Matt Harvey, Cedric Mullins continue resurgent seasons in Orioles’ 4-2 win over Yankees
Matt Harvey #MattHarvey
In 2019, Matt Harvey and Cedric Mullins found themselves unexpectedly in the minors. The former was a one-time All-Star starter who was once the ace of a New York Mets staff that pitched that club into the World Series. The latter was a young outfielder who looked overmatched in what was expected to be his first full season in the majors.
Monday night at Camden Yards, each played pivotal roles in what to this point has been their renaissance season as the Orioles opened a four-game series against the New York Yankees with a 4-2 victory. Harvey, the right-hander who once earned the moniker “The Dark Knight” for his dominance in New York, held the Yankees to one run in six innings, his longest outing with Baltimore. Mullins provided him with early run support by sending Yankees starter Deivi García’s second pitch onto Eutaw Street, then added a solo shot in the seventh for his first career two-homer game.
Harvey’s stuff is admittedly not what carried him his heights of nearly a decade ago, as he found himself in his sixth organization in four seasons when he signed a minor league deal with the Orioles this spring. But manager Brandon Hyde said before Monday’s game “he’s still continuing to improve.” Harvey then went out and proved as much.
He opened the game by striking out DJ LeMahieu looking, then got Aaron Judge to ground into a double play after walking Giancarlo Stanton. Harvey returned to the mound with a 1-0 lead thanks to Mullins’ fourth career leadoff home run, then struck out Roughned Odor to begin the second before allowing a single and a walk to find himself in trouble. But after Aaron Hicks flew out for the second out, Harvey threw a 94.8 mph fastball high in the zone past Gary Sánchez to end the frame.
In the bottom half, shortstop Freddy Galvis hit an RBI double to left-center, but he did not return for the top of the third because of what the Orioles (10-12) said was left adductor soreness.
Harvey built off those last two outs of the second and set down nine more Yankees in order, reaching the sixth inning having allowed only one hit. A walk to lead off that inning spoiled his streak, but he immediately induced a double play, recording an out in the sixth inning for the first time as an Oriole. Stanton and Judge roped back-to-back doubles to put New York on the board, but Harvey got Odor to popout to record his first quality start with Baltimore. He dropped his ERA to 4.26 with the performance.
After a scoreless seventh from Travis Lakins Sr., Tanner Scott walked the bases loaded while recording two outs in the eighth. César Valdez entered for a four-out save and allowed a base hit to left by Gio Urshela, but Hays threw out Judge at third before a second run could score on the play. Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected arguing the ruling.
Valdez pitched a clean ninth to finish off the series-opening victory.
Mullins’ muscle
When the Orioles sent Mullins to their alternate site in Bowie two weeks into the 2020 season, he had three hits in his previous 53 major league at-bats. He’s been a transformed player since.
Mullins hit .291 once he rejoined the Orioles, then abandoned switch-hitting this offseason to exclusively hit left-handed. A double and his second home run Monday came against left-handed pitchers; his 15 hits off lefties are one more than he against them, batting right-handed, from 2018 to 2020 combined. His four hardest-hit home runs, as measured by exit velocity, have come against the Yankees.
He’s put together that offensive performance with strong defense in center field. In the fourth inning behind Harvey, he seemingly a lost deep fly ball by Judge, but recovered to make a leaping catch on the warning track.
Flaa up, Lowther down
A day removed from his major league debut after getting promoted from the Orioles’ alternate site in Bowie, left-hander Zac Lowther returned there, with Baltimore adding right-hander Jay Flaa to the 40-man and major league rosters.
Lowther, the Orioles’ No. 19 prospect according to Baseball America, pitched a scoreless ninth inning to finish off Sunday’s victory. He’s expected to be part of Triple-A Norfolk’s rotation when that season opens early next month, but he should return to Baltimore “at some point,” Hyde said.
“I know that he’ll be back soon,” Hyde said.
Flaa, 28, was Baltimore’s sixth-round pick in 2015 out of North Dakota State. Should he make his debut, he would be the 20th major leaguer born in North Dakota. Flaa has a 3.41 ERA in his minor league career and reached Norfolk in 2019. He said he added velocity over the offseason by tweaking how he gets down the mound and changing his arm path.
When Norfolk manager Gary Kendall called to tell him about the promotion near 10 a.m. Monday, Flaa thought he was joking.
“I would absolutely like to think that a lot of guys see me as an example of somebody that kind of came from under the radar and how fast things can change,” Flaa said. “I went to bed last night as a regular minor leaguer and woke up this morning and my life changed forever.”
YANKEES@ORIOLES
Tuesday, 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN Radio: 105.7 FM