Meanwhile, James McCann attained instant hero status, taking a fastball to the face in the first inning, then going on to catch a full nine with a bloody nose and a swollen eye.
If you didn’t already know that these are two teams headed in different directions, well, today’s game was a pretty good indication. Toronto’s starter walked four, hit a batter, and allowed four runs in a horrific first inning he failed to complete. First baseman Justin Turner was pulled in the second because he’d been traded to Seattle. Five Jays pitchers allowed eleven runs on a whopping 187 pitches (not ideal in a doubleheader), and Jays hitters struck out seven times against O’s newcomer Zach Eflin in six innings.
At three hours, 10 minutes, it was a long game, but it was all Orioles.
Why don’t we start with that crazy first inning? The Orioles, after their recent slump, are trying to be more patient and selective at the plate, and Toronto’s rookie starter Yariel Rodríguez helped them in this effort by completely losing control of the zone. He loaded the bases with walks to Colton Cowser, Anthony Santander and Gunnar Henderson before cleanup hitter Ryan Mountcastle knocked in a run with a single to center. Jordan Westburg cued a groundout the other way to make it 2-0, and after Cedric Mullins reached on catcher’s interference, Ramón Urías delivered a pro at-bat to walk in the third run.
Then, a shocking moment. As if the Toronto starter’s day couldn’t get any worse, Yariel Rodríguez pegged James McCann in the face with his 43rd pitch of the inning, a fastball. The catcher dropped to the turf, blood streaming from his nose. A 10-minute delay followed as a hushed Oriole Park watched trainer Brian Ebel try to plug McCann’s nose and stop the bleeding. After some time, McCann, his jersey spattered with blood, started walking to first. Announcers Kevin Brown and Ben McDonald went, “Oh my god, is this dude going to stay in the game?”
McCann touched the first-base bag, then walked into the dugout, but it turns out he wasn’t going anywhere. Instead Baltimore spruced him up with a clean jersey, two new nose plugs, and back out he went with his busted nose and eye swelling up. “This is some Rocky stuff,” said McDonald. “James McCann should be in the NHL,” agreed Brown. McCann would go on to catch a full nine innings. The legend of James McCann is growing. On Twitter, O’s pitcher Tyler Wells wrote:
I would go to war every single day for James McCann. But after seeing that, I am convinced that I would absolutely useless to him. That’s the toughest SOB I’ve ever met. And he just proved it right there
— Tyler Wells (@TylerW13) July 29, 2024
So, yeah. The score was 4-0 and we were just through one inning.
Baltimore kept pressing, with a run or more in the third, fourth, fifth and eight innings.
In the third, they’d make it 5-0 on a beautiful Jordan Westburg double and an Urías groundout. In the fourth, Cowser, Henderson, and Mountcastle singled to load the bases, and Ryan O’Hearn made it 6-0 with a sac fly. Jordan Westburg hit another double, scoring Henderson. Behind him, Mountcastle got the send all the way from first, but the throw beat him, so the Orioles had to settle for “just” a 7-0 lead.
Now let’s talk a bit about Zach Eflin, acquired by Baltimore from the Tampa Bay Rays a few days ago. What did we learn about the Orioles’ new righthander today? Well, he likes golf, guitar and fishing, has great command of the zone, and his pitches have a ton of movement.
The right hander’s stats have dropped off from a 2023 when he finished sixth in the Cy Young voting, especially a 7.1 K/9 rate that’s down a full two strikeouts from last year. But today, it didn’t look like it, because Eflin whiffed seven in six innings, showing what seems to be swing-and-miss stuff, especially a cutter and sweeper with major horizontal arc. At one point, Eflin caught Toronto rookie Spencer Horowitz staring at a sinker that seemed to tuck inside on the left-handed batter, then back into the zone. Highly deceptive stuff.
Eflin really made just one mistake, in the fifth inning, when he allowed two singles, then hung a curveball-kind-of-thing to rookie Addison Barger, who made it 7-3 with his first career home run.
But there never was much suspense today. Just as soon as Toronto had closed the gap, the Orioles reopened it, courtesy of a Cedric Mullins double, a single by folk hero James McCann, a Cowser sac fly, and finally, Santander’s 30th home run of the year. It was a no-doubter.
So, however, was Vlad Guerrero Jr.’s seventh-inning oppo-way home run off Keegan Akin, to make it 10-4. But once again, the O’s made up the difference in the bottom half, when Ryan Mountcastle, Killer of Blue Jays, hit his own oppo-taco, a really impressive blast just inside of the right foul pole. Guerrero struck once more with a single off Burch Smith, who’d been pretty [fire emoji] to that point, showing a 97-mph fastball and a tricky cutter. That made it 11-5, but Smith shut the door and ended the game.
The heroics of James McCann, who caught nine innings with plugs in his nose and his left eye swelling shut, will get deservedly all the attention here, but there are a few other worthy Orioles performances to note. Tony Taters hitting his 30th tater counts. Cedric Mullins might be back, too, with a double, walk, run, and two great catches that he made look easy. Jordan Westburg hit three doubles in that quiet way he does. Newcomer Christian Pache got his first hit. Colton Cowser looks like a nice idea in the leadoff spot, going 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI, plus two great catches in the third, which brought much mooing, including from one former Oriole.
The Orioles haven’t always looked like a first-place team over a rough last two weeks. But with this afternoon’s performance, steadied by a new starter and a veteran catcher, you start to feel like they’re well on their way.
Now, time for Game 2! Cade Povich makes his eighth start against longman Bowden Francis. Good luck, rook.