The Orioles spent Tuesday night chasing a game that kept slipping farther away, first because of weather and then because of Matthew Boyd.
The series opener against the Cubs was pushed back an hour when the club announced at 6:02 p.m. that first pitch would be delayed because storms were threatening the area. The tarp stayed rolled up, the rain never came, and Baltimore’s offense ended up looking every bit as dry as the sky.
Boyd carved through the Orioles for six innings in a 5-2 Cubs win, holding Baltimore to three hits and two walks while striking out seven. No Oriole reached second base against him until the seventh inning, when the lineup finally cracked the door open.
That was the inning the Orioles loaded the bases with two outs for Adley Rutschman, who grounded a ball off former Oriole Jacob Webb and into right field to bring home Baltimore’s first two runs. But Chicago answered with an insurance run in the eighth, and the comeback never really got off the ground.
“It’s not desperation,” said manager Craig Albernaz said. “I think we’re trying to problem-solve left-handed pitching.”
The problem is still very much there. Baltimore has now dropped to 10-17 against left-handed starters, and the numbers against lefties remain ugly: the Orioles own the fifth-lowest OPS in the majors at .664 against left-handed pitching.
That was the backdrop for another lineup shuffle. Two days after managing just one run against Reds lefty Nick Lodolo, the Orioles again tried to mix and match, putting players in unfamiliar spots in hopes of finding a spark. Instead, the offense stayed quiet and the defense behind Shane Baz had its own rough patches.
Dylan Beavers in center field and Blaze Alexander in right both had costly moments. In the fifth inning, Miguel Amaya ripped a line drive to the right-center corner that got past Beavers’ range and turned into second and third for Chicago. Both runners scored, and the Cubs were suddenly up 3-0.
Baz still turned in a quality start, his seventh in his last 10 outings, but the game changed after he breezed through the first eight outs. A two-out walk to Amaya slowed him down, and Chicago followed with back-to-back singles to score its first run.
“It’s just one of those things where you gotta either pitch around it in the moment or don’t walk anybody,” Baz said. “So yeah, definitely stings a little bit.”
The Orioles had a similar script on Sunday against Kyle Bradish: the offense showed up late, and not with enough help. Tuesday followed the same pattern.
“We didn’t move the ball forward at all,” Albernaz said. “When we got to the bullpen, we had some great at-bats, had some chances, Adley delivered.
“And yeah,” Albernaz added, “that was it.”
The loss lands with extra weight this time of year. The trade deadline is less than a month away, and every defeat chips away at the Orioles’ margin for error. President of baseball operations Mike Elias has already said the club hopes to be buying to chase a playoff spot.
But through 92 games, the record tells a harsher story. Baltimore sits at 42-50, the same mark it had last season at this point, and the resemblance to 2025’s doomed campaign is getting harder to ignore.
When asked what the Orioles need to do to avoid a sell-off, Rutschman didn’t dress it up.
“We’ve gotta win games.”
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For Baltimore, the intrigue is less about Philadelphias needs than what Ward represents if the market keeps warming up. He is viewed as the kind of rental a contender can chase before he reaches free agency after the season, which is exactly the sort of profile that tends to stir deadline noise around a player who has become part of the Orioles everyday picture. The question now is how aggressive that pursuit gets, and whether Baltimore is forced to weigh short-term value against the kind of return that could make moving him easier to stomach. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Suddenly Have A Taylor Ward Problem At The Worst Time
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Orioles Bullpen Concerns Just Grew As Another Lineup Shuffle Looms
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At the same time, Baltimore is trying to manage the rest of the roster with an eye on a Cubs matchup that brings a left-handed starter into the mix. The lineup card reflects that balancing act, with the Orioles turning to several younger bats and moving pieces around as they look for the right combination, even as the bullpen uncertainty keeps hanging over the day. [Read more 🡒]