BALTIMORE — A frustrating weekend was in danger of becoming a lost one for the Orioles.
Despite scoring 10 runs on a night when Corbin Burnes started and then receiving 6 1/3 innings of two-run ball from spot starter Cade Povich, the Orioles had lost Friday and Saturday. Dropping three out of four to Boston would have been deflating, especially after winning the opener.
Of course, the Orioles turned to Albert Suarez, the 34-year-old journeyman we’ve tried to dismiss, replace, and underestimate throughout the 2024 season. And he turned in another excellent performance, tossing six shutout innings on a season-high 99 pitches to earn the victory in Sunday’s 4-2 final and extend his streak of scoreless innings to 17 2/3.
That extra day of rest afforded by Povich’s start apparently paid off as Suarez registered three of his six strikeouts in his last inning to strand two runners. In fact, his hardest pitch of the afternoon was his final one, a 97.3-mph fastball to fan Red Sox catcher Connor Wong.
“The fastball once again got better as the game went on,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “His pitch mix has really improved over the course of this year, and [he has] a lot more confidence in his changeup against a really tough left-handed-hitting lineup. He really competes well.”
With his league-best eighth scoreless start of five or more innings, Suarez lowered his season ERA to 3.18. That isn’t that far behind Burnes’ mark of 3.10 after the Baltimore ace surrendered a career-worst eight runs on Friday night to continue a rough August.
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In other words, it’s time to stop overlooking the Venezuelan right-hander who’s been this club’s best story after making it back to the majors for the first time since 2017 and saving this pitching staff on multiple occasions. He’s more than a placeholder at this point.
He has been vital to Baltimore’s success and will likely need to continue to be if the Orioles are to win the American League East and make noise in October.
In mid-April, he replaced the injured Tyler Wells in the starting rotation.
Despite pitching well in two of his three starts, he was replaced by the returning John Means in early May and moved to the bullpen, but he was back in the rotation before month’s end as the pitching injuries mounted. He pitched better than expected once again through the month of June.
After a difficult July stretch that resulted in Suarez returning to the bullpen when the Orioles acquired starters Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers at the trade deadline, he again came to the rescue when Grayson Rodriguez was scratched with a lat strain minutes before his scheduled start in Toronto on Aug. 6.
He hasn’t allowed a run since taking the ball for the emergency start that night.
What a change pitching in South Korea last year to becoming one of Baltimore’s top four starters for much of 2024. The Orioles sure are glad to have him helping navigate this nightmare season of pitching injuries.
8“It means a lot. Every time I’m out there and am able to help the team and give everything I’ve got, to me, it’s a positive thing,” Suarez said. “And if I get positive results, it’s even better.”
If he keeps getting results like this, he’ll be pitching meaningful innings in October too.
Dominguez the closer
Nothing comes easy for the Orioles bullpen these days with Sunday being no exception.
As a result, Seranthony Dominguez has gone from being cast aside by Philadelphia a few weeks ago to becoming Baltimore’s closer with Craig Kimbrel’s woes continuing.
After lefty Cionel Perez and right-hander Yennier Cano ran into trouble in the eighth inning on Sunday, Hyde called on Dominguez to face Romy Gonzalez with the bases loaded and two outs. The 29-year-old right-hander retired him and went on to record a four-out save despite allowing a solo home run to Rob Refsnyder in the ninth.
For those wondering, Seranthony Dominguez last recorded a four-out save on Aug. 15, 2018. That was his rookie season and also came against the Boston Red Sox. #TheMoreYouKnow #Orioles8
It was Dominguez’s first save of more than one inning since his rookie year with the Phillies in 2018. Though it may not be saying much considering the current state of the bullpen, Dominguez has quickly become the Orioles’ most reliable reliever.
“That makes me feel really good because I know they believe in me and they trust me,” said Dominguez, who has converted all three of his save chances with the Orioles. “I just want to do my best every time they give me an opportunity.”
He’s pitched to a 1.74 ERA with 13 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings since arriving in Baltimore.
