feels sorry for us, no one feels any type of empathy, you know? You still have to go out and play, and the Angels are trying to win, we’re trying to win. We’ve got to go out and play.”