The Orioles had their chance to steal one in Texas, and it disappeared in a blink at home plate.
Christian Franklin’s first Major League hit sent Leody Taveras charging home in the ninth inning, but the tying run never counted. Texas catcher Elias Díaz got the tag down, Baltimore challenged, and replay in New York let the out stand. The Rangers escaped with a 2-1 win in a game that Baltimore had every reason to believe it could take.
It was a harsh ending for Franklin, whose first big-league knock came at exactly the right time. He lined a ball down the right field line, Taveras never slowed down, and the throw came in from right field after Brandon Nimmo handled the ball and relayed to Nicky Lopez. But the ruling at the plate held, and the Orioles were left staring at a missed opportunity.
The replay only made the whole thing messier. Díaz swung his arm through the tag, but his glove didn’t appear to make immediate contact with Taveras.
Part of Díaz’s arm seemed to touch him before the runner reached the plate, while the glove looked like it missed. On top of that, the ball looked loose as it hit the ground, though it never fully came out of the mitt.
Even with all that, the call on the field survived.
That finish came after Baltimore had spent most of the night fighting from behind.
The Orioles opened the scoring in the second inning when Taveras got ahead in the count and lined a 3-1 fastball to right-center for a double. Coby Mayo followed with a single up the middle, and Taveras came home to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead. After that, both clubs traded zeros through the third, fourth and fifth.
Baltimore had chances to widen the gap and didn’t cash in. In the fifth, the bottom of the order produced a pair of two-out singles, and Gunnar Henderson drew a walk to load the bases for Pete Alonso. Texas starter froze Alonso with a 2-2 splitter, and the inning ended with the bases still full.
The sixth brought another opening. Tyler O’Neill walked with one out, Dylan Beavers followed with a single, and the Orioles had a runner in scoring position. But Taveras struck out on three pitches, and Mayo couldn’t deliver against lefty reliever Tyler Alexander.
Henderson, Alonso and Jackson Holliday combined to go 0-for-11 from the top of the order.
Meanwhile, Shane Baz gave Baltimore the kind of outing the club had been waiting for when it acquired him from Tampa Bay. He worked all eight innings and was charged with the loss, becoming just the third Oriole in the last 15 years to take a complete game loss. Baz finished with 8 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB and 9 K.
He was rolling until one slip in the sixth changed the shape of the game. Elias Díaz dropped a swinging bunt toward the right side, Baz couldn’t make the play, and Díaz was credited with an infield single.
Nicky Lopez then moved him up with a sacrifice bunt, and Joc Pederson jumped on an elevated cutter for a 414-foot homer down the right field line. Just like that, the shutout was gone and Texas had the lead.
The Orioles never fully got it back. Baz outpitched Eovaldi, but Baltimore’s offense couldn’t make the most of its chances, and the late replay decision sealed a 2-1 loss. The Orioles fell to 56-60 and are now two games out of the final wild card spot.
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