BALTIMORE — As Omar Little’s whistle from “The Wire” played and a flashing light sequence followed at Camden Yards, Orioles manager Brandon Hyde stood on the mound with catcher Adley Rutschman and Baltimore’s infielders, waiting for closer Félix Bautista to reach the mound in a precarious eighth-inning situation.
With the Orioles up two and two runners on base, Hyde turned to his rookie closer for five outs. He delivered each emphatically to close out Baltimore’s 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Chicago White Sox.
Bautista struck out Luis Robert on three pitches, with his filthy splitter proving too much to resist just below the zone. Facing Eloy Jiménez, who had homered off starter Austin Voth in the first, Bautista threw a pitch to the backstop at 103.1 mph, becoming only the eighth pitcher to reach 103 mph since Statcast was introduced in 2015. His next offering, at 102.3 mph, hit Jiménez in the left elbow, loading the bases for 2020 American League Most Valuable Player José Abreu. Bautista struck him out to leave them that way. He added another strikeout in a clean ninth.
