The Orioles made an outfield swap before this afternoon’s game against the Brewers, reinstating Christian Franklin from the 10-day injured list and sending Heston Kjerstad down after a brief run on the roster.
Franklin, who went to Baltimore from the Nationals at the trade deadline, returned after four rehab games with Triple-A Norfolk. He has gone 5-for-34 in 16 games, but the Orioles are counting on the other pieces he brings: speed, defensive versatility and another right-handed bat.
Kjerstad’s latest stint lasted 11 games after he joined the club on Sept. 1. He went 4-for-19 with a double and two RBIs before being optioned.
Even with Franklin back, the injury list remains crowded, with a dozen Orioles still there.
On the mound, left-hander Trevor Rogers takes the ball for his 29th start. He was sharp earlier this month, allowing just three total runs over 14 innings in his first two starts, then ran into trouble in Toronto, where he gave up four runs and seven hits in six innings. Three of those hits left the yard.
Rogers has been especially effective against Milwaukee in his career, going 4-0 with a 2.84 ERA in five starts. William Contreras has had success against him, going 4-for-7 with three doubles.
Baltimore enters the afternoon three games behind the final Wild Card spot and is now chasing the White Sox, who lost to the Tigers last night and slipped out of first place in the American League Central again.
The Orioles are also trying to shake off another gut punch from the night before. Their 6-5, 10-inning loss featured Pete Alonso’s game-tying three-run homer in the third and a two-run rally in the ninth to force extra innings.
Brewers manager Pat Murphy came away impressed by what he saw.
“I’ll tell you, this is an authentic feeling I had all game, I don’t know what place they’re in or where they’re at in the standings, but to have those guys playing the way (manager Craig Albernaz) has got those guys playing, the commitment and the way the fans are into the game, they’re playing like a first-place team,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said afterward.
“The energy and the enthusiasm in Game (154), that was impressive, man. You see Alonso, one of the best hitters in the game, on the top rail the whole game, talking about what the pitcher has.
I was so impressed. That guy managing the team over there, he’s got their attention.
That was special.”
Still, admiration doesn’t change the standings, and the Orioles can’t keep giving games away. They used seven relievers for the second time in four contests last night, a sign of how thin things have gotten.
Milwaukee counters with left-hander Robert Gasser, a second-round pick by the Padres in 2021 out of the University of Houston. He owns a 4.30 ERA in 19 games, 18 of them starts, and the splits tell the story: left-handers are batting .170 with a .577 OPS against him, while right-handers are hitting .275 with an .800 OPS. At home, he has a 3.62 ERA in 10 games; on the road, it’s 5.01 in nine.
Gasser has been decent over his last four starts, giving up five earned runs with eight walks and 20 strikeouts across 19 1/3 innings. He has never faced the Orioles, and none of Baltimore’s current hitters has an at-bat against him.
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The roster shuffle also brought more bad news on the injury front. Tyler ONeill was transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list because of right shoulder inflammation, officially ending his season, and the club said injured reliever Ryan Helsley will be shut down for the year as well. Even with Bautista back, the Orioles are still trying to piece together the final stretch of a season that has been defined as much by absences as by the players available to take the field. [Read more 🡒]