BALTIMORE–What happened? In this strange Orioles season, they haven’t played many intriguing games. Tuesday night’s was different. It was full of twists and turns, leads regained and lost.
In the end, the Orioles lost, 6-5, to the Texas Rangers in 10 innings before 16,909 at Camden Yards.
It was only the Orioles’ fourth extra-inning game, and their first since May 24th.
For the second time in four games, the Orioles didn’t get a hit until deep in the game. On Saturday, New York’s Clarke Schmidt no-hit them for seven innings, and they got just one hit in the game.
Texas’ Jacob Litz pitched six hitless innings until the Orioles scored five runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Ramón Laureano singled to begin the seventh. Litz was removed after Gunnar Henderson walked following Laureano’s single. Gary Sánchez hit a three-run home run against Chris Martin, and Ramón Urías followed with a home run to tie it at 4.
Ryan O’Hearn hit his 11th and the Orioles had overcome a four-run lead and had their first back-to-back-to-back home runs since August 6th, 2017 when Chris Davis, Jonathan Schoop and Trey Mancini did it.
“We score five runs and it feels like we’re going to steal one there and it’s going to be a great win for us,” O’Hearn said. “And then, unfortunately, you guys saw what happened. Tough one to lose, for sure.”
The Orioles (34-45) had just four hits—all in the seventh.
“That was a big inning off a guy who’s been throwing the ball really well,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “I do think that we swung the bat a little bit better than probably what the scoreboard indicated earlier in the game. There’s some hard-hit balls, especially by our left-handed hitters.”
Texas tied it at 5 in the top of the eighth when Sam Haggerty walked against Gregory Soto, stole second and third and scored on Jonah Heim’s sacrifice fly to center.
In the top of the 10th, the Rangers’ automatic runner, Evan Carter, scored from third base on a grounder to second baseman Jackson Holliday. Holliday’s throw wasn’t in time. Carter had advanced to third on a wild pitch by Seranthony Domínguez (2-2).
Litz’s six innings was the longest of his major league career. He allowed leadoff walks to Jackson Holliday in the fourth and Sánchez in the fifth.
Litz struck out four, including three in the fifth after Sánchez walked.
The Orioles allowed three runs in a 43-pitch inning by Charlie Morton in the third. With one out and runners on first and second, Evan Carter singled to right, scoring Seager. Sánchez couldn’t handle Laureano’s throw from right, allowing Carter to go to second.
With runners on second and third, Jace Jung bounced to short. Henderson’s throw home wasn’t in time, and Semien scored. Alejandro Osuna’s sacrifice fly scored Carter. The Orioles could have suffered further damage, but since Kyle Higashioka’s double bounced into the stands, Jung had to hold at third.
Morton (4-8) threw 100 pitches in five innings, allowing three runs on four hits.
Adolis Garcia’s RBI single in the seventh against Keegan Akin made it 4-0.
What was going on with the Orioles’ offense? In nine of the 10 innings, every inning but the seventh, the Orioles had no runs and no hits and just three walks.
“I thought we got ourselves into trouble a little bit with our right-handed hitters kind of chasing out of the zone,” Mansolino said. “If you kind of go back and look at the game, we probably should have had four or five walks from our right-handed guys.”
Is the Orioles’ bullpen tired? Wednesday will be the 16th consecutive day the Orioles play before an offday. Mansolino said he wanted to keep away from reliever Bryan Baker because he’s been overused.
“We had Bake on the shelf there,” Mansolino said. “We weren’t going to use Bake with how much we used him on this last road trip. With the choice we made, we felt really good about it.”
Domínguez’s run in the 10th was unearned because the automatic runner scored.
“I think you start to see little leaks here and there with command and things like that,” Mansolino said. “I don’t think that’s unusual by any means with how much these guys have thrown. The bottom line is, they didn’t hit anything hard off him, got three punchouts, contact play at the plate, slow-hit ball, Carter, who can really run, makes a great slide at the plate, goes to review, they overturn it. Few more strikes [would] probably be a little bit cleaner inning, but he did great.”
What does it mean? The Orioles allowed two many free bases. Texas stole five bases against Sánchez. Haggerty’s two in the eighth enabled them to tie the score, 5-5. Domínguez threw two wild pitches. The first led to the winning run.
What’s the stat of the day? The Orioles are 3-9 when they get four hits.
What’s the word? “They’ll punch back, they’ll fight back, and you know, to get where we want to get to, we’re going to have to do that. We’re going to have to go out and bang with somebody. We’re going to have to go out and out-grind somebody.”-Morton on the Orioles’ mentality
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Cameron Weston allowed an unearned run on a hit in six innings as Triple-A Norfolk beat Gwinnett, 3-1.
Houston Roth, Colin Selby and Kade Strowd completed the one-hitter with three hitless innings.
Tyler O’Neill was hitless in three at-bats in his rehab assignment in Double-A Chesapeake’s 6-3 loss to Altoona. Centerfielder Reed Trimble homered.
Designated hitter TT Bowens and second baseman Aron Estrada homered in High-A Aberdeen’s 4-3 loss to Hub City.
Second baseman Fernando Peguero’s grand slam keyed a seven-run seventh inning to lead Single-A Delmarva over Carolina, 13-6. Catcher Yasmil Bucce drove in five runs.
What’s next? The Orioles and Rangers conclude their three-game series on Wednesday night at 6:35. Brandon Young (0-1, 6.23) will be recalled from Norfolk to start against Jacob deGrom (7-2, 2.24).
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com