BOSTON — Brandon Hyde can’t have felt much like smiling as he endured the ninth inning of Saturday’s 4-2 Orioles win over the Red Sox.
He managed one after it ended without incident when César Valdez, the 36-year-old reliever he’d said before the game he didn’t want to use but did anyway, stranded the batter he hit and the one he walked in a tense save situation.
“I lied a little bit,” Hyde joked. “César Valdez wanted the ball. He’s been around a little bit, so I gave it to him.”
The Orioles’ two wins Friday and Saturday have now both been closed out by Valdez, a fabulous story on a team that’s seemingly specializing in them these days.