Baltimore’s bats, gloves shine in Eflin’s strong O’s debut

BALTIMORE -- As Zach Eflin strolled off the field following the top of the sixth inning on Monday evening, the newest member of the Orioles’ rotation received a nice hand from the Camden Yards crowd.

The fans liked what they saw from Eflin, who was acquired in a trade with the Rays on Friday. And the right-hander had to have liked what he saw from his new teammates, who put on quite a performance in the opener of a doubleheader vs. Toronto.

Eflin delivered a quality start in his O’s debut while getting plenty of help from both his offense and defense in an 11-5 victory over the Blue Jays. The righty scattered 10 hits (nine of which were singles), and all three runs he yielded came on a home run by Addison Barger in the fifth.

Baltimore ended up splitting the twin bill -- taking an 8-4 loss in the nightcap -- but the highlight of the day was Eflin’s encouraging first performance in orange, which was well received at his new home ballpark.

“It was awesome. The crowd was into it -- a bit different than Tampa,” Eflin said. “It was a lot of fun, honestly, to be out there with the guys and such a good, high-energy team.”

Although Eflin set a new season high for hits allowed, he also matched his season-best with seven strikeouts. He became the 14th pitcher to record seven-plus K’s in an Orioles debut, and the first since new teammate Corbin Burnes racked up a record 11 on Opening Day.

Eflin’s command was as good as advertised during the 98-pitch outing, as he threw 71 strikes and didn’t issue any walks. He has only 13 in 116 innings this season.

“Just a total pro effort, knowing that we have a doubleheader, knowing that if he could give us six innings, that would be huge,” manager Brandon Hyde said, “and he went out and did that.”

Of Eflin’s 12 whiffs, eight came from his cutter, which he threw more than any other offering (38 times). It’s the second-most swing-and-misses he’s generated with the cutter in 178 career MLB outings, behind only the nine he recorded on May 20, 2023, in a start for the Rays vs. the Brewers.

“It felt really good away to righties, inside to lefties,” Eflin said. “Backdoor was kind of struggling a little bit to lefties. But we found a lot of really good spots to throw it.”

Baltimore gave Eflin an early lead with a four-run first that featured a bases-loaded walk to Ramón Urías, an RBI single by Ryan Mountcastle and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch from James McCann, who was drilled in the face by a fastball and stayed in the game.

McCann had a bit of trouble seeing due to a swollen left eye, but he could still tell that Eflin’s stuff looked impressive.

• McCann stays in game after taking fastball to the face

“I thought he threw the ball really well,” McCann said. “He was a lot of fun to catch today, and he’s going to be a lot of fun to catch moving forward.”

The O’s broke the game open in the fifth when Anthony Santander swatted a two-run homer, his 30th home run of the season, tying him for the third-most in MLB with the Braves’ Marcell Ozuna, trailing only the Yankees’ Aaron Judge (38) and the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (32). Santander is already only three shy of his career high (33 in 2022).

On the other side of the ball, the Orioles made several nice plays behind Eflin, with the top two highlights coming on back-to-back plays in the third, both courtesy of left fielder Colton Cowser.

Cowser first retreated to make a leaping grab at the wall to rob Spencer Horwitz, then charged a liner off the bat of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to make a splendid diving catch.

“Those plays just give me momentum to continue to pound the strike zone and keep my pitch count down,” Eflin said. “[Cowser] was huge out there. Everyone played great today. It was awesome.”

With the Trade Deadline set for Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET, Baltimore could make more additions to its pitching staff. Eflin may not be the only starter brought in to bolster the rotation for the defending AL East champions’ push for a second straight division title and a likely postseason run.

If Monday was a sign of what’s to come, Eflin could play a big part in the Orioles making it deep into October.

“To get a guy like Zach who has year in and year out put up a lot of innings and put up good numbers -- and provides us more depth than we originally had,” Burnes said. “He’s a guy we’re definitely excited to have.”