ST. LOUIS (AP) — Rylan Bannon became just the third Baltimore player since 2000 to get a hit on the first pitch of his big league career, Jorge Mateo and Anthony Bemboom homered and the Orioles beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 on Thursday.
“I let him know he’s in the big leagues an hour before the game, ” Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde said. “So, he’ll never forget that. I know it’s a special day for him and his family.”
Bannon a 26-year-old third baseman, was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before the game and singled on a pitch from Steven Matz (3-3) with two outs in the second inning, one batter after Mateo homered to put the Orioles ahead.
“I trusted the scouting report. I stuck to my approach,” Bannon said. “I got a pitch middle and put a good swing on it. It was a fastball right down the middle.”
Bannon went 1 for 4 with a strikeout and two flyouts. The 2017 Big East Player of the Year at Xavier, he was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth round of the 2017 amateur draft and traded to Baltimore in July 2018 in the deal that brought Manny Machado to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I felt really like I didn’t get my feet under me until the fifth or so inning,” Bannon said. “After a couple of at-bats, that’s when it really sunk in where I was. It was a weird feeling being out there early in the game. It was awesome. It’s definitely good to be here. It’s cool to be here in the locker room.”
The previous Orioles to get a hit on their first pitch were Rhyne Hughes on April 24, 2010, at Boston and Willie Morales on April 9, 2000, against Detroit, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Bemboom hit his first big league home run since September 2020 in the seventh, and Cedric Mullins added an RBI single off Génesis Cabrera later in the inning for a 3-0 lead.
Matz…
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