Coby Mayo, Late Addition To Lineup, Gets Orioles Biggest Hit Of Season in 3-2 Win

Coby Mayo was not supposed to play in this baseball game after a sluggish start at the plate and having more issues at third base recently.

He nearly left the game in the middle innings when get cleated in the back of his right knee diving into second base to beat a force out. And in the bottom of the seventh inning he delivered perhaps the biggest hit of this barren Orioles season, smashing a three-run, go-ahead homer down the left field line after Yankees starter Ryan Weathers came into that inning with a no-hitter to key a 3-2, win.

It was yet another night where the O’s could not touch a lefty starter (they entered 0-9 vs them), with Weathers tearing off five straight strikeouts in one stretch and not even allowed hard-hit foul balls. But Adley Rutschman whacked a clean single to open the inning, Yankees skipper Aaron Boone resisted making a move, Weathers began to tire after hurling over 100 pitches, walking Tyler O’Neill, and Mayo took left reliever Brent Headrick deep to alter the course of the evening.

"Coby works hard," manager Craig Albernaz told reporters after the game, "he cares a lot, and for him to come through right there was huge for him, and huge for us."

The Orioles have back-to-back wins, and against winning teams no less (3-12 on the season), and after being swept and abused by the Yankees over four games in the Bronx a week ago, they finally had a lead against them when Mayo struck, and then a victory. Orioles starter Brandon Young shrugged off an early two-run homer by Ben Rice to persevere into the sixth and the Orioles bullpen was stellar again.

Mayo only entered the lineup because catcher Sam Basallo was a late scratch after absorbing a big collision at home plate on Sunday. He made the most of the opportunity on a night when the Orioles lineup was limp again. They once again struck out in double digits and couldn’t get men on base. They entered this game with staggering ineffectiveness against lefties – a .180/.259/.297 slashline – making Mayo’s heroics all the more staggering.

"It's been a while since I feel like I've come through in a big moment like that," Mayo told the MASN broadcast crew after the game. Mayo said he didn't find out he would be DHing until an hour before first pitch. "I didn't take a single swing," before the game he said.

Hey, whatever works at this point for a team that's 19-24. The Orioles had a rare night with no errors, no boneheaded mistakes and no wild pitches, but alas that cannot be counted on.

Quality Enough Start

Young attacked the Yankees in all quadrants and got sufficient swing and miss in big spots and wasn’t so much sharp as he was game. The pitch count was at 80 through four innings, and walking three in 5 1/3 against a lineup this potent in a ballpark this quaint to right field isn’t a prescription for success – but he also struck out five.

After how ugly the outings were at Yankee Stadium, Young did more than what many might have expected. The bullpen was potent, especially Rico Garcia, who has been virtually unhittable this season and tore through the middle of the Yankees lineup in the 8th.

"It was pretty electric stuff tonight," Albernaz said.

Anthony Nunez, who has alternated closing games with Garcia with regular closer Ryan Helsley on the Injured List, gave up a single in the ninth with two outs but the game ended with Jose Caballero thrown out trying to steal second.

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