CHICAGO–What happened? In the six games before the trade deadline, the Orioles scored 60 runs and won five games. In their first game after Thursday’s massive selloff, the Orioles wasted another strong outing from Trevor Rogers and were flat offensively.
The Orioles were held to just three hits and lost, 1-0, to the Chicago Cubs before 40,520 at Wrigley Field.
The new-look Orioles (50-60) featured Dylan Carlson in center field, Coby Mayo at first base, and Jeremiah Jackson, playing his first major league game as the designated hitter.
Jackson Holliday singled in the third, Jackson in the fifth and Adley Rutschman doubled in the ninth. They drew four walks against five Cubs pitchers but never got to third base.
Rogers (4-2) allowed a run in the second when Ian Happ’s sacrifice fly scored Carson Kelly. The sacrifice fly was the first of 11 straight outs by Rogers (4-2), who gave up four hits and struck out eighth without walking a batter in throwing the first Orioles complete game since Dean Kremer’s on September 23rd, 2022 and the first complete game loss since Chris Tillman’s on September 14th, 2013.
“It was in the back of my mind, but I’m more focused on trying to win the game,” Rogers said. “So, that was just kind of where my thought process was.”
How well did Rogers throw? It was the one-year anniversary of Rogers’ first game with the Orioles. He started four times after being traded by Miami and had a 7.11 ERA before being sent to Norfolk.
“Wow, I didn’t know that,” Rogers said. “Complete 360. Went from trying to do too much and trying to produce results for this team and coming all the way around to just focusing on execution and doing my job, and we’re getting good results. Very thankful for the Orioles, and I’ve had a blast here but still got a job to do for the next two months and I’ll continue to do that.”
Rutschman was impressed. “I thought he threw all of his pitches today in different counts, ahead and behind,” he said. “He gave batters a lot of different looks. I thought he did a great job today. I was really impressed. That was my first time catching him this year. It was fun to have that synergy just come back and get back into it.”
Rogers enjoyed pitching on a lovely 72-degree day, a huge contrast from the sultry conditions recently in Baltimore.
“It felt good. I knew we were working pretty quick because I wasn’t sweating as much as I usually do up in Baltimore,” he said. “I think the weather was pretty good today but when you’re locked in on certain days, you don’t even think about anything except execution, and I look up and before I know it it’s the eighth inning. So, it was just one of those days where I was just locked in on the mound.”
Where was the Orioles’ offense? It was the 11th time this year the Orioles were shut out, and the first 1-0 loss of the season.
“We swung the bats better than what the scoreboard said,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “I don’t think we swung the bats good enough to put up 10 runs, but, you know, there’s a few balls hit that, on a normal day, are probably going over the fence.”
Cade Horton (5-3) threw five scoreless innings, allowing two hits. Andrew Kittredge faced the Orioles a day after being traded and threw a spotless seventh.
Jackson’s first hit: Jackson had spent four years at Double-A before a promotion from Chesapeake to Norfolk, where he hit .377.
“It was awesome,” Jackson said. “A dream come true. Something that everybody here has worked really hard to get here, and to be up here with these guys, it’s awesome. Truly a blessing.”
Jackson said he wasn’t nervous for his first game.
“I was actually pretty calm,” he said. “A lot calmer than I thought I was going to be. You’re never prepared for a moment like this, but you try to prepare as much as you can, and I just felt really at ease and ready to go.”
Was Elias happy with what he did trade deadline? “I wouldn’t say 100 percent of things got across the finish line, but that’s really hard to have happen,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said.
“A lot’s got to go right for that. But overall, with the agenda that we had, which was to bring talent into the system and move players that their contracts were either expiring or near expiring, I think we did quite well in that regard.
“I think that we brought in a lot of talent and they were the right moves for the situation that you’re in and that’s part of the duties of the front office, to weigh the spot that the team’s in and do the right thing by the organization at the deadline, and I do feel like that was accomplished.”
What does it mean? As long as Trevor Rogers pitches this well, they’ll have a chance to win. This lineup is not likely to be held to three hits often.
What’s the stat of the day? The game was played in one hour, 49 minutes, the fastest Orioles game since September 3rd, 1988 when they lost, 1-0, at Seattle in one hour, 45 minutes.
“Is that what it was? Wow. I mean it felt, yeah, I knew that it went fast but that’s very fast,” Rutschman said. “That’s probably the fastest I’ve played in a while.”
What’s the word? “We’ve played very good baseball the last couple of months. The core’s still here. We have a lot of pieces here that have shown they can stay on this stage and do good things. I’m trying to focus on the positive. This is a new role and a new opportunity for a lot of us.”-Jordan Westburg on what’s ahead for the Orioles.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Next season, the Orioles’ High-A affiliate will switch from Aberdeen to Frederick. Aberdeen will be the home of the draft league team, which had previously been at Frederick. When the minor leagues contracted in 2020, the Keys lost their affiliation and the IronBirds moved up from Short-Season-A to High-A.
What’s next? Tomoyuki Sugano (8-5, 4.38) will start against Matthew Boyd (11-4, 2.47) on Saturday at 2:20 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com