BALTIMORE — For the Orioles’ rebuild to eventually be successful, some of their young pitchers must prove capable of taking on the American League East’s quartet of contenders.
In his final opportunity in a September audition, left-hander Zac Lowther did that, though neither Baltimore’s offense nor bullpen was able to back him in a 6-0 blanking by the Boston Red Sox. That same opponent had tagged Lowther for 10 runs in 5 2/3 innings over two previous starts, including the first of his career. But Wednesday, in the penultimate game at Camden Yards this season, he pitched into the sixth against a Boston team that clung onto its playoff positioning with the victory.
Lowther, Baltimore’s No. 27 prospect according to Baseball America, allowed only one earned run while pitching out of trouble in his five frames, twice walking off the mound with an emphatic clap of his glove. The outing was his fifth straight turn in the Orioles’ rotation, matching his tally of sporadic appearances in the first half. He missed time with a shoulder injury but was given a chance to start for Baltimore (51-107) once healthy.
Although he ended this five-start stretch with a 5.06 ERA, most of the damage came in one outing against the Toronto Blue Jays’ juggernaut offense. He had a 2.32 ERA in the other four starts, allowing one earned run in 10 innings with 11 strikeouts over his final two starts.
The Orioles, meanwhile, managed nothing against Nathan Eovaldi and three relievers, with Boston adding two runs off Konner Wade in the eighth and another off Spenser Watkins in the ninth for the final margin.
Gutiérrez’s glove
Lowther allowed a solo home run to J.D. Martinez in the second and found himself in more trouble an inning later after two singles opened the frame. But third baseman Kelvin Gutiérrez snagged Hunter Renfroe’s hard-hit line drive to double off former Oriole José Iglesias at second base.
The Red Sox again got their first two men on in the fifth, but Lowther induced a groundball to Gutiérrez, who started another double play. Lowther came out for the sixth and allowed a leadoff single, prompting manager Brandon Hyde to end his night at 73 pitches with the right-handed middle of Boston’s order due up a third time.
But Gutiérrez couldn’t turn Xander Bogaerts’ grounder off right-hander Eric Hanhold into two more outs, the ball skipping past his backhand attempt for a two-base error. Martinez then roped a double beyond the reach of Gutiérrez’s leaping effort, scoring both runners.
Among Orioles defenders, Gutiérrez entered play trailing only All-Star center fielder Cedric Mullins in Statcast’s Outs Above Average.
Standings update
With their victory, the Red Sox will come into Thursday’s rubber game still holding the AL’s second wild-card spot. They entered play leading the Seattle Mariners, who played the Oakland Athletics late Wednesday, by half a game and the Toronto Blue Jays, the Orioles’ final opponent, by one game. The New York Yankees, who the Blue Jays beat 6-5 on Wednesday, lead Boston by one game for home-field advantage in the one-game playoff.
On the other end of the standings, the Orioles’ defeat matches them in the loss column with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who faced the league-leading San Francisco Giants late Wednesday. Baltimore will have a bullpen game in Friday’s opener in Toronto, with Thomas Eshelman a possible starter, while left-hander John Means and Bruce Zimmermann are the scheduled pitchers for the season’s final two games.
