Brandon Young’s early inning struggles put the Orioles in a hole they couldn’t climb out of, and the home debuts of Samuel Basallo and Dylan Beavers were upstaged by a 7-2 defeat to the Astros.
Young’s second straight start against the Astros in six days could not have been more different than his outing in Houston. Last Friday, the 26-year-old rookie threw eight scoreless innings and didn’t give up a baserunner until the 8th. Thursday, the Astros jumped on Young early and often. Carlos Correa broke
up any thought of a no-hitter with a one-out single in the 1st, and two batters later, Christian Walker ended the shutout with a two-run homer to left.
The sharpness we saw from Young in his perfect game bid was noticeably absent in the rematch with the Astros. In his dominant outing in Minute Maid, Young seemingly put his fastball anywhere he wanted and consistently kept his splitter and slider down in the zone. On both the Correa single and the Walker home run, he left his splitter over the heart of the plate and the ‘Stros took advantage.
After falling behind 2-0 in the 1st, the night didn’t get any better for Young. He gave up a lead-off single in the 2nd, but it initially appeared that he erased that base runner on a double play ball from Mauricio Dubón. Instead, Dubón was ruled safe at first on review, and that kick-started another rally for Houston.
No.9 hitter Jacob Melton reached after walking with a full count, and Dubón went to third after Basallo threw down to second and sailed the throw in center field. A groundout from Jeremy Peña moved Melton into scoring position and allowed Correa to double the Astros’ lead on an RBI single up the middle.
Things got even worse for Young in the 3rd as he continued to struggle with his location. Walker got his second hit of the evening to lead off the inning, smashing a hanging curveball off the third base bag for a double. Jesús Sánchez then attacked a first-pitch, middle-middle fastball and lined it into the left-center gap to plate Walker. The big Texan then gave up his second big fly of the night, hanging a slider to Houston DH Yainer Diaz, who blasted it over the left field fence to give the Astros a 7-1 lead.
After the disastrous first three innings, it looked like Young’s day might end early. However, interim manager Tony Mansolino stuck with his starter in the 4th and beyond. After the Diaz homer, Young settled in and set down nine of the next 11 hitters he faced. The rookie pitched in the 6th, but was forced to leave when he stumbled over first base on a 3-1 ground out. He finished with a final line of 5.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K, and 2 HRs.
Offensively, Beavers provided the only offensive bright spots for the Orioles. With the O’s down 4-0 in the 3rd, the rookie outfielder gave the Camden Yards faithful something to remember, launching his first career home run onto the flag court. Beavers jump on a 3-2 changeup from Astros starter Jason Alexander, sending it high into the Baltimore night and landing just in front of Eutaw Street.
Beavers would pick up another RBI during the Orioles’ best offensive inning, in the 6th. After Ryan Mountcastle grounded out to start the inning, Colton Cowser, Basallo and Coby Mayo loaded the bases on three straight singles. It was at that point that the Astros pulled Alexander in favor of lefty reliever Steven Okert. The Astros’ southpaw left a slider over the plate to Beavers, who rocketed it toward first base. Houston was able to get the force out at second, but Beavers reached on a fielder’s choice and collected his second RBI.
That 6th inning single from Basallo was the catcher’s only hit in his home debut, as the backstop went 1-for-4 while catching his second full game as a big leaguer. The 21-year-old rookie looked solid defensively, as his defensive chops were only really noticeable on the throwing error and wild pitch in the 8th that even Gold Glovers would struggle to block.
Despite being a slow night for the offense, the bats weren’t completely inept. Every member of the lineup got a hit, but Beavers’ long ball was the only extra-base hit of the game. Continuing a problem that’s dogged them all season, the Orioles couldn’t hit with runners on base. They finished the game 1-for-7 with RISP and left 10 runners on base.
