Some days, two guys can do enough to carry you to a win.
Trevor Rogers has done it again. In the 2025 season, “it” has been good for him. The previously-maligned Orioles starting pitcher dropped an excellent 6.2 shutout innings on the way to the O’s pulling off a sweep of the Braves. Jackson Holliday hit a two-run homer in the third inning to give the Orioles all the runs that they would end up needing in a 2-1 victory to finish off the series.
This was the kind of game that could have very easily turned into a frustrating loss for the Orioles. They have specialized in these games in 2025. They had just six hits over the entire game. What’s more, four of those six hits were collected by Holliday, leaving only two for the whole rest of the lineup. The third through eighth hitters in the order all went hitless. Braves starting pitcher Grant Holmes, perhaps the strongest Kenny Powers lookalike in MLB, kept everybody except for Holliday in check.
The team grounded into a double play twice and was on the wrong end of a “strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out” double play. The Orioles now have 64 GIDP in 89 games this season. They were just 1-9 with runners in scoring position in the game, blowing several chances to add on runs late in the game.
Thanks to Rogers, it turned out okay. That’s a weird sentence for me to type after the first impression that he made on Orioles fans last year. We are now five games into the Rogers experience in 2025 and he’s sporting a 1.57 ERA, with 6+ shutout innings in three of his five starts. Only one inning saw the Braves get multiple men on base against Rogers.
Rogers was dancing through the Braves lineup with a bit less speed on his fastball than he’s been using in other starts, down about 1mph on average compared to what he’s been doing this season. If this was an intentional choice to let him hit his spots better, it worked, because even with the lower velocity, Rogers induced 14 whiffs (a swing and a miss) from batters, and he threw 60 strikes to just 22 balls overall. This was a good outing against a lineup with some excellent hitters.
Crucially, the bullpen was up to the task of holding the narrow lead. That’s not to say it was always without drama. As Rogers started the seventh inning, Braves catcher Sean Murphy was maybe three inches away from a leadoff home run, a fly ball that hit high enough off the fence in right-center field that it seemed impossible that this wasn’t a home run. Rogers rallied to get the next two batters without incident, and Yennier Cano closed out the inning with a groundout.
In the top of the eighth, the Orioles ended up with men on second and third base with no one out after Jacob Stallings hit a single followed by Holliday hitting a double. The batters blew it from there, with each of Ramón Laureano and Gunnar Henderson failing to get the runner in with less than two outs. The Braves chose to intentionally walk Ryan O’Hearn in order to face Ramón Urías. The Orioles third baseman did not make them pay.
Atlanta’s leadoff man in the eighth, Stuart Fairchild, dropped an almost unbeatable bunt to bring the tying run to the plate with no one out. Cano retired the next two batters before being replaced by Gregory Soto, with Soto tasked to retire the excellent lefty batter Matt Olson. Soto threw three balls well off the plate to start out this at-bat before rallying to get the strikeout. Sheesh.
With all of Bryan Baker, Andrew Kittredge, and Félix Bautista having pitched the Friday and Saturday games, this left Seranthony Domínguez for the ninth inning. Domínguez, by the way, didn’t pitch either of those two games because he slept a little funny and his back hurt. No, really. So into the ninth inning of a two-run game he went.
Murphy would not be denied a home run a second time. The catcher cleared the fence in center field, with the ball no more than a foot off from being hauled in by Cedric Mullins. Sometimes the game of inches is in your favor. This bases empty shot made it a 2-1 game. The tying run got on base immediately, with Domínguez failing to put away Ozzie Albies after hitting a 1-2 count. Domínguez responded by picking up a strikeout before getting a groundout to close out the game.
This was a good win in a series full of good wins. This matchup against the Braves was one between two teams that have struggled and failed to meet expectations this year. It could have just as easily been Atlanta coming away with the sweep, but the Orioles played better, capitalized more often, and they pulled off three straight wins on the road. After these three straight wins, they’re 40-49. Whether they gain any ground on anybody depends on results later to come on Sunday; this Orioles game began at the strange time of 11:35am Eastern, so everybody else’s games are still to be finished.
The effort to go on a strong run heading towards the All-Star break has a tougher leg next awaiting the Orioles. They’ll get an off day Monday before the Mets will be in Baltimore for a series beginning on Tuesday night. The Mets have been neck-and-neck with the Phillies for the NL East lead for almost all of the last month. They’ve been a much better team than the Orioles so far this year. The Orioles only have to be better from July 8-10 to win some more games.