That’s right, Trevor Rogers pitched 6.1 shutout innings at Fenway. Seriously!
You know what’s great about baseball? On any given night, any team — even the sorriest of teams like the 2025 Orioles — can pull a rabbit out of their hat and somehow win a game they had no business winning. The kind of game where the unlikeliest of contributors suddenly step up big, where the team prevails when the odds were severely against them.
I’d say tonight’s nightcap of the split doubleheader certainly qualifies. The Orioles were using a starting pitcher, Trevor Rogers, who had a 7.11 ERA in his O’s career and 8.10 in Triple-A this year — and he proceeded to pitch one of his most dominant games in years, blanking the Red Sox over 6.1 innings. Consider also that the Orioles, after using up all their high-leverage relievers in vain in Game 1, had to finagle the final eight outs from just two relievers — and both delivered the goods. And don’t forget that the O’s plated a key insurance run in the ninth when Jorge Mateo (with a .225 OBP entering the day) drew a walk and scored on an RBI double by Dylan Carlson (1-for-22 entering the day).
It was perhaps the least predictable win of the season for the Orioles. But I’ll take ’em however we can get ’em.
The main story was Rogers, a guy whose star-crossed O’s career has become a focal point of fans’ ire toward Mike Elias. The Orioles GM didn’t exactly make the best trade of his career last July, when he sent two intriguing but blocked youngsters — Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby — to the Marlins in exchange for Rogers. Elias was hoping to add pitching depth but Rogers was far removed from his Rookie of the Year runner-up season in 2021, and the lefty’s disastrous Orioles debut (four starts, a 7.11 ERA, and -0.4 WAR) did nothing to endear him to a skeptical O’s fan base.
The fact that Norby went on an offensive tear after the trade last year, and Stowers has put up All-Star numbers for Miami this season, has only twisted the knife. But hey, if Rogers keeps pitching like he did tonight, I think Orioles fans will get over it soon enough.
Rogers was sharp right from the get-go, mixing four pitches — four-seamer, sinker, slider, and changeup — to keep Sox hitters guessing. His command was impeccable, as the southpaw didn’t issue a single walk all game. For a guy who walked 10 batters in 19 innings with the Orioles last year, that’s big.
Through six innings, the Red Sox got one baserunner. One! Rogers retired 18 of the 19 batters he faced, barely breaking a sweat against a Boston lineup that scored 25 runs in the first two games of the series. Rogers looked nothing like the pitcher who bombed out of his first Orioles audition last year. Heck, he hardly even looked like the guy who pitched for the Marlins the last few years. His 6.1 innings tonight marked his longest scoreless outing since April 21, 2021, which came against — you guessed it — the Orioles.
Rogers was so efficient that he threw only 75 pitches through six innings, but he ran into trouble once he came back for the seventh. With one out in a scoreless game, he plunked Rob Refsnyder, then gave up a single to Kristian Campbell, who had both of Boston’s two hits against Rogers in this game. Tony Mansolino opted to go no further with Rogers, turning to Andrew Kittredge to try to escape the jam.
Kittredge, in just his second appearance of the year, came through. He set down Wilyer Abreu on a groundout, then fanned Red Sox mega-prospect Marcelo Mayer, who was making his major league debut. Better luck next time, Marcelo.
The Orioles’ offense refused to give Rogers any kind of support, getting shut out through seven innings by veteran Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito. The Birds, though, finally broke through against the Boston bullpen in the eighth. Backup catcher Maverick Handley worked a key walk against lefty Brennan Bernadino, then was replaced by Gunnar Henderson on a fielder’s choice. Adley Rutschman worked a two-out free pass against righty Luis Guerrero to keep the rally alive before Ryan O’Hearn delivered the big hit, an RBI single to right to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the eighth, it was Kittredge who got into trouble — on a leadoff single and walk — before getting his first out. Seranthony Domínguez completed the Houdini act with a huge strikeout of Jarren Duran and a foul pop from Rafael Devers.
The O’s plated a much-needed insurance run in the ninth thanks to the previously mentioned light-hitting duos, as Jorge Mateo drew a free pass, stole second — his 100th career steal — and scampered home on Dylan Carlson’s double into the left-field corner.
That extra run proved pivotal in the bottom of the ninth when Abraham Toro led off with a home run off Domínguez, who was going for a five-out save with Félix Bautista unavailable. Mateo, playing center field for some reason, very nearly made a great catch at the short wall, but the ball, his glove, and then Jorge himself all went flying into the bullpen.
The lead was cut to 2-1, but Domínguez hunkered down and got the final three outs, working past an Abreu single that put the tying run on base. Mateo secured the final out on a sinking liner to center, and the Orioles, thankfully, were in the win column.
I should also mention that there was a Game 1 to this doubleheader, but the less said about that, the better. The Orioles built a 5-2 lead in the fifth, only to fritter it away behind a shaky Zach Eflin and an offense that couldn’t buy a clutch hit for the final five innings of the game. Tony Mansolino, perhaps showing his inexperience as manager, inexplicably elected not to intentionally walk Rafael Devers in the bottom of the 10th with the winning run at second, and sure enough, Devers ended the game with an RBI single. That was a thoroughly dumb game and thus does not merit more than a one-paragraph recap.
Game two, though: that was a keeper.