Rico Garcia tames Tigers to collect fifth save

Wells needed just 10 pitches to get through the inning and secure the 6-4 victory for the Orioles. Wells was a perfect 4-for-4 in save opportunities for the Orioles this month and posted a 1.10 ERA over 16.1 innings of work in July.

The Orioles are unclear about whether they truly want to trade away players at the deadline because, despite being three games under .500, they are just 2.5 games out of a playoff spot. The expiring contracts include Taylor Ward, Trevor Rogers and Andrew Kittredge, but the Orioles are also listening to offers for Adley Rutschman, who is under team control for one more season. While it remains unclear what the Orioles will do, Rosenthal believes that “Ward and Rogers, even as rentals, could fetch sizable returns,” so they remain the two most likely to be moved. If anybody moves at all.

The Orioles are up to nine saves in July, three of which belong to Kittredge. Tyler Wells also has three, and he pitched two scoreless innings in Wednesday’s thriller. The other three saves are spread across three different relievers, so this looks like a true committee led by Wells and Kittredge. That makes it difficult to roster either of them in standard mixed leagues, but perhaps more clarity will arrive after Monday’s trade deadline.

Wells allowed one walk but worked around it. The righty has three saves in July but only one of the team’s past five. He’s part of a closer-by-committee with Ryan Helsley sidelined. If he starts consolidating ninth-inning chances over the season’s final two months, it would do wonders for his fantasy viability.

Wells retired four of the five batters he faced in the seventh and eighth, striking out three of them, but with two outs in the eighth, Caleb Durbin took him out to left to break a 5-5 tie. It was Wells’ third appearances in four days, so he’ll almost certainly be out of the mix on Tuesday. That increases the chances of an Andrew Kittredge save chance.

It got a little stressful, but Wells found a way to dig deep and secure this save. First, Yordan Alvarez came up with the tying run on base and Wells forced him to hit a comically high pop-up. Afterwards, he walked Isaac Paredes to push the tying run into scoring position, but struck Christian Walker out after a seven-pitch battle to end it. Wells has been excellent in relief this season with a 2.96 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 26% strikeout rate, and a true four-pitch mix that’s stuck with him since he was a starter. He’s a capable closer, just be advised that Andrew Kittredge has saved a handful of games as well and it’s likely these two share this job moving forward.

That’s relatively good news. Helsley will keep resting for now and then aim for a return down the stretch. One imagines he’ll be down for at least another month, and since the Orioles might get Félix Bautista back in September, it probably doesn’t make a lot of sense to hold on to Helsley in shallow leagues. Andrew Kittredge seems to have supplanted Tyler Wells as the favorite for saves in Baltimore’s pen for now. The team could trade for another option before the deadline.

Kittredge allowed a one out double to Michael Massey in the ninth but retired the next two batters he faced to close out the frame and secure the win. Kittredge has now been called upon to close out games in back-to-back days for the Orioles, and could become a part of the team’s closer committee for as long as Ryan Helsley remains sidelined.

Tyler Wells was used against the top of the order in a tie game in the eighth, and wound up allowing a run on a pair of doubles by Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki. However, he wound up with the win here as the Orioles plated two in the bottom of the eighth. Kittredge stepped in against 6-8 hitters. He needed some help, as Nico Hoerner was caught stealing ahead of an Ian Happ single, but Kittredge eventually got Michael Conforto to line out to left to end the threat. Don’t be surprised if Wells is used as a pure fireman at points this year, but Wells likely remains the head of the closer committee for fantasy purposes.

Wells gave up a single to Elly De La Cruz and walked Sal Stewart to begin the inning, but he then retired JJ Bleday, Eugenio Suárez and Nathaniel Lowe in order. Wells is very clearly the favorite for saves in the Baltimore pen with Ryan Helsley down, but he will need Sunday off after this. With Yennier Cano also having worked back-to-back days, Rico Garcia might be the top ninth-inning option then.