The Orioles finally found the kind of offensive day that can change the mood of a road trip. After entering Sunday with just 11 runs scored all month, they piled up 10 in a 10-5 win over the Rangers to avoid a sweep in Texas and head home still two games back in the wild card race.
It was the sort of game that had contributions everywhere. Baltimore put a man on base in every spot in the starting lineup, and eight of the nine starters finished with at least one hit.
Gunnar Henderson was the lone exception. Pete Alonso powered the surge with two home runs, giving him 25 on the season, while Colton Cowser and Tyler O’Neill also went deep.
The Orioles scored in five of the nine innings and played a clean game defensively, with no errors.
The scoring started quickly against Kumar Rocker. Henderson struck out to open the game, but four of the next five Orioles reached safely. Dylan Beavers and Leody Taveras each drove in a run, and Baltimore grabbed a 2-0 lead before the Rangers had much of a chance to settle in.
Cowser kept the pressure on in the second inning with a leadoff homer. Henderson then worked a walk with one out and came around to score when Alonso launched the first of his two shots. That made it 5-0, though the cushion didn’t last long enough to feel safe.
Cade Povich ran into trouble after looking like he might cruise for a bit. He had two outs and nobody on beyond first before a walk opened the door for Brandon Nimmo, who followed with a three-run homer to cut the lead to 5-3 and briefly bring Texas right back into it.
Baltimore answered immediately. Alonso’s second homer of the afternoon, a two-run blast, drove in Henderson and pushed the Orioles back out in front by four. Henderson had reached on a fielder’s choice and added a steal of second, his ninth stolen base of the year.
Rocker’s day unraveled from there. Six runs were charged to him, and he never recorded an out in the fourth inning. His season numbers coming in - a 4.08 ERA and a 94 ERA+ - already painted him as a below-average major leaguer, but this was still a solid Orioles showing against a respectable pitcher rather than a pure mismatch.
With Baltimore back in control, manager Craig Albernaz made an early move and pulled Povich before the fourth inning even started, despite the left-hander having thrown only 61 pitches. That turned the game over to a bullpen stretch that, against the odds, held up.
Yaramil Hiraldo delivered two scoreless innings, and Alex Hoppe and Andrew Kittredge each added one more. Hoppe did allow two hits, but Texas still couldn’t score until the bottom of the ninth, when Albert Suárez was working his second inning.
By then, the Orioles were up by seven and the late Rangers runs barely changed the picture.
Povich’s quick exit also points toward what may be next for the rotation. The move suggests the Orioles could send him back to the minors, or at least shift him to the bullpen, and make room for Chris Bassitt.
Bassitt had a strong rehab start Friday night and appears to be on track to return after two months on the injured list. What that means for Baltimore over the final six weeks remains to be seen.
At the plate, Alonso was the headline. He reached base in all five trips, adding a single and two walks to his pair of home runs.
Mayo chipped in three hits, including a triple, his third in his last several games. Cowser, Taveras, and Jackson Holliday also turned in multi-hit performances.
Now the Orioles head to Minnesota for a series against the Twins, one of the clubs they still need to climb past in the wild card standings. The opener is set for Monday night at 7:40, with Trevor Rogers starting for Baltimore and Dean Kremer waiting on the other side.
In their last chance at a so-called revenge game against Grayson Rodriguez, the Orioles won anyway. They’ll be hoping for a similar result again.
In Other News...
Pete Alonso Finally Gave Orioles Fans A Reason To Feel Hope
The Orioles have spent much of this season trying to steady themselves through a rough stretch, and the trade deadline only added to the unease when Adley Rutschman was dealt to Boston. Sitting fourth in the American League East at 56-61, Baltimore has not given its fans many reasons to look past the standings, which is why Pete Alonsos latest outburst carried a little extra weight for a club still searching for something to build on.
Against the Rangers, Alonso gave Baltimore exactly the kind of jolt it has been missing, and he did it with a performance that felt like a small glimpse of what the lineup could become. Even with the seasons frustrations still hanging around, Alonso sounded optimistic about where the Orioles can go from here, a note of confidence that landed at the right time for a fan base that badly needed one. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Waste Another Strong Start As Familiar Problems Return
Kyle Bradish gave the Orioles exactly what they needed for most of the night, working through six innings and holding Texas to two runs, but Baltimore still came away with a 5-1 loss in its third straight game against the Rangers. The offense never found much rhythm beyond Jackson Hollidays solo home run, and when the margin stayed tight, the kind of miscues the Orioles have been trying to put behind them surfaced again.
Defensive errors helped open the door for the Rangers scoring, turning another solid starting effort into an uphill climb Baltimore could not reverse. For a club trying to steady itself, the combination of missed chances, shaky defense and too little support for Bradish is becoming an all-too-familiar script, and it leaves the Orioles with more questions than answers as this series winds down. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Offensive Collapse Is Raising Bigger Questions About This Roster
Since June 1, the Orioles offense has slid into a stretch that is hard to ignore, with the club sitting near the bottom of the league in runs scored, batting average, slugging percentage and on-base plus slugging. Injuries have played a role, but the bigger concern is that the problems have lingered even when the lineup has had enough available pieces to produce more than it has.
What makes the slump sting for Baltimore is that it has started to look less like a temporary dry spell and more like a broader roster issue. The conversation has moved beyond who is hurt and into how the team is building lineups and using its players, which is where the questions get sharper for a club that expected more from its core and its depth. [Read more 🡒]