Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde would like to see his team play a little looser earlier in games.
The Orioles will get their next opportunity when they host the Toronto Blue Jays in the finale of their rain-shortened two-game series Sunday.
After Friday’s series opener was rained out, Baltimore rallied for a 5-4 win Saturday.
The Orioles had been shut out for 15 straight innings and no-hit through 4 2/3 innings until Heston Kjerstad blasted a two-run homer to begin the comeback Saturday.
Baltimore scored three more runs in the sixth, all with two out, on a solo home run by Adley Rutschman and a two-run double by Cedric Mullins.
“Guys were really internal the first four innings because everybody was just trying to get something going,” Hyde said of Saturday’s game. “We need to get better at that. Those kinds of things happened at times last season, too, where they’re almost trying too hard, their at-bats are getting over a little bit early, or they’re getting frustrated with hitting a ground ball hard at somebody.”
Mullins reinforced his status as Baltimore’s most dangerous hitter, improving to 7-for-12 with runners in scoring position this season.
“You want him up there in a big spot,” Hyde said. “You know it’s going to be a really competitive at-bat. He’s playing no-nonsense right now, and he’s just got a ton of life to his body and is playing extremely hard.”
Left-hander Cade Povich is scheduled to start Sunday for the Orioles.
Povich (0-1, 3.48 ERA) deserved a better fate in his most recent outing.
He allowed four runs over six innings in a 4-1 loss to the host Kansas City Royals on April 6, but only one run was earned. He did not walk a batter and struck out four.
“Huge for him to go six innings for us,” Hyde said. “I thought he was really, really competitive. I thought they took some good swings off him, but being able to go six innings for us, that’s huge.”
Povich has made two starts against the Blue Jays in his career and is 0-2 with an 8.38 ERA. He has walked nine in 9 2/3 innings against them.
Right-hander Jose Berrios is scheduled to start the series finale for Toronto.
Berrios (1-1, 4.58) allowed one run and four hits over seven innings in his last outing, a 6-2 win over the host Boston Red Sox on Monday.
He faced Baltimore in the season opener March 27 and didn’t fare as well, allowing six runs and nine hits in five innings of a 12-2 loss.
Berrios is 10-2 overall in his career against the Orioles with a 3.31 ERA and the only shutout of his career.
Berrios has been one of the most consistent starters in the majors, making 32 starts in every full season since 2018.
He finished with a 3.60 ERA over 192 1/3 innings last season, furthering that model of consistency.
“There’s really no one that you can look at more and say he does everything the right way than Berrios,” Toronto pitcher Chris Bassitt said.
“The way he takes care of himself should be studied around the league so everyone should do that. So, the so-called workhorse in Berrios and him always being ready is what I think is the most admirable thing,” Bassitt said.
