BALTIMORE — There won’t be any second-guessing the pitch selection. Félix Bautista, who has been a stout closer for the Orioles this season, was one strike away from sealing a fourth victory for Baltimore. With Kyle Tucker at the plate, Bautista hurled his splitter — a pitch that ranks among the best in baseball.
But Bautista, throwing his season-high 33rd pitch, left that splitter too high in the strike zone, and Tucker lashed it into right field to end Bautista’s evening with a gut-punch in an eventual 11-10 loss.
With the way Orioles starting pitchers had performed the past three games, the bullpen was well rested. Bautista was the only reliever to record an out during Baltimore’s three-game winning streak, which included complete games from Jordan Lyles and Dean Kremer and 8 2/3 innings from Kyle Bradish. Yet when Bautista and the rest of the bullpen appeared, they buckled in big moments, rendering one of the top offensive showings of the season moot and pushing the Orioles (79-72) behind the Seattle Mariners for the final American League wild-card spot.
