The Orioles were out-powered by the Royals in a series finale that saw a record number of solo home runs hit.
The Orioles let a series win slip through the fingers as the bullpen fell apart and wasted a rare offensive outburst as part of an 11-6 loss to the Royals on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.
This was a big game for the solo home run aficionados out there. The Orioles and Royals combined to hit 11 long balls in this game, 10 of which were with no one on base. Seems like a lot, right? It is! Those 10 solo shots tied a major league record for a single game, according to Sarah Langs.
Unfortunately, the Orioles didn’t hit as many home runs as the visiting Royals. Only four of the homers came off of Baltimore bats. Jackson Holliday went deep twice in a game for the first time in his career. Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn both left the Yard in the fifth inning, with Mullins’ blast tying the game at four runs apiece and then O’Hearn’s putting the good guys up a run.
But none of that was any match for the previously lethargic Royals offense, who teed off on Orioles pitching all afternoon for 11 runs on 17 hits, including seven home runs.
Kyle Gibson made his second start of the season on the mound. He wasn’t great, but it was a huge improvement over his debut. To be fair, just about anything would have been better than what he did against the Yankees last week. The veteran righty made it through four innings here, coughing up a solo shot to Maikel Garcia in the second and then a two-run single to Drew Waters in the fourth.
It was no dominating performance, but it was the sort of useful outing the Orioles were hoping to get from Gibson. On most days, when the O’s bullpen has been solid, it would have been a fine effort that gave them a chance to win. The bullpen just couldn’t get it done behind him.
Early on, the Orioles kept pace with the Royals. The teams traded runs back and forth for more than half of the game.
Holliday knotted things at one with his first homer in the second inning. The Orioles then got their first lead of the day with an RBI double from Adley Rutschman in the third. The aforementioned Waters single put the Royals back ahead in the fourth before Holliday tied the game back up in the bottom of the frame. Jonathan India got in on the solo action with a homer in the fifth, before Mullins and O’Hearn swung things back into the Orioles’ favor. That lead lasted mere moments as Garcia led off the sixth inning with his second dong of the day.
The seventh inning is where the paths started to diverge just a bit. Yennier Cano came on and gave up the first two earned runs of his season on back-to-back home runs from Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino to make it 7-5 Royals.
Charlie Morton was called on to pitch the eighth inning, a somewhat odd decision given that the game was still winnable. Morton has stunk this season. He hasn’t exactly earned the trust to throw in a game that is within reach. That would hold true here as he gave up a homer to Luke Maile and then an RBI double to Witt Jr. to make it 9-5. Morton’s season ERA is up to 9.76. With every outing it gets harder to justify trotting him out to the mound again.
To the credit of the Orioles offense, they did keep up their end of the bargain. Ryan Mountcastle knocked in O’Hearn with a single in the eighth inning to make it 9-6. And then brought the tying run to the plate with no outs. Coby Mayo, Heston Kjerstad, and Ramón Laureano all tried to cash in on those baserunners, but ultimately came up empty.
That was a theme of this game as well. The Orioles had plenty of traffic on the bases. But most of their scoring came off of solo homers. They went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position. The over-reliance of the home run hangs over this offense, even on a day where they produced well overall.
Kansas City added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning off of Matt Bowman. He gave up the only home run with runners on base when Michael Massey smacked his first dong of the season. At 11-6, this game felt over.
It was officially over just a few minutes later. Gunnar Henderson reached base on a one-out single in the ninth, but no other damage could be done as the Orioles were retired, dropping the finale and the series.
This was a rare game where the bullpen really let the Orioles down. Brandon Hyde turned to five relievers. Four of them allowed runs. The only one to get out unscathed was Keegan Akin. The rest of them were afflicted by the same home run bug that had bit Royals starter Michael Lorenzen. But the visiting bullpen had no such problem. Over 4.1 innings of relief, the Royals firemen gave up just one run.
Three of the Orioles best relievers, Félix Bautista, Gregory Soto, and Seranthony Domínguez went unused in a game that felt winnable. That hurts a little bit with an off day coming on Monday. You can’t blame Brandon Hyde for trusting Bryan Baker and Yennier Cano when he used them. They have both been fantastic this year. The Morton move felt misguided, but it probably didn’t matter anyway. It was just one of those games that got away.
It was nice to see the Orioles have a good day at the plate. The team collected 11 hits, walked twice, and only struck out six times. Seven of the nine starters had at least one hit. Holliday, Henderson, and O’s Hearn had multi-hit days. The 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position does hurt just a tad though.
This was a game with blame to go around. The pitcher needed more lockdown innings. The offense needed to make the most of their opportunities. That’s what the Royals did, and that’s why they won.
The Orioles are back in action on Tuesday, when they begin a three-game set in Minnesota against the Twins. Cade Povich (1-2, 5.16 ERA) will pitch against his former organization. Pablo López (2-2, 2.25 ERA) toes the rubber for the hosts. First pitch is 7:40 ET.