On a night when Baltimore Orioles history was made, a five run 9th by the Texas Rangers could not be overcome as the Birds lost 8-5. The loss, however, did not dim the accomplishment that occurred in the second inning.
With two on and two out, Cedric Mullins (1 for 3, 1 Run Scored, 3 RBI, 2 BB) launched his 30th homerun of the season into right-centerfield. The ball hit the area between the outfield fence and the seating area and bounced back on to the field. Hopefully the ball was secured for Mullins trophy case. That homerun, paired with his second stolen base against the Boston Red Sox on Sept. 18th, meant that Mullins is the first Oriole player to have a 30 HR-30 SB season, a notable achievement when one considers the scope of players that have worn the orange and black. Mullins is the 43rd player to record a 30-30 season in MLB history.
The five run 9th not only led to the Orioles loss, it also may have, for all intents and purposes, ended the season for Rule-5 standout Tyler Wells (0.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R). Wells began the ninth, gave up a DJ Peters triple, held his right arm awkwardly after throwing the pitch and was then removed from the game. He will be evaluated on Saturday for what is classified as “right shoulder discomfort”.
Conner Greene (0.1 IP, 4 R, 3 H, 1 BB) replaced Wells and after inducing a Willie Calhoun sacrifice fly, gave up a single, a second single, a walk and a double before exiting the game with the Rangers leading 6-5. In the end, Greene was the pitcher of record and is now 1-3.
The Rangers capped off the inning with a double steal that was overturned on review; Adolis Garcia’s steal of home was the part of the play that was challenged and scored the Rangers 8th run.
Mullins walked with two outs in the home 9th and the game ended in the loss column, nonetheless.
Ryan Mountcastle, who flew out to right to end the game, went 2 for 5 with 1 run scored.
Kelvin Gutierrez went 2 for 4 with 1 run scored.
Alexander Wells made his seventh start of 2021 and allowed 3 runs on 5 hits, including a Nate Lowe two-run homerun in the 1st inning, walked 1 and struck out 1 over 5.0 innings.
Fernando Abad struck out 1 in 1.1 innings of relief, as well.
2021 Record: 49-105
Next Game: Sat. Sept. 25 @ 7:05pm
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