Orioles’ Offense Goes Quiet as Rangers Defeat Baltimore 5-1

By Brian Hradsky | Maryland Sports Blog

The Baltimore Orioles received six strong innings from Kyle Bradish on Saturday night, but another quiet performance from the offense and a pair of costly defensive mistakes sent Baltimore to a 5-1 loss against the Texas Rangers at Globe Life Field.

Baltimore jumped in front almost immediately when Jackson Holliday homered off Jacob deGrom in the top of the first inning. The Orioles never scored again.

Texas manufactured two unearned runs in the second inning and held a 2-1 advantage until Corey Seager broke the game open with a three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth.

The loss was Baltimore’s third straight and dropped the Orioles to 56-61. Texas improved to 59-58 with its fourth consecutive victory.

Holliday Gives Orioles an Early Lead

Facing one of baseball’s most accomplished pitchers, Baltimore could hardly have asked for a better start.

Holliday connected against deGrom in the top of the first and sent a solo home run out of Globe Life Field, giving the Orioles an immediate 1-0 advantage.

It was Holliday’s sixth home run of the season and snapped an 0-for-18 skid. He finished as Baltimore’s most productive offensive player, adding a double and a walk to the home run.

Unfortunately for Baltimore, the early blast represented nearly the entirety of the Orioles’ offense.

DeGrom settled in quickly after Holliday’s home run.

The veteran right-hander allowed only one run on three hits over five innings while striking out nine. He improved to 8-7 and continued his remarkable career success against Baltimore, moving to 6-0 in seven career starts against the Orioles.

Defensive Mistakes Cost Bradish

Bradish deserved a much better result.

The right-hander worked six innings and allowed only two runs, neither of which was earned. He threw 98 pitches, including 66 strikes, and kept the Orioles within one run throughout his outing.

Baltimore created most of its own trouble in the second.

Ezequiel Duran reached base before Bradish made an errant pickoff throw that allowed Duran to advance from first to third. Evan Carter then put the ball in play and Duran scored on a fielder’s choice to tie the game at one.

Texas was not finished.

Jake Burger followed with a single, and Carter scored when another Baltimore defensive mistake prolonged the play and allowed the Rangers to move ahead 2-1.

Both runs were unearned.

For a team fighting to remain relevant in the American League playoff race, giving away runs in a low-scoring game against deGrom proved especially costly.

Bradish settled down after the second and kept Texas from adding to its lead during the remainder of his outing.

He also reached a personal milestone during the game, recording his 500th career strikeout. The accomplishment moved Bradish past former Orioles left-hander Erik Bedard for the most strikeouts by an Orioles pitcher through his first 89 career appearances.

Bradish’s ERA dropped to 3.61 despite taking the loss.

Orioles Cannot Solve deGrom

Baltimore had opportunities to erase the one-run deficit but could never put together the big inning it needed.

The Orioles finished with six hits and went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position while striking out 10 times.

DeGrom’s ability to generate swings and misses repeatedly ended potential Baltimore rallies.

After deGrom completed five innings, Texas turned the game over to its bullpen.

Peyton Gray, Chase Silseth and Cal Quantrill combined to throw four scoreless innings, keeping Baltimore off the scoreboard for the remainder of the night.

That wasted an impressive performance from Bradish.

Through seven innings, Baltimore trailed only 2-1 and remained one swing away from tying the game.

Seager Puts It Away

The Rangers finally created separation in the eighth.

Grant Wolfram entered for Baltimore and Texas eventually put two runners aboard with two outs.

That brought Seager to the plate.

The Rangers shortstop drove a pitch out for a three-run home run, extending Texas’ advantage from 2-1 to 5-1 and effectively ending Baltimore’s chances of a late comeback.

The home run was Seager’s 11th of the season and gave him three RBIs on the night.

Quantrill handled the ninth inning for Texas and closed out the Rangers’ second consecutive victory over Baltimore in the series.

Bradish Continues to Give Orioles Quality Innings

Saturday’s loss should not overshadow another encouraging start from Bradish.

Baltimore needed quality innings against deGrom, and Bradish provided exactly that.

He allowed Texas to put only two runs on the scoreboard during his six innings, and both were unearned.

The Orioles’ rotation has shown signs of becoming a greater strength as the season has progressed, and Bradish remains an important part of that equation.

When a starter allows zero earned runs over six innings, his team should have a strong chance of winning.

Baltimore simply did not give him enough support.

Holliday Provides a Bright Spot

Holliday’s performance was another positive development.

The former No. 1 overall pick had been struggling entering Saturday, but his first-inning home run ended an 0-for-18 stretch and gave Baltimore its only run.

He also doubled and walked, reaching base three times.

Baltimore needs Holliday and the rest of its younger core to become increasingly important pieces of the lineup after the organization reshaped its roster around the trade deadline.

Saturday was the type of offensive performance the Orioles would like to see more consistently from Holliday, even if the rest of the lineup could not capitalize.

Orioles’ Offense Has Gone Cold

The much larger concern is Baltimore’s inability to consistently score.

The Orioles entered the night attempting to remain within striking distance of the American League Wild Card picture, but losing consecutive games while scoring only one run Saturday is exactly the type of stretch that can quickly create separation in August.

Baltimore had six hits but repeatedly failed to string them together.

Against pitchers such as deGrom, opportunities are always going to be limited. That makes execution even more important when runners reach base.

The Orioles went hitless with runners in scoring position and never found the hit that could change the game.

The pitching was good enough.

The offense was not.

MSB Take

This was a frustrating loss because Kyle Bradish did virtually everything Baltimore could have asked him to do.

Six innings and no earned runs should put the Orioles in position to win almost every time.

Instead, two defensive mistakes helped Texas score its first two runs, and Baltimore’s lineup could not produce anything beyond Jackson Holliday’s first-inning home run.

That combination is difficult to overcome against Jacob deGrom.

The encouraging part is Bradish. He continues to demonstrate why he can be an important piece of Baltimore’s rotation moving forward.

Holliday also deserves credit for breaking out of his recent slump with a home run, double and walk.

But the Orioles cannot continue wasting strong starting pitching performances.

Baltimore is entering the portion of the schedule where every loss becomes increasingly damaging. If the Orioles want to remain involved in the Wild Card race, the offense needs to wake up quickly.

Up Next

Baltimore will try to avoid a sweep Sunday in the series finale at Globe Life Field.

Left-hander Cade Povich is scheduled to start for the Orioles against Rangers right-hander Kumar Rocker.

After dropping the first two games of the series, Baltimore badly needs a victory before moving on to the next stop of its road trip.

Final: Texas Rangers 5, Baltimore Orioles 1