BALTIMORE — Before Friday night’s game with the Chicago White Sox opened the Orioles’ final series of the first half of the season, manager Brandon Hyde stated the obvious.
“We’re looking for pitching,” he said.
He saw plenty of it in Friday’s 12-1 defeat, and little of it good, with Hyde calling on second baseman Pat Valaika to pitch for the second time this year to record the final out of the top of the ninth after the White Sox got to each actual pitcher the Orioles sent to the mound.
Ramón Urías’ second-inning home run gave the Orioles (28-59) an early lead, but it didn’t make it to their next time up, with Brian Goodwin tying the game with a two-out double in the third against Jorge López. The Orioles right-hander has struggled in the fifth inning often this season and did so again Friday, giving up three straight hits to open the frame as the White Sox took a lead they didn’t release.
Cole Sulser and Dillon Tate combined to issue five walks and four runs in the fifth to help Chicago break the game open, and Gavin Sheets homered in his first major league game at Camden Yards as part of a three-run seventh against César Valdez.
Recent waiver claim Shaun Anderson made his team debut with a scoreless eighth, then allowed a three-run home run in the ninth before Hyde turned to Valaika.
Since rejoining the Orioles in late June to be their regular shortstop after Freddy Galvis suffered a right quadriceps strain, Urías has been among their most productive players.
Entering Friday having batted .333/.405/.515 since his latest promotion from Triple-A, Urías added two more hits including his home run, marking his fourth multi-hit performance in the past five games.
Despite his limited playing time, Urías has been measured as one of Baltimore’s top performers. Before what was only his 35th appearance in the Orioles’ 87 games, Urías ranked tied for fourth among Orioles position players in Wins Above Replacement, according to FanGraphs. While that also speaks to the struggles for those around him, the 27-year-old’s .830 OPS is the highest of any Oriole other than All-Star Cedric Mullins.
He and newcomer Kelvin Gutiérrez were the lone Orioles batters to record multiple hits.
