Andrew Kittredge earns one-out save in extras

Wells bolsters Tampa Bay’s relief depth heading into the home stretch after thriving as a full-time reliever with the division-rival Orioles this season, posting a solid 2.67 ERA across 54 innings of work. He’s an interesting pickup for the Rays, who have had plenty of success with turning unheralded names into elite relievers in the recent past.

The Rays had so much success with Bryan Baker that they’re going back to the Orioles for another unheralded reliever. Wells has made the transition to a full-time relief role appear seamless, notching four saves to go along with a 2.67 ERA across 54 innings of work. This qualifies as a savvy pickup for the Rays to bolster their late-inning equation.

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.

Garcia got the call to protect a three-run lead in the final frame after Andrew Kittredge worked a scoreless eighth inning. He needed just 17 pitches (10 strikes) to dispatch the Tigers and preserve the win. He struck out Matt Vierling and Kevin McGonigle before getting Dillon Dingler to pop out in foul territory to end it. Garcia should continue factoring into Baltimore’s late-inning mix along with Kittredge and Tyler Wells while Ryan Helsley (elbow) is on the injured list.

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.