The Baltimore Orioles have had better days. For much of the day Tuesday, the baseball world focused on the Orioles removing lead play-by-play man Kevin Brown from broadcasts, reportedly because he cited a stat regarding the club's hefty loss total against the Tampa Bay Rays in recent years. The unpopular move led to "Free Kevin Brown!" chants at Camden Yards on Tuesday.
That self-own was bad enough. Things went from bad to worse Tuesday night against the Houston Astros. Thanks, in part, to Ryan Mountcastle's 472-foot homer, Baltimore handed a seemingly comfortable 6-3 lead to All-Star closer Félix Bautista in the ninth inning. Bautista took a 0.85 ERA -- that's five earned runs in 52 2/3 innings -- and an incredible 102 strikeouts into Tuesday's game.
Rather than nail down the win, Bautista had his biggest meltdown of the season, culminating in Kyle Tucker's go-ahead grand slam. Tucker put a tough nine-pitch battle on Bautista, then launched the go-ahead four-run homer. The Astros went on to win the game 7-6 (box score). To the action footage:
A stunner. According to ESPN, Tucker is the first player this season to hit a grand slam with his team trailing by three runs in the ninth inning or later. The O's had won 97 consecutive games when taking at least a three-run lead into the ninth inning.
Bautista allowed four earned runs on one swing after allowing five earned runs all season entering Tuesday's game. His ERA jumped from an otherworldly 0.85 to a still-excellent 1.52 just like that. The home run was Tucker's 20th of the season. He also stole his 24th base Tuesday, so he has a chance at his first career 30/30 season.
Tuesday's loss and Tampa's win over the St. Louis Cardinals (TB 4, STL 2) cut Baltimore's lead to two games in the AL East. The Astros, meanwhile, improved to 65-49. They sit in the second wild-card spot and are four games up on a postseason berth in general.
