BALTIMORE — Instead of challenging fellow shortstops Gunnar Henderson of the Orioles and Bobby Witt Jr. of the Royals for an All-Star Game appearance, Anthony Volpe ended his first half in miserable fashion. In addition to being mired in a horrendous slump that’s lasted over a month, Volpe helped boot away a victory Sunday, as his error with two outs in the bottom of the ninth allowed a run to score and extended the inning in a 6-5 defeat to the Orioles .
Of the play in the ninth, a simple grounder by Ryan Mountcaste, Volpe said he was “still processing it. To me, it’s a routine ground ball a million times over.” Instead, he said his footwork was off and he didn’t handle the ball properly in time to get the force at second.
And then Cedric Mullins lofted a fly ball to left that Alex Verdugo misplayed into a game-winning double. Volpe said of his error, “It’s a play I know I’ve got to make and anything after that doesn’t matter.” “It’s tough,’’ Aaron Boone said of the play.
“There’s no one you’d rather have the ball hit to. It happened and we have to move on.” But it symbolized how bad a stretch Volpe is in.
Following an impressive start to his second season in the majors, Volpe entered Sunday with just a .602 OPS in his previous 81 games. And since June 6, it’s been worse .
Over 34 games prior to Sunday’s loss, when he had a double and scored a run, Volpe had an OPS of .424 — with no homers — in 154 plate appearances. “I think w.
