THURSDAY, MAY 26 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 D5
wouldn’t jump to conclusions un-
til the team got the results of
Ross’s MRI exam.
Martinez said before the outing
that the plan was for Ross to pitch
four innings and roughly
60 pitches. Ross was throwing up
to 95 mph through the first two
innings, but his velocity began to
drop, and he felt sore after the
third inning — a discouraging end
to his first rehab start since he had
a bone spur removed from his
elbow in early March.Strasburg update
Stephen Strasburg said
Wednesday he felt his typical
post-start soreness following his
rehab appearance, in which he
threw 61 pitches over 22 / 3 innings
in Fredericksburg on Tuesday
night.
Martinez said he assumes
Strasburg will pitch in Fredericks-
burg for his next rehab start, too.
The plan is for Strasburg to stay
on a normal five-day schedule as
he works his way back.
“I’m not the one making the call
when I’m pitching up here again,
but I feel good today, and I’m
going to continue working on
what I need to work on,” Strasburg
said Wednesday. “They talk about
focusing on the process. That nev-
er changes as a pitcher, no matter
if you’re healthy from day one or
coming back like I am. You just
have to keep looking big picture
and getting better every day.”PHOTOS BY JOHN MCDONNELL/THE WASHINGTON POST
Victor Robles scored the game’s lone run Wednesday against the Dodgers, coming home on César Hernández’s single in the sixth inning.BY NATHAN RUIZnew york — Baltimore Orioles
Manager Brandon Hyde has been
pleased with his team’s improved
competitiveness against the
teams atop the American League
East. It has not resulted in consis-
tent wins.
The Orioles dropped a rubber
game for only the second time
this season, losing a second
straight game to the New York
Yankees, 2-0, to drop a third con-
secutive series to their American
League East foe.
Right-hander Tyler Wells hadheld New York to one hit in three
scoreless innings before Aaron
Judge one-hopped the left field
wall for a double to open the
fourth. Back-to-back singles from
Gleyber Torres and Miguel Andú-
jar brought him home, with Tor-
res scoring from third when
Andújar stole second base and
catcher Adley Rutschman’s throw
went into center field, the top
prospect’s first major league er-
ror.
Wells did not allow any further
damage, with right fielder Antho-
ny Santander’s dive to rob Judge
of a run-scoring hit ending the
fifth and Wells’s outing. In three
starts against New York, Wells has
a 2.57 ERA, though Baltimore
(18-27) has dropped each of those
games.Baltimore’s offense was unable
to capitalize on its opportunities.
The Orioles put their first two
runners on against left-hander JP
Sears, who was making his third
major league appearance and
first start, but two of the next
three batters struck out.
The Orioles put runners in
scoring position against Sears in
the second and fifth, but he held
them to 0 for 7 in those situations.
After two hits in the ninth from
Rutschman and Rougned Odor —
the latter a bloop into center that
gave Odor a career-high-tying
1 0-game hitting streak — Jorge
Mateo struck out to end the game
and leave Baltimore’s average
with runners on either second or
third base this season at .198. No
team has finished a season below.200 in that regard.
After winning their first series
of the year against the Yankees,
the Orioles have gone 2-8 against
the AL East leaders. The teams
don’t meet again until the first
series out of the all-star break
then face each other in the sea-
son’s penultimate series.
No batter has been better at
working counts this season than
Rutschman, and that trend con-
tinued Wednesday.
By seeing 19 pitches in his four
at-bats, Rutschman is averaging
4.86 per plate appearance thus
far. No player who has seen at
least 100 pitches this year entered
Wednesday with a better mark,
and only eight have finished a
season above it.
— Baltimore SunWells has no luck as New York blanks BaltimoreYANKEES 2,
ORIOLES 0JIM MCISAAC/GETTY IMAGESTyler Wells pitched well over f ive innings for Baltimore but took
the loss as the Orioles failed to cash in o n their offensive chances.
Maikel Franco tagged out Hanser Alberto at third base in the fifth, slowing a potential Dodgers rally.
Soto running back and I saw him
turn around and kind of camp
under a little bit, [there was] a lot
of relief here.”
Here’s what else to know from
the Nationals’ victory:Setback for Ross?
Joe Ross was pulled from Tues-
day night’s rehab start at Harris-
burg after three innings with
tightness in his right elbow. Mar-
tinez said he was concerned butFedde endured a rough April,
pitching to a 6.00 ERA and lasting
five or fewer innings in all four of
his starts. In five starts since then,
he has allowed six runs over
272 / 3 innings (1.99 ERA). His ERA
for the season dropped to 3.55.
Fedde walked only one batter
Wednesday — former National
Trea Turner in the third — and
was able to mix his pitches to
strike out six: three on sinkers,
one on a curveball and two on
cutters.
He has relied on his cutter more
in May than in April, increasing
its usage from 26.3 percent to
32.8 percent. On Wednesday, he
threw it 39 times out of his
90 pitches (43 percent). Fedde
credits that pitch, as well as his
ability to throw his sinker up in
the zone, for his recent success.
“I think it’s just the command
of the cutter, especially to the
lefties,” he said. “That’s where I’ve
had a lot of trouble throughout
the career, where teams stack sev-
en, eight [left-handed batters]
against me and just really didn’t
have a weapon that I felt could
punch them out or really keep
them off the barrel.”
After four innings Wednesday
he had thrown 75 pitches, and it
looked as if he might have another
short outing, especially as he
stared at a Dodgers lineup for a
third time through the order. But
Martinez kept him in the game,
and the 29-year old right-hander
came through.
In the fifth inning, Fedde
worked around a first-pitch dou-
ble by Hanser Alberto. A fielder’s
choice retired Alberto at third,
and then Fedde induced a double
play from Turner, making for a
quick, six-pitch inning.
Fedde threw just nine more
pitches in the sixth, working to
preserve a bullpen that used sev-
en arms in the first two games.
Carl Edwards Jr., Kyle
Finnegan and Rainey each
pitched an inning to finish the
deal Wednesday. The Nationals
entered the day with the fewest
save opportunities in the majors
(eight). The team’s previous save
came a week earlier when Victor
Arano cleaned up after Rainey
blew an opportunity against the
Marlins, one of two straight
blown saves for Rainey.
In this one, Rainey retired the
leadoff batter before walking Max
Muncy. He then allowed a single
to Gavin Lux but got Cody Bell-
inger to pop out and Will Smith to
line out sharply to right field on a
ball that carried to the warning
track.
“The ball was hit a little bit
harder than I was hoping for,”
Rainey said while cracking a
smile. “But when I saw [Juan]
NATIONALS FROM D1
Fedde, bullpen combine
to shut out the Dodgers
NATIONALS ON DECKvs. C olorado RockiesToday7:05 MASN
Tomorrow 7:05 MASNSaturday4:05 MASN2
Sunday1:35 MASN2at New York MetsMonday7:10 MASN
Tuesday7:10 MASNWednesday1:10 MASNat Cincinnati RedsJune 26 :40 MASNJune 36 :40 MASN
June 44 :10 MASNJune 51 :40 MASNRadio: WJFK (106.7 FM)Nationals 1, Dodgers 0
DODGERS AB RHBIBBSOAVG
T.Turner ss ..................... 301011 .289
Freeman 1b .................... 300011 .297
J.Turner 3b ..................... 401000 .203
Ríos dh............................ 401002 .254
Taylor cf-rf..................... 301011 .248
Muncy 2b........................ 300012 .150
Lux lf .............................. 401000 .256
Alberto rf ....................... 201000 .244
Bellinger ph-cf................ 200000 .213
Barnes c.......................... 200001 .235
Betts ph.......................... 100001 .290
Smith c........................... 100000 .252
TOTALS 32 06049 —
NATIONALS AB RHBIBBSOAVG
Hernández 2b ................. 401100 .274
Thomas lf ....................... 400001 .205
Soto rf ............................ 300011 .236
Cruz dh ........................... 302000 .227
Bell 1b ............................ 301000 .296
Franco 3b........................ 301000 .257
Adams c.......................... 300002 .200
Robles cf......................... 110021 .227
Escobar ss ...................... 201000 .212
Hernandez ph ................. 100000 .308
Strange-Gordon ss......... 000000 .262
TOTALS 27 16135 —
L.A........................... 000 000 000 —060
WASH..................... 000 001 00X —160
LOB: Los Angeles 9, Washington 5. 2B: Taylor (9), Al-
berto (3), Cruz (3), Franco (11). RBI: Hernández (10).
SB: T.Turner 2 (10). CS: Soto (1).
DODGERS IP HRERBBSONPERA
Urías ........................ 641133872 .49
Almonte................... 220002261 .12
NATIONALS IP HRERBB SONPERA
Fedde ........................... 640016903 .55
Edwards Jr. .................. 100011212 .79
Finnegan...................... 110012193 .12
Rainey ......................... 110010192 .84
WP: Fedde (3-3); LP: Urías (3-4); S: Rainey (4). IBB: off
Finnegan (Freeman). T: 2:53. A: 23,341 (41,339).
HOW THEY SCORED
NATIONALS SIXTH
Victor Robles walks. Alcides Escobar singles to shallow
infield. Victor Robles to second. Cesar Hernandez sin-
gles to left field. Alcides Escobar to second. Victor Rob-
les scores. Lane Thomas pops out to Freddie Freeman.
Juan Soto called out on strikes. Nelson Cruz singles to
shortstop. Cesar Hernandez to second. Alcides Escobar
out at home.
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