With Grayson Rodriguez’s elite stuff, it’s often said that he throws gas. Monday night, he showed he has plenty left in the tank.
The 23-year-old Orioles right-hander posted the best start of his major league career to open a series with the San Diego Padres, allowing a run over a career-high seven innings in a 4-1 victory to continue a run of excellence since rejoining Baltimore’s rotation last month.
After consistent struggles in Rodriguez’s first 10 outings prompted the Orioles (74-45) to send their top pitching prospect back to the minors, he has returned with a 3.03 ERA over six starts. He’s pitched into the sixth inning in each after doing so only once while posting a 7.35 ERA in his first big-league stint.
The Orioles emphasized improved fastball command during Rodriguez’s return to the minors. Each of the three hits he allowed Monday came on that pitch — including Garrett Cooper’s sixth-inning solo shot, the first home run Rodriguez has surrendered since his return — but it was likewise a dynamic weapon for him. His 38 uses of it averaged 98.9 mph, the highest for an Orioles starter since pitch tracking began in 2008. He already held the record, responsible for the top seven such outings.
A 101 mph offering resulted in a comebacker to open the bottom of the first and made Rodriguez one of only eight starters with multiple pitches at that velocity this season, also hitting that mark July 17 in his first start back in the majors. After Ryan O’Hearn gave Baltimore an early lead with a solo home run off Yu Darvish, Rodriguez began the bottom of the second with a strikeout of former Orioles star infielder Manny Machado, traded away about a month after Baltimore selected Rodriguez 11th overall in the 2018 MLB draft. Machado managed to make contact in the fourth, popping up after Rodriguez struck out fellow San Diego stars Fernando Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto.
Gunnar Henderson, like Rodriguez a Baltimore rookie surging at the right time, cleared the bases with a three-run double in the fifth, giving his starter plenty of breathing room. Cooper’s home run to open the sixth ended a run of 11 straight Padres (56-63) retired by Rodriguez, but he responded by striking out San Diego’s next three batters.
Xander Bogaerts’ two-out walk drove his pitch count up enough to prevent a possible eighth inning, but Rodriguez’s outing ended how it began — with a ground ball back to him.
A dramatic ninth inning saw Orioles closer Félix Bautista walk Tatis and Soto with one out in the ninth, but Machado grounded into a double play to end the game.
This story will be updated.
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