John Means returned to the Orioles on Tuesday. Well, kind of.
The man was back on the mound in Tampa Bay. But the resulting performance showed that Means still has some work to do before he’s back to form.
Means, making his return from a sore shoulder that had sidelined him since the start of June, looked rusty while struggling early in what became a 9-3 loss for the Orioles to the Rays, evening up their series after Baltimore took the opener.
Means went five innings and allowed five runs, all earned, but it wasn’t just a collection of bad bounces and bloop hits, though there were some of those too.