Rico Garcia quiets Blue Jays to notch 10th save

Bautista averaged 96.2 mph with his sinker. That’s down one mph from where he was last year before shoulder surgery and down three mph from 2023, but it is one mph better than he’d averaged in eight Triple-A appearances on his rehab assignment. Bautista will probably pitch twice more this week as he tries to give himself something to build on entering 2027.

Bautista will be making his first appearance in the majors since July 20, 2025. The hard-throwing 31-year-old former closer has missed most of the last three seasons due to labrum and rotator cuff surgeries following a Tommy John procedure following the 2023 campaign. There’s a chance that Bautista factors into Baltimore’s closing mix during the final week of the regular season, which gives him some fantasy appeal in deeper mixed leagues.

With the game in extra innings and Rico Garcia already having pitched, the Orioles turned to Kittredge for the save. He escaped the 11th inning and earned his 10th save. Kittredge might not see many more save opportunities given how well Garcia has pitched and with Ryan Helsley (elbow) close to returning.

Garcia tossed a perfect ninth inning to pick up the save, finishing off a 2-1 victory for the Orioles. It was his ninth save of the season. Garcia has a 2.97 ERA. He remains part of a closer committee in Baltimore, though Ryan Helsley (elbow) is on a rehab assignment as he works his way back from injury.

Helsley’s impending return would provide a massive lift for the Orioles during the final two weeks as they sit just three games out of the final playoff spot in the American League. Craig Albernaz has been rolling with a multi-pronged closer-by-committee approach that includes Rico Garcia, Andrew Kittredge, Yennier Cano and Josh Walker for the past couple weeks. They also have former stopper Félix Bautista on the verge of returning from the injured list. Helsley, who has been out with elbow discomfort since early July, figures to step into the closer role once he’s activated.

This ninth inning got hairy for Alex Hoppe and the Orioles after four hits and two runs turned this game into a save situation. With Alejandro Kirk coming up as the tying run, they called on Garcia to get them out of the jam and he did so with six straight breaking balls before eventually forcing a ground ball out. That’s now back-to-back days where Garcia has earned a save after Andrew Kittredge let up four runs in his last two outings.

With the score 9-5, there was no save situation to start the ninth, which probably played a role in Garcia getting to stay in and make his longest appearance since July 3. He’s allowed one run in 12 2/3 innings over his last 14 outings.

Bautista needed just eight pitches, six of them strikes, to collect three outs. He had just one whiff and sat 94.8 mph on his sinker, but he had much better command of his arsenal in this one. He likely needs a few more appearances, but there is a chance that he could rejoin the Orioles as soon as next week if he continues to pitch well.

The rally was ruled in part by Rece Hinds losing José Ramírez’s fly to right in the sun, giving him a single. Nathaniel Lowe hit the homer with one out in the ninth, making it a 6-4 game. Kittredge stayed in initially afterwards and got Angel Genao to ground out. It seemed like he could have finished the game at that point, but the Orioles brought in Josh Walker to face Patrick Bailey. Another fly to right followed, but while Hinds again struggled with the sun, he did manage to catch this one. It gave Walker his first save in 50 relief appearances since his debuted in 2023. Kittredge remains a top candidate for saves in the Orioles pen for now.

This ought to have been a blown save and a loss for Kittredge, but Colton Cowser saved him by robbing a two-run homer to end the game. It’s Kittredge’s fifth save of August, but he still might find himself taking a back seat in September with Félix Bautista and maybe Ryan Helsley due back.