BOSTON -- On a 90-degree day in the midst of a losing streak, the Orioles had a tall task ahead of them Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park: face Red Sox ace Chris Sale in his return from Tommy John surgery.
Though they couldn't crack Sale in an eventual 16-2 loss, the O’s managed back-to-back homers off the lanky lefty, something that has happened only three times in Sale’s career (including the playoffs). Austin Hays got Baltimore on the board with his 13th homer of the season, sending a 3-2 changeup over the Green Monster in the third inning. Trey Mancini followed with his own shot, snapping a 13-game homerless streak. His last came on July 28 vs. Miami.
Baltimore’s offense quickly faded, recording just five hits after the back-to-back jacks. The Orioles’ losing streak extended to 10 games, four short of their longest of the season (May 18-31).
The Orioles fell into an early hole after the Red Sox loaded the bases in the first inning, scoring on a wild pitch before third baseman Rafael Devers delivered the big blow with a three-run homer off starter Jorge López. In his first career start at Fenway Park, López labored through 3 1/3 innings, giving up seven runs on nine hits, walking two and hitting two batters.
“I think we’ve had some games get away from us, last night and tonight where we go down early,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Getting down early quite a bit is hard. And you know, we need to get a good start to get things rolling. And I’m not complaining about the lack of effort. I think the execution isn’t really good on the mound right now with some guys, and I think that our at-bats can get a little bit out of control.”
Though it had little impact on the result, Mancini’s homer marked a significant moment for the first baseman, who returned to baseball this season after battling cancer throughout 2020. Saturday’s long ball was his 20th of the season and snapped a slump. Entering play Saturday, Mancini was 8-for-53 (.151) with a .182 on-base percentage and a .208 slugging percentage in his last 13 games.
Despite Mancini’s recent struggles, Hyde has remained confident in the O’s veteran, keeping him atop the order.
“No, I think Trey’s OK mentally,” Hyde said ahead of Friday’s series opener. “He swung the bat really well out of the All-Star break.”
Mancini’s 2021 season has proved to be a highlight for a scuffling Orioles team. Following his second-place finish in his first All-Star Home Run Derby, Mancini had indeed “swung the bat really well” to open the second half of the season, batting .356 with a 1.085 OPS in 11 games before his skid.
The third-inning homer was Mancini’s lone hit on Saturday. He struck out in his first at-bat and grounded out in the fifth and eighth innings. Including both homers, the top five hitters in the Orioles’ lineup had just five hits in 19 at-bats.
Though Mancini’s homer was an encouraging sign for the offense, the O’s are feeling the absence of Ryan Mountcastle, who has been on the 7-day concussion injured list since Sunday.
“I think we’re missing Mountcastle,” Hyde said. “That’s big for us right now for a middle-of-the-order bat, but a lot of teams are missing people. So you know, we’ve just got to get better in all areas, we’re a long ways away.”
Saturday’s challenge was representative of a common theme for the Orioles this month: facing better pitchers, and better teams. Of the nine series the club will play in August, seven are against teams currently with winning records. The other two are against Detroit, which swept the O's earlier this week, and the Angels from Aug. 24-26.
“Well, we really have no choice,” Hyde said of the team’s effort to keep looking forward. “Just to come out and play hard and do our best to try and stay in games and try to compete and try to win as many games as we can. That’s been the mindset here. We haven’t pitched very well as of late, we’re not scoring a ton of runs, either. So we’ve got to do a better job.”