The Orioles got everything they needed from their pitching staff and almost nothing from the lineup in a 1-0 loss to the Red Sox on Tuesday night, a game decided by one first-inning swing and not much else.
Shane Baz was the story on the mound for Baltimore. After Mickey Gasper launched his fastball onto the flag court on the second pitch of the game, Baz settled in fast. He struck out Adley Rutschman and got Wilyer Abreu to fly out to escape the first inning with only that lone run on the board.
From there, Baz kept the Red Sox in check even when traffic started to build. In the third, Eli White singled and then Roman Anthony hit a grounder to Jackson Holliday that should have ended the inning one way or another, but Holliday didn’t catch it and the ball rolled into right field for an error. Baz responded by retiring the next two hitters, finishing the inning on a Rutschman groundout.
The sixth brought more of the same. Gasper opened the inning with a single to left, then advanced to second when Leody Taveras mishandled the ball. Baz again worked out of it, striking out Rutschman for the second time and getting around a walk to finish the frame without further damage.
He was still sharp in the seventh, too. Baz opened the inning by getting Jarren Duran on a groundout, then gave up a single to Trevor Story before Craig Albernaz turned to Logan Hoppe.
Hoppe walked Anthony and hit Gasper with an 0-2 pitch to load the bases, but Adley Rutschman couldn’t deliver the knockout blow. On a 3-1 pitch, Hoppe fired 100.9 mph to the plate, Rutschman got a piece, and the ball went out harmlessly to end the threat.
Baz’s final line: 6.1 innings, four hits, one run, two walks and six strikeouts. The bullpen backed him up with 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out five.
That kind of pitching should have been enough for a win. Instead, the Orioles’ offense vanished against Ranger Suarez.
Baltimore managed only six hits, and Blaze Alexander accounted for half of them. He also became the team’s lone spark, collecting three hits and showing the only real life in an otherwise flat night.
Alexander and Mayo put together back-to-back singles with two outs in the third, but Baltimore left them there. Mayo’s hit came on an infield single.
In the fifth, Carlos Narváez was hit by a pitch and Alexander followed with another two-out single, only for the inning to end with no runs. In the eighth, Alexander led off with a single before Luis Robert erased him with an inning-ending double play.
That play brought a little edge to the night. Alexander and second baseman Nick Sogard exchanged words after Alexander’s slide, and the benches cleared. Alexander tried to pump up the crowd, but the moment mostly added a little heat to a game that had otherwise been a slog.
The Orioles still had one last chance in the ninth, when Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman came on with the lead. But Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson and Encarnacion-Strand all went down without making noise.
Baltimore dropped its fourth straight and fell to 69-73. The series continues Wednesday at 7:05, with Chris Bassitt set to face Sonny Gray.
In Other News...
Taylor Ward Has Already Become A Mariners Frustration
Taylor Wards move from Baltimore to Seattle was supposed to give the Mariners a bat that could steady the lineup after the deadline deal that sent three prospects back to the Orioles. Instead, his start in Seattle has only sharpened the hindsight around the trade, because the production the Mariners were counting on has not followed him west. For Baltimore, the deal already looks like one that brought in a useful package of young talent while moving on from an outfielder whose value had been climbing.
What has made the early returns sting for Seattle is how sharply Wards offense has dropped off compared with what he showed in Baltimore. His lower OPS and bWAR with the Mariners have turned the trade into an easy target for criticism, especially as the deadline moves are being graded in real time around the league. For the Orioles, it is the kind of transaction that can age well if even one of those prospects develops into a meaningful big-league piece, while Seattle is left waiting for Ward to justify the cost. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Young Core Is Suddenly Facing A Debate Fans Feared
The Orioles built their rise around a wave of young talent that seemed ready to grow together, with Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Westburg and Coby Mayo all coming through the system in a tight span from 2019 to 2022. For a while, that group gave Baltimore a clean roadmap: develop the core, let it mature and keep the window open. But the 2024 season has also reminded everyone how fragile that kind of plan can be when injuries pile up and performance swings from player to player.
Rutschmans move to the Red Sox in August only sharpened the conversation around what the Orioles actually have now versus what they were supposed to have. Some of the young bats have flashed the upside that made the organization so optimistic, while others have had a harder time turning promise into consistency. For a fan base that spent years waiting for this exact moment, the debate is no longer about whether the talent exists - it is about which pieces can still be counted on to carry the group forward. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fans Just Got Another Reason To Believe In That Trade
The trade deadline deal already looked promising on paper, and these past few weeks have only added to the buzz around the Orioles side of it. Eyanson, now Baltimores No. 2 prospect, keeps piling up impressive outings in Double-A, most recently striking out eight over six innings even in a 5-4 loss. For a pitcher in his first professional season, the early returns have been hard to ignore.
Since the move, Eyanson has turned in 40 strikeouts against just eight walks over 27 innings, and he has fanned at least seven hitters in every outing. The 2025 third-round pick has shown the kind of consistency that tends to make a front office feel better about a deadline swing, even if the full payoff is still ahead. For Orioles fans, it is another reminder that this trade may have given the organization a real arm to dream on. [Read more 🡒]