Detroit Tigers rally to tie it in 9th, but fall at Orioles in series opener, 2-1

BALTIMORE — Detroit Tigers relievers were riding a scoreless streak of more than 17 innings until right-hander José Cisnero reset the counter Friday night when the Baltimore Orioles hit a solo home run, breaking a scoreless tie, with two strikes and two outs in the seventh inning.

Again, the Tigers showed their resiliency.

A clutch two-strike, two-out hit from Javier Báez in the top of the ninth inning knotted the score again, but the Orioles ended the game in the bottom of the ninth on a walk-off fielder’s choice play against righty reliever Jason Foley. Ryan Mountcastle beat the throw to home plate, and the Tigers lost, 2-1, in the first of three games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

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The Tigers (7-11) collected their fourth hit in the ninth inning against right-handed closer Félix Bautista. Pitch-hitter Akil Baddoo, a left-handed hitter, provided hope with a single and a stolen base.

He was stuck at second base, as Nick Maton struck out and Riley Greene grounded out, before Báez saved the Tigers. He ripped a two-strike splitter from Bautista at the top of the strike zone and lined the ball into left field for an RBI single.

The hit tied the game, 1-1.

Left-handed reliever Tyler Holton, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning, took the mound in the bottom of the ninth inning and retired Adley Rutschman. From there, right-hander Jason Foley took over with the responsibility of retiring Mountcastle and Anthony Santander.

Both players hit singles to put runners on the corners for Frazier. He hit a bouncer to first baseman Spencer Torkelson, and Mountcastle beat the throw to home plate and the tag attempt from catcher Jake Rogers, ending the game.

Torkelson threw the ball to the first-base side of home plate.

Before Holton and Foley, the Tigers’ bullpen squandered an impressive and unexpected scoreless streak when Austin Hays crushed Cisnero’s full-count fastball for a solo home run to straightaway center field.

Before Hays’ big swing, Cisnero fell behind 1-0 in the count with a fastball way above the strike zone. He then fell behind 3-1 before Hays fouled a 95.6 mph fastball down the middle.

In a full-count, Cisnero went back to the heater.

He threw a 95.6 mph fastball, not too far from the location of the previous fastball, and this time, Hayes hit the ball 413 feet with a 105.5 mph exit velocity. The homer put the Orioles ahead, 1-0.

The Tigers’ offense failed to score against Orioles starter Tyler Wells. The right-hander posted seven scoreless innings with five strikeouts, giving up three hits and one walk. Rogers had two hits, Greene picked up one hit, and Matt Vierling drew the lone walk to start the fifth inning.

After Vierling’s walk, Miguel Cabrera popped out and Jonathan Schoop grounded into an inning-ending double play.

Wells, who threw 61 of 95 pitches for strikes, recorded 14 swings and misses with three four-seam fastballs, two sliders, five changeups, three cutters and one curveball. He also had nine called strikes.

Lorenzen bounces back

Right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who allowed six runs across four innings in his first outing for the Tigers, showcased his seven-pitch arsenal in a bounce-back performance.

The secret to the improvement: He threw strikes and avoided noncompetitive pitches. Lorenzen fired five scoreless innings, allowing just three hits and one walk, while striking out four batters.

He threw 45 of 68 pitches for strikes.

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In the fifth inning, Gunnar Henderson — one of the early favorites for American League Rookie of the Year — ripped Lorenzen’s hanging changeup for a two-strike, two-out double to right-center field.

Lorenzen responded accordingly.

He struck out Ramon Urías swinging with an up-and-in fastball on the seventh pitch of the plate appearance, overpowering him with a 97.5 mph heater. It was the fastest, and final, pitch of Lorenzen’s outing. His four-seam fastball, which he threw 16 times, averaged 95.6 mph.

He was replaced by left-handed reliever Chasen Shreve. After Shreve’s scoreless sixth inning, Cisnero took over for the seventh and retired the first two batters before Hayes’ home run snapped the scoreless tie.

Balk or no balk?

One of the most interesting moments in Friday’s game, at least before the scoreboard finally changed in the seventh inning, occurred in the fourth when Lorenzen was charged with a balk.

Cedric Mullins, who leads MLB with nine stolen bases (in nine attempts), danced off first base and temped Lorenzen to make his second pickoff attempt in a row. When Lorenzen tried to pick him off, the umpires stopped the play and allowed Mullins to automatically advance to second base.

But Lorenzen didn’t think he balked.

He thought he stepped off the mound.

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Regardless, Lorenzen was faced with a runner on second base and no outs in the fourth inning. He retired the heart of the Orioles’ lineup — Rutschman (strikeout), Mountcastle (lineout) and Santander (flyout) — to escape the jam and keep the game scoreless. He struck out Rutschman swinging with a changeup in the dirt, blocked by Rogers.

After the inning, Lorenzen talked to home plate umpire Brock Ballou about the balk.

Contact Evan Petzold at epetzold@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanPetzold.