LOS ANGELES -- From what would have been a thrilling come-from-behind win for the Orioles to what ended up being a difficult, 6-5 walk-off loss, there was only one way to describe what transpired in the bottom of the ninth inning at Dodger Stadium on Friday night.
“Definitely a gut punch,” manager Craig Albernaz said.
It can be challenging to beat the two-time defending World Series champion Dodgers in their house, with a raucous environment created by a loud crowd. The O’s were greeted by a vocal group of over 50,000 who filled the blue and yellow seats for the series opener.
But Baltimore was so close to pulling off one of its best wins of the year. It erased a three-run deficit when the bats turned things around against right-hander Roki Sasaki, who was nearly untouchable through the first five innings before giving up back-to-back home runs to Gunnar Henderson (a two-run shot) and Pete Alonso (a game-tying blast) in the sixth.
Jeremiah Jackson put the Orioles ahead with a bases-loaded, two-run single in the seventh, and the club handed the ball to closer Ryan Helsley with a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the ninth.
Helsley had a bit of a shaky return from the injured list on Wednesday, when he came back from a seven-week absence caused by right elbow inflammation. The 31-year-old gave up home runs to Dominic Canzone and Cole Young on his first two pitches before settling in and securing a save in a win at Seattle.
The Dodgers used the long ball to cut the O’s lead in half, as Mookie Betts belted a one-out solo shot. But it was a pair of walks that proved costly for Helsley, who faced a two-out, two-on jam after putting on both Max Muncy and Ryan Ward.
“I just left a slider hanging to Mookie, he put a good swing on it,” Helsley said. “And then, kind of uncompetitive there after that. I wasn't really ahead of guys and didn't put guys away when I had the chance.”
And then, Los Angeles won on a play that broke down for Baltimore.
Dalton Rushing connected on a 1-2 fastball from Helsley and slapped it to right field. Alex Call (who pinch-ran for Muncy) easily scored from second to tie the game at 5. Ward likely would have stopped at third -- if the Orioles would have had cleaner defense.
Tyler O’Neill threw the ball in from right, and it bounced up well in front of catcher Samuel Basallo, who tried to corral it with his glove. It instead got past him. Helsley was backing up, but he was a bit to the right of where the ball was rolling away.
As the O’s tried to recover and the crowd roared, Ward broke for home and scored easily.
“It looked like it took a weird hop,” Albernaz said. “I think if you ask Sammy, it’s a play he should have made.”
“It took a bad bounce there,” Basallo said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “But I feel like I tried my best to trap it, and I should have."
Helsley took accountability for not being in the best possible spot himself.
“It's probably my fault,” said Helsley, who blew his first save of the year after successfully converting his previous seven opportunities. “I wasn't back to the net close enough to back him up, and the ball got away.”
Before going on the IL, Helsley didn’t allow more than one run in any of his first 12 outings for the Orioles, who signed him to a two-year, $28 million deal this past offseason. After making only two rehab appearances for Triple-A Norfolk, Helsley has returned and given up multiple runs in each of his first two outings back with Baltimore.
But Helsley feels like his stuff is in a good spot, even if the results haven’t come with it.
“Being the reason your team loses is never fun,” Helsley said. “Those guys battled and played a heck of a game, and unfortunately, I didn't close the deal for them tonight.”
After going 1-3 to open a three-city West Coast road trip, the O’s will try to bounce back the rest of the weekend. But it won’t be easy, as the Dodgers are set to send right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto -- who came within one out of a no-hitter in Baltimore last Sept. 6 -- to the mound on Saturday night.
“We’ve shown a lot of resiliency throughout this season, and I know our guys are going to be ready to play,” Albernaz said. “This one hurts, but our group will get over it quickly and get ready to go out tomorrow.”