The Orioles Drop Middle Game Against the Reds (7/30/22)

The Orioles dropped the middle game of their series in Cincinnati.

After a dominant ninth-inning performance on Friday, the Orioles failed to stay in the game against the Reds Saturday night.

Terrin Vavra made his major league starting debut in the game.

Orioles starting lineup:

C. Mullins CF, 2. A. Rutschman C, 3. T. Mancini 1B, 4. A. Santander RF, 5. A. Hays LF, 6. R. Odor 2B, 7. R. Urias SS, 8. T. Vavra DH, 9. T. Nevin 3B

The starting pitcher for the O’s was Dean Kremer (3-2, 3.06 ERA, 38K).

Reds starting lineup:

J India 2B, 2. B. Drury 3B, 3. T. Pham LF, 4 J. Votto 1B, 5. M. Moustakas DH, 6. K. Farmer SS, 7. N. Senzel CF, 8. J. Fraley RF, 9. M. Papierski C

The Reds starting pitcher was Tyler Mahle (4-7, 4.48 ERA, 107K).

The Orioles started off the game right where they ended on Friday as they started off with a 2-0 lead. Anthony Santander hit an RBI single to score Adley Rutschman. Trey Mancini was moved to third on the single before being balked home to extend the O’s lead.

Dean Kramer was in a sticky spot with runners on first and third but was able to get out of the jam after a Mike Moustakas fly-out.

The Reds bounce back in the second when Michael Papierski hit an RBI single to cut the O’s lead in half 2-1.

The Reds tied the game 2-2 in the 4th after Jake Fraley hit a ball into shallow left and Nick Senzel scored.

Jonathan India hit a 2-run 366-foot home run deep into the stands to give the Reds a 4-2 lead.

Joey Votto added some extra padding in the 5th as he hit his second home run in the series. This one was 404 feet. Reds led 5-2 at that point.

After pitching 4.1 innings and striking out 3, Kremer was relieved by Beau Sulser (3.86 ERA).

The change in pitcher didn’t affect the Reds as Jake Fraley hit a 367-foot two-run homer to give the Reds a 7-2 lead a couple of batters after Votto.

In the 6th, the Reds didn’t take their foot off the gas as Brandon Drury hits an RBI single to extend the lead to 8-2.

Reiver Sanmartin (7.41 ERA) relieved Mahle, who pitched 98 pitches and had 7 strikeouts, in the 7th.  Then the Reds relieved Sanmartin for Ross Detweiler (4.20 ERA) in the 8th.

Detweiler was taken out for Ryan Hendrix (5.06 ERA) in the 9th without a chance of a save and finished the game as the O’s lost 8-2.

The Orioles will face off against the Reds tomorrow Sunday, July 31st, at 1:40 PM EST.