The Orioles finally found some life at the plate Monday afternoon, and they didn’t need much help from the bats they’ve been waiting on for a week. Cleveland’s pitching handed Baltimore plenty of free passes, and the Orioles used them to snap a six-game skid with a 6-4 win at Camden Yards.
Joey Cantillo was at the center of it. Baltimore had been stuck in a brutal scoring drought - just 15 runs in 56 innings, and only one run over the final three games of a four-game sweep by the Red Sox - but Cantillo made the early damage easy.
He walked the first two hitters he saw, then kept putting men on base with five walks and two hit batters while allowing four runs in just 10 outs. The Guardians’ bullpen didn’t clean it up either, and the Orioles took advantage.
Coby Mayo set the tone for the breakout. He homered in the third inning for his first blast of the day, then added another later off a right-hander to help put the game away at 6-1.
Mayo now has 21 homers on the season, and he’s been especially dangerous against lefties all year. After the game, he talked about what’s fueled his second-half stretch on the MASN broadcast:
“Just experience, playing every day, and in the cage with some good players, just being around the guys,” Mayo said to the MASN broadcast of his second-half surge after the game. “You learn a lot about yourself when you go through some struggles.”
Baltimore also got production from Dylan Beavers, who delivered a base hit in the second inning after a walk and a hit-by-pitch helped set the table. Later, with the bases loaded, Blaze Alexander drew a walk on an 0-2 count in an 11-pitch battle to make it 3-0, and Pete Alonso walked again after that. By then, Cantillo was already out, and Franco Aleman was the one issuing those two free passes.
Trevor Rogers made sure the Orioles’ rare offensive burst didn’t go to waste. Cleveland came in last in MLB in runs per game, and the Guardians never solved him.
Rogers worked into the eighth inning, didn’t walk a batter, struck out six and threw 78 strikes on 104 pitches. It was the kind of start Baltimore badly needed after its recent slide.
The finish, though, was messy again. Andrew Kittredge kept the door open in the ninth, and after some unfortunate hits to center, a three-run homer brought the Guardians back into it.
Kittredge has now allowed at least one hit in 10 straight outings. Josh Walker then came in needing one out with Baltimore up two and got Patrick Bailey to fly out to end it.
The Orioles escaped with the win, but the larger picture hasn’t changed much. Their Wild Card lead over Cleveland is now down to three games, and the schedule ahead brings tougher starting pitching. Baltimore also still has to prove it can string together more than one good offensive day.
In Other News...
Orioles Late-Season Injury Picture Just Got More Complicated
The Orioles spent part of their series against the Guardians sorting through a late-season injury picture that keeps shifting around the edges. Keegan Akin and Ryan Mountcastle are both with the club, giving Baltimore at least a couple of familiar faces back in the mix, while the team also laid out where several others stand in their recoveries as the calendar keeps moving toward the finish.
Mountcastle will not play again this season because of an oblique injury, a reminder of how much attrition has worn on the roster, and the rehab updates do not bring a simple wave of reinforcements just yet. Luis Robert Jr. and Christian Franklin are working in Sarasota, Flix Bautista is at Triple-A Norfolk on assignment, and Kyle Bradish is being handled carefully after Tommy John surgery, with his workload watched closely as the Orioles keep managing one of the more complicated health charts on the board. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Face Two Big Questions As Wild Card Push Gets Tighter
The Wild Card race has tightened enough that every little update matters, and Craig Albernaz had a familiar opponent in mind when he talked about the Orioles place in it. The Baltimore manager, who spent time on the Guardians coaching staff, knows how closely these two clubs are watching each other as the standings compress and the margin for error shrinks. For the Orioles, the late-season picture is being shaped not just by the schedule, but by the health of a roster that has had to juggle a few key moving parts.
Ryan Helsley, Tyler ONeill, Flix Bautista, Ryan Mountcastle, Keegan Akin, Luis Robert Jr. and Christian Franklin all figure into that evolving injury picture, and Baltimores recent stretch has made each of those updates feel more important. The club has been trying to keep pace while sorting through those absences and tracking its recent results, but with the Guardians right there in the mix, the bigger questions are starting to come into focus. How quickly those players can return, and how much they can help once they do, may decide just how long the Orioles stay in the hunt. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fans Just Got Another Brutal Reminder About This Rebuild
A rough week for the Orioles in Boston did not end with much comfort for anyone still tracking where this rebuild stands. The Red Sox completed a four-game sweep, and in the same stretch of bad news for Baltimore, former Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman was already making noise in his new home with Boston by leaving the yard against Angels pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, another familiar name to Baltimore fans.
Rodriguez, once a first-round pick the Orioles hoped would help anchor the next wave, is now with the Angels after being dealt last winter for outfielder Taylor Ward. His Baltimore exit followed a frustrating run of injuries and uneven performance, which only adds to the sting when ex-Orioles keep popping up in meaningful moments elsewhere. Baltimore did at least stop the bleeding with a win the same day, ending a six-game skid, but the bigger picture for fans remains hard to ignore. [Read more 🡒]