Brandon Hyde cheered for two major league teams Monday.
In the afternoon, the Orioles’ manager watched an American League East game on television in his office, hoping the Boston Red Sox would beat the Tampa Bay Rays. At night, he peered from the top step of the visiting dugout as his AL-best club took on the Los Angeles Angels.
Both of his teams won.
After the Red Sox defeated the Rays on the East Coast, the Orioles took down the Angels, 6-3, on the West Coast to improve their lead atop the American League standings to a season-high 3 1/2 games.
“It’s a great attitude to have,” Hyde said before the contest about his players’ mindset of focusing on their games and not the Rays’. “I’m maybe a little bit more guilty than they are. I was just watching the Rays game inside.
“Huge Red Sox fan this afternoon,” he added with a laugh.
The Orioles’ two youngest players led them to victory. Starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, 23, tossed six innings of two-run ball for his fifth straight quality start, and third baseman Gunnar Henderson, 22, crushed a three-run homer in the seventh to provide the difference.
Since returning to Baltimore’s rotation to begin the second half, Rodriguez has pitched to a 2.85 ERA in nine starts, becoming perhaps the club’s second-best starting pitcher behind ace Kyle Bradish. He scattered seven hits and two walks while striking out seven against a lineup without Shohei Ohtani, who was scratched with an oblique injury he sustained during batting practice.
Like Rodriguez, Henderson also began the season slowly, but the AL Rookie of the Year front-runner has been the Orioles’ best player this summer. His long ball, with an exit velocity of 107.8 mph according to Statcast tracking data, was his 23rd of the season.
After the Angels took an early 1-0 lead, the Orioles scored three in the third on RBI hits from Austin Hays, Ryan Mountcastle and Aaron Hicks. Yennier Cano slammed the door in the ninth with his sixth save and second since he overtook closer duties with Félix Bautista on the injured list. The comeback win is the Orioles’ 43rd this season.
The victory extends the Orioles’ streak without being swept to 84 series. The last time they were swept was in mid-May 2022. The streak surpasses the 1922-24 New York Yankees for the third-longest in MLB history, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Baltimore is 86-51, a season-best 35 games over .500, and on pace to win 101 games, which would be the club’s first time reaching the century mark since 1980.
This story will be updated.
Orioles at Angels
Tuesday, 9:38 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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