Tyler Wells with scoreless stretched start in 5-2 loss (updated)

The Orioles are figuring out exactly what they have in Tyler Wells beyond a pitcher who should succeed at this level.

They need to know how he’s going to do it.

Not the method, but his role.

The short reliever is now a starter on a short leash, working in a tandem role that isn’t likely to change in 2022. The Orioles are controlling his innings to keep him active throughout the summer, rather than subjecting him to a late shutdown.

Wells lasted only 1 2/3 in his first start, the hook coming because of his struggles. He completed four scoreless innings tonight against the Yankees, escaping a few jams and reminding the Orioles why they’re so intrigued with the idea of removing him from the bullpen and closer duties.

Cedric Mullins hit a two-run homer in the third inning to give Wells a lead that the right-hander protected in the fourth by retiring the side in order with two strikeouts. The game started 26 minutes late due to rain, was delayed for 49 minutes with one out in the fifth because of hail, and ended with the Orioles losing 5-2 before an announced crowd of 28,179 at Camden Yards.

Mike Baumann faced two batters, retired one and didn’t return after the delay. Travis Lakins Sr. replaced him after only nine pitches, and the Yankees took a 4-2 lead on a walk, run-scoring single by Anthony Rizzo, RBI double by Giancarlo Stanton, and Josh Donaldson’s two-run homer.

Stanton originally was credited with a two-run double, but the Orioles challenged, and replays confirmed that shortstop Jorge Mateo threw out Rizzo at the plate to keep the score tied. Donaldson swung at the next pitch, tossed the bat and began his trip around the bases.

Lakins, whose contract was selected yesterday, was charged with four runs and five hits in one inning, and he let an inherited runner score.

Being unable to stay with Baumann was "unfortunate," said manager Brandon Hyde.

"We had him warming up in the fourth inning and then when the rains came, by that time he already had a full half-inning of warm-up. If I sit him down and don't put him in the game, I'm not going to be able to pitch him tonight, probably not tomorrow, either. We're going to protect Mike and be careful with him, and so we made the decision once the delay got to a certain point to take him out of the game."

The Yankees went 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings and left the bases loaded in the third after a single, hit by pitch and walk. Ramón Urías made a nice pickup on a short hop and got the out at third to end the rally.

Aaron Judge flied to the fence in right, pressing Anthony Santander’s back against it, with one out and Jose Trevino on second base.

Wells recorded two of his three strikeouts in the fourth, on a changeup and slider. He allowed three hits tonight, walked two batters and hit one. Hyde stretched him to 64 pitches, 43 for strikes.

“Tyler’s making an adjustment in that he’s doing a totally different routine than he did last year,” Hyde said earlier today. “He’s going back to his minor league routine of what he’s been used to, which was a starter mentality. Tyler’s got a starter mix. He’s got four pitches he can throw for strikes. We’re going to find out about him.

“We have high hopes and I think he’s got a huge future, whether it’s in the rotation or in the bullpen, but we want to try him out as a starter, kind of give him that look and see how it goes, because I feel like he’s going to be an impact major league pitcher in some role for the rest of his career. We really believe in his talent, and the guy and his mentality and his makeup. So just going through this every-five-day process of seeing a different lineup, having to maybe go through at least one time, hopefully a time and a half, is good for him and his pitching development, and he’s going to turn into a starter down the road. We’ll see.”

The Orioles need starters now. John Means is on the injured list with a left elbow strain and seeking second opinions after his MRI – an ominous development. Hyde doesn’t know who’s taking the ball Tuesday night in Oakland, though he’s got some ideas. Spenser Watkins gets another chance the night before.

Jordan Lyles is the only member of the rotation with a history of consuming innings, though he’s never topped the 180 that he covered last year. He’s known for taking the ball every fifth day. Hyde is taking some chances with the starters who are joining the veteran right-hander.

“I thought Tyler threw the ball great,” Hyde said. “Great to see him go four scoreless innings against a good club, bounced back nicely from his first start in Tampa. I thought he had every pitch working. The fastball was really good. Threw a lot of changeups that were good, and some breaking balls, so really competitive and nice bounce back from his last start.”

Wells probably won’t go much further in later starts. This could be the max.

“Pretty much, yeah,” Hyde said.

"I felt pretty good coming out of the game, and hopefully just continue to build on that," Wells said. "A lot of that is going to end up being the in-between work in between starts, and post-start cuff work and stuff like that. Hopefully, I'll continue to just build up and get progressively deeper into games."

Jameson Taillon retired the first six Orioles without a ball leaving the infield, but Austin Hays led off the third inning with a single and reached third base with two outs. Mullins ran the count to 3-0, got the green light and sent a 93 mph fastball 433 feet to right field.

Mullins never had a hit on a 3-0 count until tonight.

Baumann scrambled to retrieve Trevino’s slow roller and threw him out to lead off the fifth, Aaron Hicks walked and tiny ice balls began pelting the ballpark. Long enough for Baumann to disappear from the game.

This was Baumann’s second appearance after his 2 1/3 scoreless innings in the home opener. Left-hander Keegan Akin could follow Bruce Zimmermann on Sunday to close out the series or Watkins Monday in Oakland. He might be a candidate to start Tuesday, though the Orioles like him in the bullpen.

Alexander Wells appeared in his first game tonight and threw 19 strikes among 21 pitches in the eighth, allowing two singles and fanning Trevino and Judge. He returned for the ninth, stranded a runner while throwing 11 more pitches, and is out of the running for Tuesday.

Twenty-nine pitches were strikes. That will keep him in the majors.

"He threw a lot of strikes, kept guys off balance," Hyde said. "Struck a couple guys out on curveballs. Gave us two big innings right there on a night where I didn't want to use a lot of bullpen arms."

Chris Ellis must be a consideration Tuesday down at Triple-A Norfolk, and moving Means to the 60-day injured list – if that’s where this is headed - would create a spot on the 40-man roster. Left-hander Zac Lowther is on the 40-man and could be promoted.

No one is going to make replacing Means a seamless transition. It's impossible on many levels.

"He's not just important to the starting staff, he's important to the entire team," said Tyler Wells. "He's such an influence on a lot of younger guys, a lot of younger pitchers. Hopefully, it's not too bad, hopefully, it's not as long as it could be, but it sucks. It does. It sucks a lot. But at the same time, too, I know that he's always there, he's always a phone call away. And he may be around, too. We don't know the situation, we don't know what's going on with it yet. But he is a huge part of this entire team, not just the starting staff, and hopefully we continue to have him around and still pick his brain and learn some things."

Hays singled again in the fifth, giving him back-to-back two-hit games, and Anthony Bemboom walked with two outs to end Taillon’s night. Left-hander J.P. Sears walked Mullins to load the bases, and Urías flied to the edge of the track in right field. Rougned Odor and Mateo flied to the track earlier in the inning.

Urías is 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, but he walked with the bases loaded last night in the 11^th inning to give the Orioles a 2-1 victory.

The bases were loaded again in the sixth, but Michael King struck out Mateo after walking Hays, making the Orioles 7-for-75 with runners in scoring position this season.

Paul Fry replaced Lakins with runners on second and third base and one out in the top half of the inning. Hicks grounded to Mateo, who threw home to nab Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Judge reached on catcher’s interference, and a wild pitch extended the lead to 5-2 and attached another run to Lakins’ line.

Ryan Mountcastle and Trey Mancini singled with one out in the eighth and were stranded, leaving the Orioles 7-for-77 with RISP.

"I think they're extremely aware, we talk about it every single day. Definitely talk about it in here," Hyde said. "It's just something that we're struggling with right now, and like I said a lot of times, I think once guys relax and try not to do too much ... but we're also facing really good arms. The big hits will come. We've just got to be patient. We're playing close games, we're in every single night. The game could be changed a hit here, a hit there. But happy with how competitive we are. We're just not getting the big hit to kind of make it easy on ourselves."