Jorge Mateo’s 2-run double lifts Orioles to 3-1 win over Rays: ‘He creates so much havoc’
Over the final five months of last season, Jorge Mateo was by far the worst hitter in baseball.
The Orioles infielder batted .179 with a paltry .472 OPS. The next-worst hitter with at least 250 plate appearances during that stretch posted an OPS nearly 80 points better. Mateo was reduced to a platoon role during his struggles, and as he whiffed through slider after slider outside the zone, it was difficult at times to understand why he was in the Orioles’ lineup.
Now, it’s hard to imagine a lineup without his name in it.
On Friday night, Mateo lined a go-ahead, two-run double in the sixth inning to lead the Orioles to a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays at Camden Yards. His clutch swing followed one by Austin Hays, who smacked a pinch-hit single to tie the game, to deliver a comeback victory in Baltimore’s first game against the Rays this season.
“Thank god it was because of that we were able to win the game,” Mateo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “My mentality is always to help the team win, and I was able to do just that.”
The three-run sixth was more than enough for Baltimore’s pitching staff. The group took a blow earlier in the day, as general manager Mike Elias announced that starters John Means and Tyler Wells would undergo elbow surgery and miss the remainder of the season. Elias expressed confidence in the strength of his pitching staff, and it proved him right Friday.
Albert Suárez pitched five innings of one-run ball in his second start back in the Orioles’ rotation. Relievers Cionel Pérez, Yennier Cano, Danny Coulombe, Jacob Webb and Craig Kimbrel combined to pitch four scoreless innings to seal the Orioles’ 17th comeback win, tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the most in baseball this year. Kimbrel slammed the door by retiring the side in order in the ninth for the 430th save of his career, moving him into sole possession of fifth place on MLB’s all-time list.
Mateo, who went 2-for-4, opened the season in a platoon role, mostly starting against left-handed pitchers. With Gunnar Henderson playing shortstop every day and Jordan Westburg’s emergence, playing time was difficult to come by. When top prospect Jackson Holliday was promoted, it appeared likely that Mateo’s days starting at all were also numbered.
But Holliday struggled in his first taste of the big leagues and was optioned back to Triple-A Norfolk in late April. In the five weeks since, Mateo has seized the opportunity — playing plus defense at second base, taking consistent at-bats and running the bases with his typical zest — to earn a near-everyday role.
“I’m impressed,” manager Brandon Hyde said about Mateo’s performance recently. “He’s taking as good at-bats that he possibly can. He’s trying to lay off the breaking ball away. For the most part, he’s done a great job of that and he knows how teams are going to pitch him, and he’s trying to take advantage of this opportunity he’s getting right now. He’s playing Gold Glove defense, and when he gets on base, he creates so much havoc. When he gets on base, he scores, and then tonight he got some big hits.”
A "tough" day in Baltimore after John Means & Tyler Wells were announced to need elbow surgery and miss rest of 2024.
On what this means for Wells/Means, the state of the Orioles' rotation & how Cade Povich/Chayce McDermott factor into Baltimore's plans: https://t.co/ag3Mjl8QRc
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) May 31, 2024
Before this season, Mateo was a career .223 hitter with a .634 OPS since debuting in 2020. This year, the 28-year-old is hitting .245 with a .753 OPS. In 267 plate appearances across 2023’s final five months, Mateo totaled only 12 extra-base hits and zero homers over the fence. He already has 16 hits for extra bases in 122 plate appearances this season.
The speedster entered Friday with the sixth-highest wins above replacement on the Orioles, according to Baseball-Reference, behind only Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg, Adley Rutschman, Corbin Burnes and Ryan Mountcastle.
“I’ve been feeling really good,” Mateo said. “Thankfully, I’m able to learn more what the league is doing and how pitchers are trying to pitch to me. As I continue to learn all that stuff, it’s been really helpful.”
With seven wins in its past eight games, Baltimore is 36-19 and 10-3 against the AL East. The Orioles are 1 1/2 games back of the American League East-leading New York Yankees (39-19), who play on the West Coast late Friday night.
Before Hays and Mateo came through in the sixth, Baltimore’s bats were cold against Rays starter Aaron Civale. Suárez kept the Orioles in the game, grinding through five innings on 95 pitches. The 34-year-old right-hander scattered four hits and two walks while striking out five. The lone run he allowed was on an RBI single by Ben Rortvedt in the second.
Suárez started three games for the Orioles in April before being moved to the bullpen. With the injuries to Means and Dean Kremer, Suárez is temporarily back in Baltimore’s rotation. He began the season in Triple-A as a flier who hadn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2017. Now, through 34 1/3 innings, he has a superb 1.57 ERA and 0.99 WHIP.
“I just thought he really gutted through it,” Hyde said of Suárez’s outing. “Got a little better, I think, as the game went on, and giving us five innings tonight was huge.”
Suárez and the quintet of Orioles relievers combined to hold the Rays to five hits in 30 at-bats, including 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position while stranding eight on base.
Anthony Santander kicked off the rally in the sixth with a one-out single. Rays manager Kevin Cash replaced Civale with left-hander Richard Lovelady to face Colton Cowser. The 24-year-old rookie responded by hitting a left-on-left bloop single to bring up lefty Cedric Mullins. Hyde swapped out the struggling Mullins (.185 average) for the also-slumping Hays (.173). The right-handed Hays fell behind 0-2, but smacked the third pitch — a center-cut slider — through the infield to score Santander and tie the game.
“I understand the situation I’m in right now,” said Hays, a 2023 All-Star, about being reduced to a platoon role. “I’m ready to take that at-bat whenever it comes. Right there, it was a big moment in the game. I was able to take advantage of it, and, yeah, it feels good.”
Austin Hays gave an insightful and honest postgame interview after today's win about his struggles this season and his new platoon role. pic.twitter.com/E5UVWstx1T
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) June 1, 2024
“He’s got a great attitude, and this is not easy for him,” Hyde said. “I give him a ton of credit for staying ready. … He’s got some big hits off the bench for us, and that was a huge hit tonight.”
With two outs, Cash brought in right-hander Phil Maton to face Mateo, normally not the quality of hitter who prompts pitching changes. Mateo got down 1-2, fouled off two pitches and hit the sixth pitch of the at-bat — a hanging 79.6 mph sweeper — into the left field gap, sending the Rays outfielders running, Cowser and Hays sprinting home and the announced 27,364 at Camden Yards screaming.
“He’s been like that ever since he got here,” Hays said of Mateo. “When he’s on the field, he makes a difference. … He can impact the game in so many different ways. When he’s firing on all cylinders, no matter where he’s at in the lineup, he can really make this team go.”
A win Saturday or Sunday would extend the Orioles’ streak of avoiding series losses against the AL East to 19. The last time Baltimore dropped a divisional series was in April 2023.
The Orioles went 21-46 against Tampa Bay (28-30) during the first four years of the Elias era, including 1-18 in 2021. They are 9-5 versus the Rays over the past two seasons.
Rays at Orioles
Saturday, 4:05 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM