BALTIMORE — Two years ago Sunday, Cedric Mullins was nearly a month into an unexpected return to Double-A Bowie. At this time in 2020, he was back in Bowie again, with Sunday marking the anniversary of his demotion to the Orioles’ alternate training site after a 1-for-13 start to the season.
Those benchmark dates make what Mullins achieved Aug. 8, 2021, all the more impressive. On Tampa Bay Rays starter Michael Wacha’s first pitch of what became a 9-6 Orioles loss thanks to another eighth-inning collapse, Mullins homered to the flag court beyond the right-field fence at Camden Yards, becoming the seventh player in franchise history with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in a season. By reaching the feat in his 108th game played, Mullins has recorded the second-fastest 20-20 campaign among Orioles; Reggie Jackson did so in 104 games in 1976.
The Orioles (38-72) have 52 games remaining, and Mullins would need 10 home runs and nine steals within them to record Baltimore’s first 30-30 season.
But even a day worth celebrating was negated by the Orioles bullpen, with high-leverage relievers Cole Sulser, Paul Fry and Dillon Tate combining to allow seven runs behind Jorge López as the Rays completed the sweep for their 11th victory in 12 matchups with Baltimore this season.
Brett Phillips cut into the deficit with a solo shot off Sulser in the seventh, and after Fry struggled with his command for a second straight outing and Tampa Bay evened the score, Phillips hit a ball deep but foul down the right-field line, only to hit a grand slam off Dillon Tate a few pitches later for his first career multi-homer game. The Orioles, who lost their fifth straight, allowed 16 runs in the eighth inning in the series, though their franchise-record streak of four games allowing double-digit runs narrowly ended Sunday.
Mullin’s solo shot, which extended his hitting streak to a career-high 16, was part of the Orioles scoring in each of Wacha’s first four innings. Speedsters Jorge Mateo and Richie Martin scored both runs in the second, with Mateo getting hit by a pitch, stealing second and coming home on Martin’s single. On a steal attempt of his own, Martin slid headfirst into second and, with Austin Wynns singling on the pitch, got up in time to reach third. Austin Hays later singled him home.
After Anthony Santander narrowly missed a catch against the right-field wall that led to Tampa Bay’s first run, he made up for it with a home run, his first since July 6. Austin Meadows answered with a solo shot in the top of the fourth, but Hays got that run back with another RBI single. Santander added a run-scoring double in the ninth.
Length from López
The early offensive output backed López, who was sharp for a second straight start.
After holding the New York Yankees to one run over six innings, he matched that length while holding the American League East leaders to two runs. He lowered his ERA to 5.75 with the performances, and he left the mound positioned for what would’ve been the Orioles’ fifth straight win in a game he started if not for the bullpen’s collapse.
