Cedric Mullins’ clutch 10th inning lifts Orioles over Yankees, 7-6, after blown lead: ‘That’s a big win’
NEW YORK — That’s why the Orioles stuck with Cedric Mullins.
The center fielder has spent much of the past two months slumping at the plate — sometimes painfully so — but manager Brandon Hyde repeatedly put his faith in the veteran with the hope he’d snap out of it and return to the game-changer he used to be.
He did just that in extra innings Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium to lead the Orioles to a thrilling 7-6 win over New York in a game that again felt more like October than June.
“That’s a big win,” Hyde said. “I was really happy with how we battled, competed. We gave up the lead and continued to fight offensively, that shows a lot about our club. It was a heck of a win.”
After Craig Kimbrel’s blown save sent the game to extra innings, Mullins blooped a go-ahead RBI single in the 10th off Yankees closer Clay Holmes and then used his speed to make his way around the bases, stealing third and scoring on the errant throw trying to catch him. The two runs generated by Mullins were just enough for Dillon Tate in the bottom half, as the right-hander allowed the automatic runner to score but stranded the potential tying run for his first save since Oct. 2, 2022, also at Yankee Stadium.
“That’s basically what my early work is for, to get back to my game — being able to create chaos,” Mullins said. “Getting hits, being able to hit doubles, the long ball, steal bases, do a little bit of everything. Getting back to that is huge.”
Kimbrel’s blown save wasn’t his typical one, as the veteran closer didn’t walk a batter and often mixed in his knuckle curveball. Instead, Anthony Volpe and Giancarlo Stanton simply got the best of Kimbrel, the latter with a game-tying single, but the 35-year-old closer gave up just the one run to give Mullins the opportunity for his heroics.
“Nice that he only allowed that one run,” Hyde said. “Those things are going to happen.”
Baltimore is 48-25 and 1 1/2 games behind the American League East-leading Yankees (52-25).
Long before the excitement and angst of extra innings, youngster Cade Povich grinded through 4 2/3 innings, allowing only one hit and one run, to give the Orioles’ offense a chance to bounce back from Tuesday’s intense defeat. The rookie southpaw didn’t get the win, but his performance gave the Orioles’ offense time to build a lead — one just big enough for Baltimore’s bullpen to stave off a fierce comeback attempt from the Yankees until it couldn’t.
Ramón Urías’ go-ahead two-run homer in the fifth was sandwiched between two RBI doubles by Ryan O’Hearn in the first and fifth. Ryan Mountcastle’s RBI double to score Gunnar Henderson, who was hit by a pitch in his shoulder to further foment the animosity bubbling underneath this pivotal series, provided a key run in the seventh.
After Orioles pitchers hit two batters Tuesday, the Yankees threw up and in twice to Baltimore batters, including once to Henderson. New York then plunked two Orioles batters Wednesday, but the one of Henderson backfired. The 22-year-old shortstop stole second and scored on Mountcastle’s double to right field to make it 5-1.
Stanton clobbered a 440-foot home run off sinkerballer Yennier Cano in the seventh to bring the Bronx Bombers within one, driving in two runners who reached base off left-hander Cionel Pérez. The slugger was moved up in New York’s batting order with Aaron Judge absent after being hit in the hand by a pitch Tuesday, and Stanton made up for the loss quite nicely after his 120 mph — no, not a typo — single off Kimbrel to score Volpe, who led off the frame with a double.
To score the go-ahead run in the 10th, Santander, who opened the inning on second under MLB’s rules for extra innings, read the ball off Mullins’ bat perfectly, and third base coach Tony Mansolino’s aggressive send paid off when Santander beat center fielder Alex Verdugo’s throw. An inning earlier, Santander nearly broke the game open and made Kimbrel’s life easier, but Verdugo robbed the switch-hitter of a bases-clearing hit with an excellent catch on the warning track.
Mullins entered the game batting .188 and has lost his spot as an everyday player, but he proved his skipper right Thursday night for sticking with him through his skid, which he’s started to break out of over the past week.
“That’s what he can do when he gets on base,” Hyde said. “Ced gets a single, a lot of times, it’s a double. Ced gets to second base, he’s got an opportunity to steal third base. … But also the defense that Ced plays in center field. It’s premiere defense, and that’s so important at a premiere position.”
Santander made a web gem of his own in the 10th to help Tate, as did catcher Adley Rutschman. The right fielder made a diving grab to rob rookie Ben Rice of a hit, resulting instead in a sacrifice fly to cut the Orioles’ lead in half. Rutschman then nabbed Oswaldo Cabrera trying to steal second for the inning’s second out. Tate struck out former Oriole Jahmai Jones to send the announced crowd of 47,155 to the subway unhappy.
“Incredible,” Tate said of his defense. “It’s always a team effort every night, but having guys like that definitely makes it a lot easier out there.”
The win keeps Baltimore’s streak of 21 straight AL East sets without a series loss alive, at least until Thursday. The streak is tied for the longest in MLB history since divisions were introduced in 1969. The Orioles have gone 48-23 against the AL East during the streak, including 18-7 this year. The last time Baltimore lost an AL East series was versus New York in early April 2023.
Povich shows his mettle
Hyde didn’t care that Povich’s third MLB start would come under the brightest of lights at Yankee Stadium.
“I like watching Povich pitch wherever — lights or no lights,” Hyde quipped before Wednesday night’s game.
Hyde just wanted to see his young starting pitcher command his six-pitch mix the way he did last week versus the Atlanta Braves. Povich didn’t, as the southpaw walked four batters in his first two innings in what appeared to be an ugly, short start. But Povich showed Hyde — and the Yankees — something even more than what’s to be expected from a 24-year-old making his first career start in the Bronx opposite reigning AL Cy Young Gerrit Cole, who pitched four innings of two-run ball.
“A lot of kids growing up dreaming to pitch or play one day at Yankee Stadium, so it’s obviously really cool,” Povich said.
Povich wasn’t perfect, but he didn’t need to be and he gave the Orioles a chance to win.
The lone hit the Orioles’ top pitching prospect allowed was to lead off his night when Volpe lined a single to center field. Povich then issued two free passes and nearly walked in a run, but he worked out of the self-induced jam, giving up only one run on a sacrifice fly by Gleyber Torres. He walked two more in the second but escaped that pickle, too, and then retired nine in a row before walking Juan Soto with two outs in the fifth, earning the hook in favor of Jacob Webb.
It was a weird night for Povich. His strange pitching line — 4 2/3 innings, one hit, one run, five walks and one strikeout — is unique across the nearly 240,000 games in MLB history, with Povich being the only starter to post that line.
“After the first couple, I didn’t know how long he was going to be out there,” Hyde said. “For him to get into the fifth inning there was huge for us.”
The win — the Orioles’ 19th in their past 26 games — was perhaps one of their most impressive this season. It was a quintessential team triumph in which nearly every player contributed. Povich toughed out his start, Webb and Bryan Baker tossed scoreless innings and Tate closed it out. O’Hearn, Urías and Mountcastle provided the offense before Mullins put on a show. Santander and Rutschman both flashed the leather in the 10th to carry the club to the finish line.
“It was a blast,” Povich said. “We’re always going to fight, we’re always going to stay in it until the end. Obviously, it ended up going to extras, but the fight never wavers.”
Orioles at Yankees
Thursday, 4:05 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM