Baumann, Keys flirt with history

A pair of subpar outings put a blemish on Michael Baumann's early-season stat line. He made up for it and then some Tuesday night.
Baltimore's No. 26 prospect struck out a career-high 12 over 6 2/3 hitless innings as Class A Advanced Frederick took a no-no and a four-run lead into the ninth inning, only to lose the bid at history and the game, 5-4, to Wilmington at Nymeo Field. 
Keys relievers Travis Seabrooke and Luis Perez combined to surrender five runs -- four earned -- on four walks, a hit, a wild pitch and an error. 

Gameday box score
Baumann sat through a rain delay of 61 minutes prior to the start of the game, but showed no ill effects from the wait. The right-hander fanned four of his first six batters and was perfect through four innings after punching out the side in the second and fourth. He walked No. 27 Royals prospectSebastian Rivero to lead off the fifth and tossed a wild pitch, but escaped the frame unscathed. He delivered a clean sixth and struck out the first two batters in the seventh before another walk to Rivero ended his evening. He eclipsed his previous career high of 10 strikeouts done twice, most recently in his first start of the season on April 10 against Fayetteville. 
"The weather situation is what it is," Baumann said of the rain delay. "There's going to be adversity out there no matter what. It's part of baseball. I just tried not to overthink it and not let anything get into my head and distract me from my routine. I didn't necessarily feel anything special in the bullpen [before the game]. I think [my performance] was something that sort of blossomed as the game went along. My catcher [Stuart Levy] and I were on the same page the entire game. He really worked well with me tonight."
The 23-year-old threw 57 of 87 pitches for strikes and rebounded nicely from his last two starts, when he combined to surrender eight earned runs on 14 hits over seven innings. Baumann's performance lowered his ERA from 6.00 to 3.86, although he was anything but concerned.
"Being so early in the season, I try not to think about stuff too much," the Minnesota native said. "There's much baseball left and I have trust in myself to let things take care of itself out on the field. I just went back to basics. Mentally, I took a step back to do what I know and worked to my strengths out there. I take the good, learn from the bad and ride the highs and stick to what I do with my routine."

The Orioles' 2017 third-round pick enjoyed an impressive debut that season, going 4-2 with a 1.28 ERA in 11 appearances -- 10 starts -- between the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League and Class A Short Season Aberdeen. He followed that up with a 13-5 record and a 3.17 ERA in 24 starts last year with Delmarva and Frederick.
Perez (0-1) suffered the loss after surrendering Wilmington's first hit of the game, a two-run ground-rule double to Cristian Perez with two outs in the ninth. The 23-year-old recorded the last two outs of the frame, but was charged with three runs -- one earned -- on one hit, two walks and a wild pitch while striking out one.
Willy Yahn doubled on a three-hit night and drove in a run while Mason McCoy homered and singled for the Keys.
Tyler Zuber (1-2) picked up the win after tossing two hitless innings in relief. The right-hander walked one and struck out three. Starter Marcelo Martinez was charged with three runs on six hits and five walks while fanning four over 4 2/3 frames.