Orioles starter David Hess brought a no-hitter into the seventh inning Monday evening against the Blue Jays in Toronto. The right-hander got the first out of the inning. Then, with only 82 pitches to his ledger, first-year manager Brandon Hyde decided to pull Hess from the game.
Pedro Araujo came in and proceded to walk Justin Smoak, then lost both the no-hitter and the shutout when Randal Grichuk slugged a two-run home run to left-center field, closing the Jays’ deficit to 6-2. The hits kept coming as Rowdy Tellez singled up the middle, but Araujo found his way out of trouble, inducing an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play from Teoscar Hernández.
The decision to lift Hess will understandably come under scrutiny, especially since things went so poorly afterwards. However, the 25-year-old tossed 42 pitches in two scoreless innings of relief on Opening Day against the Yankees. Hyde likely didn’t want to force his young pitcher to have to throw 150 pitches in the span of four days.
