The Orioles put together enough offense to win most nights. Seven runs usually gives a team a real shot. Against the Cubs, though, Baltimore spent too much of the night chasing damage that had already been done, and a late push ended in a 9-7 loss.
Chicago flipped the game in the fifth inning, when Dean Kremer gave up three home runs in the span of one frame. The Cubs then tacked on five more runs in the seventh, turning a one-run Orioles lead into a hole Baltimore could not quite climb out of.
The night actually started with Baltimore in front. Kremer ran into trouble first in the third, when he kept feeding Pete Crow-Armstrong the same splitter in the same spot. Crow-Armstrong missed on the first two and then turned the third into a solo home run for a 1-0 Cubs lead.
Baltimore answered in the fourth. Blaze Alexander and Jackson Holliday opened the inning with singles, and Gunnar Henderson’s double play still brought home the tying run. Kremer then got a zero in the top half with help from Adley Rutschman, who cut down a runner trying to steal, and Pete Alonso followed by giving the Orioles the lead with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
That advantage vanished immediately. Michael Conforto jumped on the first pitch of the fifth and sent it over the fence in right field, then Carson Kelly crushed the next pitch to tie it at 3. After Kremer retired Dansby Swanson, Crow-Armstrong came up again and delivered his second homer of the game, putting Chicago back ahead for good.
Baltimore had chances to answer. Holliday opened the bottom of the fifth with an opposite-field single, but Henderson grounded into his second double play of the night. Rico Garcia kept the Cubs off the board in the sixth, but the seventh got away fast.
Garcia got Conforto for the first out before a single and a walk brought the pressure back. Craig Albernaz turned to Grant Wolfram, who walked Crow-Armstrong to force in a run and then allowed a sacrifice fly to Alex Bregman. Wolfram got one strike away from escaping, but Michael Bush drew a walk to reload the bases, Wolfram uncorked a wild pitch that brought in Chicago’s sixth run, and Seiya Suzuki followed with a three-run homer to blow the game open.
The Orioles kept swinging. Tyler O’Neill pinch-hit a home run to start the seventh, and Baltimore pieced together three singles to score again. With two outs and runners on the corners, Alonso came up and flied out to center.
Baltimore made one more push in the eighth. Albert Suárez worked a scoreless inning, then Coby Mayo launched a ball to the second deck in left field and O’Neill added his second homer of the night. Holliday later ripped his fourth hit of the game off the top of the wall, and Henderson lined a ball up the middle at 103.6 MPH before Dansby Swanson made a diving catch to rob him and keep the Orioles down two.
Tyler Wells threw a scoreless ninth, but the heart of Baltimore’s order never got a chance to extend the rally. Rutschman, Ward and Alonso all grounded out, and the tying run never reached the plate.
Holliday finished 4-for-4. O’Neill accounted for 40% of his home runs this season.
Mayo showed his power against lefties. Ward and Dylan Beavers each had multi-hit games.
But the pitching never held up, and the Orioles were left with another loss in a homestand they needed to go better.
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The bigger question is what happens once he is ready. Baltimore has enough uncertainty around the roster that Mountcastles next step is not just about health, but about opportunity, and there is already a sense that the Orioles could listen if the right trade angle emerges before the Aug. 3 deadline. For now, the club is still waiting on the same thing everyone else is - a clearer picture of when he is back, and what role he would actually have when he gets there. [Read more 🡒]