Dylan Beavers’ pinch hit crucial as Orioles stop Rays’ winning streak at 9

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The flurry of changes in the seventh inning pitted two managers head to head in a schematic battle. First, the Orioles’ Craig Albernaz turned to his bench for a pinch hitter. Next, Rays manager Kevin Cash interrupted the middle of a plate appearance to issue an intentional walk and to bring in a new pitcher.

And, finally, another pinch-hit decision from Albernaz worked in his favor.

The insertion of outfielder Dylan Beavers off the bench with the bases loaded in the seventh was the winning move — although none of this would’ve worked out had Beavers not shown the mettle to handle a critical at-bat in this way.

Against right-hander Kevin Kelly, Beavers pulled a two-run single through the right side of the infield. Those runs gave Baltimore an edge in its eventual 6-5 victory against Tampa Bay on Friday night in the first game of this four-game series.

The Orioles snapped the Rays’ nine-game winning streak. And, believe it or not, the Orioles (59-63) are only one game back of the final American League wild-card spot as of the final out in Florida, with other games still to play.

Managers will make these calls at key points. It takes good fortune, much of the time, for these decisions to work out. Albernaz has been largely successful of late with his pinch-hit decisions, though, and Beavers was another example.

“We talk about our pinch hits and moves kind of like a couple innings before so guys were ready,” Albernaz said. “Beavs put a great at-bat together to get ... those two runs home. That was a big hit. There was a lot going on that inning, but the guys were prepared, and that’s the only thing you can ask for.”

Baltimore’s pinch hitters entered Friday batting .295 with a 1.077 on-base-plus-slugging percentage since July 1. Is that just a hot streak in a fluky business? Or is there something else to it?

The Banner’s Jon Meoli recently dug into this stretch. Players, including Beavers, said the bench players are given resources to study which relievers they might face and prepare for those appearances by warming up in the batting cage. Still, it’s a challenge coming into a game without being involved from the jump.

It just so happened to work out in a critical seventh inning, and then Gunnar Henderson did the rest.

Henderson, who was moved to the No. 5 spot, capped a 4-for-4 performance with a two-run home run in the eighth inning.

“I’ve felt like I’ve been seeing the ball well, taking my walks, and I feel like I’m starting to put the barrel on the ball a little more,” Henderson said. “Finally starting to see the results come.”

Those late insurance runs allowed the Orioles to weather a ninth-inning rally from the Rays against right-hander Yennier Cano, in which Jonathan Aranda hit a two-run single and Junior Caminero brought in a run on a groundout.

To get the third out, Albernaz made another gutsy call — and right-hander Cam Sanders made it work.

Albernaz turned to Sanders with two outs in the ninth to replace Cano, then the Orioles intentionally walked Liam Hicks to put the winning run on base. Sanders, though, forced Ryan Vilade into a game-ending flyout with his first pitch.

“Luckily, it worked out,” Albernaz said.

“When I get those opportunities, that’s when I really dig deep and give it all I have,” Sanders added.

Baltimore employed an unusual-looking lineup because the Rays were using left-hander Steven Matz as an opener. Pete Alonso moved up to hit leadoff for the first time in his career, and it wasn’t for his blazing speed, as he joked before the game. Henderson, meanwhile, had the benefit of facing the right-handed bulk pitcher in the second inning, which was just the start of his big night.

Henderson singled to advance Tyler O’Neill from first to third in the second, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s sacrifice fly put the Orioles on the board. Colton Cowser’s third-inning homer preceded another O’Neill walk and Henderson single in the fourth (although a double play and flyout ended the threat).

But in the seventh the Orioles broke the tie. It began with Henderson’s double, and with bases loaded later, Beavers’ pinch-hit single established a two-run lead that Henderson later added to with his long ball.

This season hasn’t been easy for Henderson, but there are signs of life. On Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins, he hit a home run as part of a three-hit day. He walked twice in Wednesday’s finale. And in Friday’s opener against the Rays, Henderson produced his second four-hit game of the year (his first since May 17 against the Nationals).

During this challenging season, Henderson said, he has learned “that I can push myself through a lot tougher times than you really anticipate, ’cause you don’t, obviously, want to think you’re going to go through bad times. Until you’re in it, you don’t really understand it.

“There were definitely some long nights trying to find ways to get out of it, a lot of video watching and stuff,” Henderson continued. “But at the end of the day, it was more or less just clearing my mind and getting back to kind of how I get out there and play. That’s just with my hair on fire, and having a clear mind is a big part, and being able to go out there and focus on the job at hand.”

That late run support helped minimize an early dispute.

There was confusion surrounding a moment in the third inning, leading to a delay of almost six minutes as the umpiring crew talked with Albernaz, then Cash.

It stemmed from a full-count situation with a runner on first. On the borderline pitch, catcher Carlos Narváez challenged ball four and correctly overturned it to strike three. But, as right-hander Chris Bassitt threw, Caminero took off for second.

The MLB rule book states that a ball-strike challenge doesn’t override a stolen base attempt. A catcher is encouraged to throw to second on a borderline pitch, then they are allotted additional time to challenge the ball call after making the throw. After much deliberation, Caminero was allowed to remain at second base with a stolen base.

And that steal loomed large. Victor Mesa Jr. drove the game-tying single in the next plate appearance.

Still, Bassitt was solid in his return from the injured list. He completed 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs. Although he gave up five hits and issued three walks, he worked around that danger.

“It was nice for me and Alby and [pitching coach Drew French] Frenchy’s talks to be baseball, not how I am feeling,” Bassitt said, noting how thankful he is that his back operation was successful. “They thought this was going to fix it, and it did.”

Before the seventh-inning un-damming from Beavers, it appeared as though two former Orioles might stymie their old club.

This month, in his second outing for the Rays, right-hander Tyler Wells was saved by his former Orioles teammate Cedric Mullins, who made a sliding catch in center field. “I’m like, ‘God, I missed you, buddy,’” Wells recalled on “The Ryan Ripken Show.”

Wells was probably saying the same thing in the sixth inning Friday after Mullins robbed O’Neill of an extra-base hit. He raced into the left-center gap to snag the fly ball, and he held on to it when he crashed into the wall.

There was no snagging Beavers’ knock or Henderson’s homer. They provided the go-ahead — and insurance — runs to break the Rays’ winning streak.

“We need every game at this point of the year,” Henderson said. “Any game we win, especially against AL East division opponents, we’ll take.”

This article has been updated.