News Orioles Team Notes

Monday night Orioles game thread: vs. Rangers, 6:35

MLB: Baltimore Orioles at Tampa Bay Rays

Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Trevor Rogers and the Orioles look to rebound in the first of three against the Rangers at Camden Yards.

The Orioles will give it their best today without Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg or Maverick Handley. Westburg dodged the injured list but is still considered day-to-day with a sprained left index finger. The backstops weren’t as fortunate.

Gary Sánchez will bat cleanup and slot in as the designated hitter. That sentence feels depressing, but Sánchez will probably prove us wrong with a homer tonight.

Chadwick Tromp is the new catcher on the block with Handley hitting the 7-day IL. I suppose Tromp could homer too, but I won’t go that far.

Ramón Laureano will bat second as the O’s look to matchup against left-handed starter Patrick Corbin. Ramón Urías will bat fifth, and Colton Cowser will follow. Coby Mayo will return to first base with Cedric Mullins and Tromp rounding out the lineup.

Trevor Rogers will attempt to last longer than he did in his last outing against Tampa Bay. We’ll see if he’s blessed with that type of run support again this evening.

Orioles lineup:

  1. Jackson Holliday 2B
  2. Ramón Laureano RF
  3. Gunnar Henderson SS
  4. Gary Sánchez DH
  5. Ramón Urías 3B
  6. Colton Cowser LF
  7. Coby Mayo 1B
  8. Cedric Mullins CF
  9. Chadwick Tromp C

Starter: LHP Trevor Rogers

Source: https://www.camdenchat.com/2025/6/23/24454511/orioles-rangers-game-thread
 
What month will we see Samuel Basallo debut for the Orioles?

Baltimore Orioles v Toronto Blue Jays

Photo by George Kubas/Diamond Images via Getty Images

There’s what the heart wants, and then there’s what the head knows should be true.

With Adley Rutschman on the injured list for at least a month and the Orioles #1 prospect being Samuel Basallo, currently a catcher who is hitting very well at Triple-A, there are plenty of people who have concluded that the obvious solution for the duration of Rutschman’s absence is to call up Basallo and have him get his big league career started.

While this is an understandable knee-jerk reaction, it’s also misguided, which my Camden Chat colleague John Beers laid out yesterday. Among the important things to keep in mind is that Basallo still has learning to do behind the plate; he’s only caught 17 games all season after not catching a full load last season either. As a 20-year-old, he might have a harder adjustment than most to the MLB level in general. That means that as a one-month fill-in for Rutschman, he might not even do what people are hoping and somehow save the season.

It doesn’t matter what any of us think so much as what Mike Elias thinks. Elias is not the kind of guy who’s going to be aggressive about such a young prospect getting promoted at this juncture. Perhaps he’d be more likely to consider it if the Orioles were somehow six or seven wins better than they are, more in the thick of the wild card race with longshot hopes of running down the division title, rather than barely even in the wild card picture. That’s just not how it is, as last night’s O’s loss reminded us yet again.

For this week’s poll, consider the question of when we will end up seeing Basallo make his MLB debut for the Orioles. What month is that going to happen?

If the Orioles end up playing well over the month of July, the idea of seeing Basallo in August becomes much more interesting. That would end up being similar to the path taken in 2012, when the Orioles called up Manny Machado to solidify the third base position rather than trade for some dope like Chase Headley, who some pundits wanted the team to acquire at the time.

Rutschman being out for longer than the current hope of roughly four weeks would be another point in favor of bringing up Basallo following the trade deadline. Or even if he’s back, it might be better to see Basallo than Gary Sánchez at that point.

For me, the September case is much clearer, because that’s what the incentive structure points to. With Basallo being such a talented young player, the Orioles should consider that he might be able to be a Rookie of the Year contender in 2026, which would mean the team gets a bonus draft pick the next year.

This would follow the pattern the Orioles used with Gunnar Henderson, who joined the team late in 2022, enough to get a taste of MLB. Henderson’s rookie eligibility was preserved into 2023 and he went on to win the ROY. We can all hope that Basallo is able to follow in those footsteps.

Last week’s poll asked you whether Grayson Rodriguez will pitch for the Orioles this year. Although both interim manager Tony Mansolino and Rodriguez himself are optimistic, readers aren’t buying it, with people voting no by a 69-31 margin. I’ll be disappointed if Rodriguez never gets back on the mound, but not surprised. I remain unenthused about the fact that they haven’t even identified what’s causing his recurring lat issues.

Source: https://www.camdenchat.com/2025/6/25/24455013/orioles-prospects-samuel-basallo-debut-month-poll
 
Jacob deGrom utterly outclasses the Orioles in a 7-0 beatdown

Texas Rangers v Baltimore Orioles

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

It wasn’t until the seventh inning that the Orioles had a baserunner against the Texas righty, which is no way to win ballgames.

It’d be hard to imagine a starker contrast in starting pitchers than tonight’s matchup of two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom, one of the greatest pitchers in the game, against Brandon Young, an unknown thrower who went undrafted in 2019 and had just two career MLB starts before tonight. DeGrom is making $37 million a year and has a 100-mph fastball; Young was called up from the minors this morning and—actually Young’s stuff looked fine, but he doesn’t have a good enough fastball to get away with many mistakes.

And Young made several: the 6’6” right-hander allowed an early run on a pair of doubles, two more on a Josh Jung home run, and he got yanked in the fifth after walking the leadoff runner. Relief pitcher Scott Blewett blew it (I’ve been waiting to say that), allowing three Rangers runs to come home in the fifth, plus a fourth on a Jonah Heim home run (the offensive success of the onetime Orioles catching prospect will never not bother me). With a 7-0 lead and Jacob deGrom on the mound, the Texas Rangers might as well have subbed out their whole lineup for Little Leaguers. It was a romp to the finish.

Were O’s hitters psyched out by having to face one of the game’s best? I can’t say, but the righty really is impressive-looking. He hit 100 mph with his fastball in the first inning and struck out leadoff man Jackson Holliday on a putaway pitch with a 91-mph tailing motion—a “freak pitch,” said MASN’s Kevin Brown. Wow, went Brown and Hall-of-Famer Jim Palmer together.

This was indicative of what was to come, which was the sort of game where Orioles fans had the choice of wishing for a quick mercy kill or trying to get themselves excited about things like back-to-back warning track flies by Holliday and Jordan Westburg and a sweet over-the-shoulder catch by Holliday. (It was a sweet catch, though, and we need some silver linings, so take a gander if you want.)

Through seven innings, the Orioles had not a single hit against deGrom. In fact, they didn’t have a single baserunner until Holliday worked a walk that inning. Obviously if there was a Most Birdland Oriole today, it’d have been Holliday, who shone on offense and defense. But there are no Most Birdland Orioles in 7-0 beatdowns, I’m afraid. Colton Cowser finally broke up the no-hitter and drove deGrom from the game with an eighth-inning single. Moral victories!

I can understand if you don’t care enough to dig through this recap for details on Brandon Young, but I’ll give you some, anyway, because it is my job. Despite the box score (four runs in four innings), the Orioles’ spot starter had his moments. He got whiffs on his fastball (around 93-95 mph, but well-located at the top of the zone), sprinkled in some splitters, and unfurled a curveball that seemed to genuinely impress Jim Palmer. Sometimes he had a good game plan, like when he punched out Evan Carter, the Rangers’ No. 5 hitter, with a curveball-fastball-changeup sequence.

But there’s one pitch in the toolbox that I think Young might want to work on—err, make that two. The Rangers’ second-inning rally started when Young hung a cutter to cleanup hitter Marcus Semien, who doubled on it, then scored on a two-out Josh Jung single. It was a really bad cutter.

The other pitch that left Young’s hand with a big “Hit Me” sign on it was an 0-2 changeup he threw to Josh Jung with two outs and a runner on in the fourth inning. Jung was all over it, and by the time it landed on the flag court it was 3-0 Texas, and the Rangers’ third baseman had himself three RBIs.

After Young issued his first walk and got yanked in the fifth, Kevin Brown asked Jim Palmer to reflect on Young’s start. “What do you make of Brandon Young today, Jim?” Palmer answered, “Not bad.” I think that captures it, too. This was an okay start, despite being short and interspersed with mistakes. Interim manager Tony Mansolino is starting to distinguish himself for keeping his pitchers on a short leash, which—given our rotation—probably isn’t a bad thing.

Besides Blewett, the relievers were good: Bryan Baker was solid, Gregory Soto didn’t allow a baserunner (I say any day Gregory Soto doesn’t walk someone is a good day), and Andrew Kittredge pitched a three-up, three-down ninth.

It seems to me there are two ways of looking at tonight’s game. This is the “glass half-full” version: Brandon Young didn’t look half bad, inserted in a tough spot start, to give our starters a break.

The “glass half-empty” one goes like this: Jacob deGrom totally outclassed the Orioles, who don’t have a pitcher sniffing his level. This says a lot about the differing roster construction approaches of the two respective teams. Can the Orioles win without spending on starting pitching? Frankly, I’m still not sure.

Source: https://www.camdenchat.com/2025/6/25/24456030/mlb-scores-orioles-rangers-game-recap
 
Ryan O’Hearn, Jackson Holliday advance to final round for All-Star voting

Texas Rangers v. Baltimore Orioles

Photo by Olivia Vega/MLB Photos via Getty Images

The Orioles ended up with two players finishing in the top two at their positions.

The first round of All-Star voting is complete. Two Orioles are officially moving on to the second and final round. Ryan O’Hearn led all vote-getters for the AL’s designated hitter position, with Jackson Holliday finishing as the runner-up behind Gleyber Torres at second base.

Under the relatively recent gimmick of MLB’s two-round All-Star voting system, the first round of voting is meant to winnow each position down to two (six outfielders). A second round of voting then takes place with only those finalists as the choices. This second round is what determines who makes it onto the roster as an All-Star starter.

O’Hearn’s competition is Ben Rice of the Yankees. Rice has hit 14 home runs through 68 games, with an overall batting line of .238/.324/.489 so far this season. That’s a substantially lower value than O’Hearn’s .301/.384/.485 batting line. If there is any justice, this outcome is fairly clear.

Worth remembering: This opportunity only opened up because of the Red Sox weirdly dumping their star Rafael Devers onto the Giants. Devers would have handily beaten either O’Hearn or Rice.

That’s probably what is going to happen at second base with Holliday. His competition is Detroit’s Gleyber Torres, who’s in the midst of an excellent season where he’s walked more than he’s struck out while batting .280/.384/.419. The Tigers, of course, are also the best team in the American League so far, which won’t hurt him heading into the second round. Holliday, at .259/.310/.411, is doing fine, but fine isn’t going to get you the starter bid. It is fun for Holliday that he managed to hold off nine-time All-Star Jose Altuve in making it to the second round.

All votes have been reset heading into the second phase of the voting. It’s a short second round, as the voting only opens at noon on Monday and remains open through noon on Wednesday. That will determine who makes it as the All-Star starters on July 15. The runners-up are not guaranteed to make the All-Star team, as reserves are determined by player balloting with some additions as needed to adhere to the “each team has at least oen All-Star” rule.

Source: https://www.camdenchat.com/2025/6/2...ing-2025-orioles-ryan-ohearn-jackson-holliday
 
Eflin leaves injured and Rays batter Orioles in deflating 11-3 loss

Tampa Bay Rays v Baltimore Orioles

Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images

The Baltimore starter only lasted one inning, Tampa collected 14 hits and the O’s offense came back to earth as the Rays evened the series.

Starter Zach Eflin left injured after one inning, the bats once again fell silent and the Orioles followed up their record night with a disappointing 11-3 loss to the Rays.

Coming off the high of a 22-8 win on Friday, Saturday’s game fell flat quickly as the O’s seemed out of it after the 1st inning. Eflin was laboring from the first batter of the game, as Josh Lowe led off the inning with a double slashed into the left-center gap. Brandon Lowe then got enough of an Eflin sinker, dropping a soft line drive into center to score Josh from second and give Tampa a 1-0 lead.

Two batters later, Jonathan Aranda provided the first of several gut punches delivered to this Orioles pitching staff. With Brandon Lowe on first, Aranda jumped all over a sinker left in the middle of the plate and blasted it a ludicrous 467 feet over the right-center wall. The ball was hit so hard and so far that RF Ramón Laureano didn’t even move as it sailed over the fences separating the right-center stands from Eutaw Street.


467 FEET

Jonathan Aranda sends this one to the warehouse! pic.twitter.com/qApn5WfiOg

— MLB (@MLB) June 28, 2025

The Rays then began to torment the Orioles with their small-ball prowess. Junior Caminero poked a sweeper away into centerfield to start another Rays rally. Caminero then broke for second, allowing Jake Magnum to slap a single through Gunner Henderson’s vacated spot at SS and give Tampa runners at first and third. Speedster Chandler Simpson brought home Caminero after grounding into a 3-6 FC.

Trailing 4-0, the Orioles tried to get their own rally going in the bottom of the 1st. Jackson Holliday led off the O’s half of the inning with a sharp single to left field. Three batters later, Holliday stole second and Ryan O’Hearn worked a 3-2 fastball. Laureano couldn’t cut into the Tampa lead, however, grounding out to short to end the inning.

Hope quickly dwindled from there. Eflin did not come out for the 2nd, with the Orioles quickly reporting that their starter left the game due to lower back tightness. While the O’s would never admit this, it felt like the Efflin injury took any comeback spirit out of their sails.

Scott Blewett relieved the Orioles starter and kept Baltimore in the game with scoreless innings in the 2nd and 3rd and three Ks. However, walks began to bite the Orioles’ bullpen in the 4th as the Rays blew the game open. Simpson led off the inning with a 3-2 walk, stole second and moved to third on an errant throw by catcher Chadwick Tromp. Taylor Walls then launched a sac fly to CF to put the Rays up 5-0.

In the same inning, the Rays ignited a two-out rally that started on a Josh Lowe single off the right field scoreboard and was kept alive by a Brandon Lowe 10-pitch walk. Failing to put Brandon away meant Yandy Díaz got to hit with two runners on, and he ended Blewett’s afternoon by tattooing a slider and sending a three-run homer over the centerfield fence.

The Rays would extend that 8-0 lead to 9-0 in the 5th thanks to another lead-off walk. Caminero worked the free pass, moved to second on a Mangum in-field single, moved to third on Simpson's fielder’s choice and scored on Walls' second sac fly. The Rays would balloon their run total to 11 in the 7th, as Mangum and Simpson picked up back-to-back singles before a Matt Thaiss two-out triple brought both of them home.

After the failed rally in the 1st, the Orioles' offense only made noise when the game was already out of reach. Down 9-0, Chadwick Tromp got the O’s on the board in the 5th. The Orioles’ backup catcher jumped on a first-pitch slider from Rays starter Zack Littell, shooting a solo HR over the right field fence. It was Tromp’s first homer with the O’s and first long ball in the majors since 2021.

Laureano would make the scoreline a little more respectable with his 10th HR of the season in the bottom of the 9th. Coby Mayo started the inning with a single up the middle and Laureano followed by hooking a Joe Rock slider around the left-field foul pole for a two-run homer.

Though we don’t normally hand out “Most Birdland Player” in a loss, the run away winner Saturday would have been infielder Luis Vázquez. With Baltimore down 11-1, the O’s 26th man came into pitch in the 8th, and promptly pitched two scoreless innings. The key to Vázquez’s success once again came from getting opposing hitters to ground into double plays. After the Rays grounded into twin killings in both the 8th and 9th, Vázquez has now forced three double-plays this season—the same as reigning Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.

**

The Rays win even the season series at 3-3, with a rubber match between Dean Kremer and Taj Bradley scheduled for Sunday at 1:35pm ET.

Source: https://www.camdenchat.com/2025/6/28/24458037/rays-orioles-game-recap-june-28-2025-eflin-injury
 
Orioles minor league recap 6/29: Beavers grand slam punctuates Norfolk blowout

Spring Breakout - New York Yankees v Baltimore Orioles


The Tides brought the offense and the IronBirds brought the pitching as the O’s affiliates split their four games.

Triple-A: Norfolk Tides 11, Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 1​


This was an excellent all-around game for the Tides, who both hit and pitched brilliantly in an almost exact reverse scenario from the Orioles last night. The Tides pounded out 11 hits, doing nearly all of their damage in a nine-run sixth inning that was capped by a Dylan Beavers grand slam.

A rehabbing Jorge Mateo, playing center field, was a sparkplug in the leadoff spot, reaching base all four times up with three singles and a walk. In true Mateo fashion, he also stole two bases. Newly signed catcher Jacob Stallings drove in two runs. Samuel Basallo, playing first base, was 0-for-3 but walked and was hit by a pitch.

On the mound, starter Thaddeus Ward went 5.2 innings and held Gwinnett to one run. That came on a solo homer by veteran Jurickson Profar, who is preparing to return from an 80-game PED suspension. Erstwhile O’s relievers Yaramil Hiraldo, Grant Wolfram, and Yennier Cano combined for 3.1 hitless innings out of the bullpen.

Box score

Double-A: Altoona Curve (Pirates) 4, Chesapeake Baysox 2​


The Baysox had a far less productive offensive night than Norfolk, managing only two hits in the game, both singles. Silas Ardoin had one and a rehabbing Tyler O’Neill the other. Chesapeake batters had 11 strikeouts and three walks. It’s kind of amazing they were even able to score two runs. One came on Ardoin’s RBI single and the other on a Carter Young bases-loaded walk.

Braxton Bragg, in his second start back from injury, worked just 3.2 innings and was tagged for three runs on seven hits. He didn’t walk anyone, at least. Altoona’s Termarr Johnson, the #4 overall draft pick in 2022, took Bragg deep. But a tip of the hat to Blake Money, who pitched five innings of long relief and allowed just one run while striking out eight.

Box score

High-A: Aberdeen IronBirds 3, Hub City Spartanburgers (Rangers) 1​


Quality pitching led the way for Aberdeen in this one. Intriguing prospect Michael Forret struck out seven batters in four solid innings, and Carter Baumler, Riley Cooper, and Alejandro Méndez followed with five frames of scoreless relief. Baumler earned the win, his first of the year.

The IronBirds scored two runs in the fourth inning without an RBI. A throwing error by Spartanburgers pitcher Mason Molina brought in one, and Austin Overn then scored on a wild pitch. Overn had two hits on the day. Vance Honeycutt was 0-for-3, but the good news is that he didn’t strike out. He also walked twice, including once with the bases loaded.

If you’re an extra-base hit fanatic, I’m afraid you’d be disappointed. All 13 hits in this game — Aberdeen’s six and Hub City’s seven — were singles.

Box score

Low-A: Carolina Mudcats (Brewers) 11, Delmarva Shorebirds 3​


This was a one-run game until the eighth, but Carolina scored seven times in the final two innings to turn it into a rout. Delmarva pitchers issued an ugly 10 walks along with nine hits. Each of the four Shorebirds hurlers walked at least two. Starter Chase Allsup surrendered four free passes in his five-inning, four-run performance. Ryan Cabarcas was roughed up for five runs in the ninth.

Infielder Nate George continued to be a bright spot for Delmarva. The 2024 sixteenth-round pick went 3-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs from the leadoff spot and is slashing .356/.406/.593 in 15 games at Low-A.

Box score

Sunday’s scheduled games:​

  • Norfolk: vs. Gwinnett, 1:05 PM. Starter: Cameron Weston (2-4, 4.35)
  • Chesapeake: vs. Altoona, 1:05 PM. Starter: TBD
  • Aberdeen: at Hub City, 2:05 PM. Starter: Juan Rojas (1-6, 4.10)
  • Delmarva: vs. Carolina, 2:05 PM. Starter: Yeiber Cartaya (1-3, 4.38)

Source: https://www.camdenchat.com/2025/6/29/24458102/orioles-minors-prospects
 
Orioles minor league recap 6/30: Basallo adds another dinger, O’Neill homers in rehab

Minnesota Twins v Baltimore Orioles

Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images

None of the affiliates won, with weak offense and inconsistent relief afflicting all four teams.

Triple-A: Gwinnett Stripers (Braves) 6, Norfolk Tides 4

Gwinnett had a 6-1 lead built up before the Tides scored three in the sixth inning, not quite enough for the comeback. Cameron Weston’s 4.1 IP were flawed, with five runs surrendered. Houston Roth gave up a solo shot. Cionel Pérez and Colin Selby were undeniably good, with a scoreless inning apiece.

The Tides had seven hits, three of them home runs. Two were hit by Vimael Machín, and Samuel Basallo chipped in with one of his own. Jeremiah Jackson and a rehabbing Jorge Mateo singled.

Box score

Double-A: Altoona Curve (Pirates) 6, Chesapeake Baysox 4

The Baysox didn’t exactly bash Altoona into submission, with just six hits. However, four were of those hits were of the extra-base variety. Silas Ardoin had one: he tripled in a run early in the game and also hit a double. Tyler O’Neill looking like he’s returning form. He hit a two-run home run. Infielder Max Wagner singled and walked.

Starter Trace Bright had an abbreviated outing, throwing just 2.2 innings with four runs allowed. Daniel Lloyd threw 1.1 scoreless. Ryan Long gave his team five innings of work, allowing two runs, only one earned.

Box score

High-A: Hub City Spartanburgers (Rangers) 5, Aberdeen IronBirds 4

Alas, a 4-1 lead in the sixth evaporated as Trent Turzenski allowed in a run and Zane Barnhart let three more come home in the bottom of the ninth for the loss and the blown save. Hub City had tied it with a home run off Barnhart before scoring the game-winner on a single, steal, and wild pitch by Barnhart’s replacement, Wyatt Cheney.

The IronBirds scored their four runs in unusual fashion—not the first one, off a Jake Cunningham double. But definitely runs two and three, courtesy of an Angel Tejeda inside-the-park home run, and the fourth on a passed ball that allowed Austin Overn to come home.

The IronBirds knocked in five hits, all from the bottom of the lineup. Aneudis Mordán had two, including a double. Outfielder Cunningham also doubled. Tejeda hit that four-bagger and Cole Urman singled. Vance Honeycutt was 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, I’m sorry to say.

Box score

Low-A: Carolina Mudcats (Brewers) 4, Delmarva Shorebirds 2

Carolina scored three runs in one blast off the starter Yeiber Cartaya and one more off Devin Kirby in the ninth to put this one away. The 22-year-old Cartaya is 1-4 with a 4.45 ERA in his first full season at Delmarva, but the strikeout numbers are good: he’s got 68 in 58.2 innings.

ln between those two, Reese Sharp, Kenny Leiner, and Luis Beltrán had scoreless outings. Sharp threw like his name, with four strikeouts in two and two-thirds innings, and Beltrán struck out the side.

The Shorebirds’ two runs came on seven hits. Andrés Nolaya singled home one and Fernando Peguero scored on a double steal. Nolaya finished with two hits and a walk, Elis Cuevas doubled and walked, and Peguero and Joshua Liranzo each doubled.

Box score

Monday’s scheduled games:

• There are no scheduled games for Monday, June 30.


Source: https://www.camdenchat.com/2025/6/30/24458682/orioles-prospects-samuel-basallo
 
Henderson’s extra-inning heroics lead Orioles to ridiculous 10-6 win

MLB: Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

In a game the O’s were on the brink of losing multiple times, Gunnar’s hot bat propelled the Birds to a hard-fought victory.

My goodness, folks. To quote SNL’s Stefon: this game had everything.

The Orioles outlasted the Rangers on a thoroughly ridiculous night of baseball, 10-6, in a game that featured pitchers hitting for both teams, the tying run scoring from first on a stolen base, a game-winning hit from a guy with only one career RBI, and not one but two multi-run extra-base hits from Gunnar Henderson in extra innings. It’s a game that the O’s were on the brink of losing on numerous occasions but — in a refreshing change of pace for this 2025 club — pulled out some late-inning magic to secure one of their most improbable victories of the year.

Whew. There’s a lot of craziness to cover. But this game was relatively normal for the first six innings, which featured a rematch of last week’s pitching matchup between southpaws Trevor Rogers and Patrick Corbin. As before, it was Rogers who won the battle, though not as emphatically as he did in Baltimore.

The O’s struck first against Corbin with a three-run third inning. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Gary Sánchez, who wasted no time in golfing a first-pitch slider into the left-field corner for a bases-clearing double. That Gary Sánchez is so hot right now. On one swing, the Orioles led, 3-0.

At that point, the Orioles had already worked Corbin for 53 pitches, threatening to knock him out early and force an exhausted Rangers bullpen — which just pitched in three straight extra-inning games — into early work. But Corbin, to his credit, settled down and went six. The veteran lefty escaped a two-on, no-out jam to finish the third inning, then followed with three scoreless frames, finishing with 110 pitches. Gutsy effort by him.

Meanwhile, Rogers stymied the Rangers for the first five innings tonight, continuing his 13-inning scoreless streak against Texas. He stranded two runners on base in the first with a pair of strikeouts, and worked past a baserunner each in the second and third. By the middle of the game, Rogers was on cruise control. He needed only 10 pitches to get through a perfect fourth, then 11 in a 1-2-3 fifth.

But he made his first mistake in the sixth. Two mistakes, actually. The first was issuing a leadoff walk to Corey Seager with a three-run lead. And the next was hanging a fastball to Marcus Semien that was crushed for a no-doubt dinger, shaving the O’s lead to just one. Rogers did manage to retire García before Tony Mansolino brought an end to his night after 5.1 innings. Another solid performance from Rogers, if not as dominant as his previous one.

By that point, there were few signs of the chaos that was about to transpire. Well, maybe one. Orioles catcher Chadwick Tromp injured himself on a swing in the top of the second and was noticeably wincing in pain as he came out to catch the next inning. He gave it the ol’ college try but had to leave after that inning with lower back tightness. Gary Sánchez, who was already in the game as the designated hitter, had to move to catcher, forcing the Orioles to lose the DH.

As a result, Rogers had to take two at-bats, becoming the first pitcher to bat for the Orioles since Keegan Akin in 2021, the last year before MLB installed the universal DH. Rogers, who once played in the pre-DH National League, had some previous hitting experience (3-for-43). His two at-bats in this game were predictably lackluster, both strikeouts.

The insanity ramped up in the bottom of the seventh when the Orioles let the tying run score on an absolutely catastrophic defensive play. Seranthony Domínguez set up the disaster with a two-out walk of the #9 hitter, Michael Helman, who was starting just his second major league game. Stop walking #9 hitters, Orioles!

With Sam Haggerty at the plate, Helman took off for second base. Sánchez’s off-line throw deflected off the sliding runner and skipped into shallow left-center as Helman steamed for third. Rangers third base coach Tony Beasley, seeing Cedric Mullins’ off-balance throw back to the infield, aggressively waved Helman to the plate. Jackson Holliday’s relay home was in plenty of time but one-hopped Sánchez, who couldn’t hang on to the ball. Helman slid in with the tying run on a play that he began at first base. That’s just embarrassing defense by the Orioles, particularly Sánchez, who started the mess with an errant throw and finished it by dropping the ball. One wonders how that play would have turned out differently if Tromp had still been behind the plate.

In a battle of the bullpens, the Rangers breezed through the next three innings. In the seventh, old friend Jacob Webb struck out the side to strand a Laureano double. Next, Chris Martin rebounded from his disastrous three-homers-in-three-batters outing in Baltimore last week, coldplaying the Orioles’ bats in a scoreless eighth. And closer Robert Garcia mowed down the Birds in a perfect ninth.

The Orioles’ bullpen, meanwhile, induced a heart attack at every turn. In both the eighth and ninth innings, the Rangers got the go-ahead/winning run to third base with just one out, putting them a sac fly away from victory. But the Birds, somehow, escaped both times. In the eighth, Texas had ‘em on the corners against Bryan Baker before he blew away both Jonah Heim and Josh Smith with clutch strikeouts, unleashing his signature scream and fist pump as he left the mound.

Félix Bautista worked the bottom of the ninth in a tie game and got himself into a jam with a one-out walk of catcher Kyle Higashioka, who was replaced by pinch-runner Ezequiel Duran. Just two pitches later, Duran had stolen both second and third, and only a nice block at third base by Ramón Urías saved Sánchez from a game-ending throwing error. Again, the Rangers were 90 feet away from a walkoff. But Félix did his thing, zipping high heat past pinch-hitter Alejandro Osuna and retiring Haggerty on a grounder.

And so we’re off to extra innings, for the fourth straight game in the Rangers’ case. Texas manager Bruce Bochy kept in the southpaw Garcia to face the lefty-swinging Gunnar Henderson to start the 10th. That, uh, worked out poorly for him. Henderson delivered his biggest swing of the season, demolishing a mammoth two-run homer into the right-field seats to plate himself and the free runner.

There we go! Gunnar’s power had been missing lately — he’d hit only one homer since June 5, and it came off a position player — but he picked an excellent time for his 10th of the season. For good measure, Colton Cowser walloped another blast later in the inning off former Oriole Shawn Armstrong, a 425-footer on a 3-0 pitch that extended the Birds’ lead to three. Surely they had this game in the bag, right?

No, of course they didn’t. Because like I said, this game was bonkers. Mansolino turned to Keegan Akin for the save in the 10th and he blew it almost immediately. A Semien one-out infield single brought up Adolis García as the tying run. At that point in the game, O’s pitchers had thrown García nothing but four-seam fastballs. Literally nothing. The first 14 pitches they’d thrown were four-seamers, and he’d failed to get a ball out of the infield.

Akin stuck with that game plan, starting the at-bat with five fastballs to run the count full. On his sixth pitch, he threw another fastball...except it was right down the middle, and García obliterated it. Yup. Three-run homer. In an instant, the game was tied again. The Orioles simply refuse to make anything easy.

Akin at least managed to finish the 10th, and it was on to the 11th. This time, the Orioles built an insurmountable advantage. Of all people, it was backup infielder Luis Vázquez — the Orioles’ last remaining bench player, pinch-hitting for the pitcher — who came through with the big hit, roping a sharp single to center to plate the free runner. OK! We see you, Luis Vázquez! It was only his second career RBI.

After Holliday walked, Laureano continued his outstanding night, roping an RBI two-bagger for his fourth hit (and third double) of the game. That brought up Henderson again, and he padded his extra-inning RBI total to four by lashing a gapper that plated Holliday and Laureano. It was 10-6, and finally the Orioles had a lead that even they couldn’t blow. ...Right?

Yes. Right. Andrew Kittredge restored order in the 11th by retiring all three batters he faced, one of whom was pitcher Jack Leiter, whom the Rangers were forced to use because they ran out of bench players after Heim moved from DH to catcher. It’s been a long time since two American League teams both had a pitcher bat in the same game, and it might be a long time before we ever see it again.

In any case, an Osuna flyout wrapped up a game that was three hours and 34 minutes of pure lunacy. Great win, Orioles. But next time can we make it a little less stressful?

Source: https://www.camdenchat.com/2025/7/1...g-heroics-lead-orioles-to-ridiculous-10-6-win
 
Back
Top