Orioles rally late but fall short in 7-5 loss to Cardinals

ST. LOUIS — The Baltimore Orioles made another late push Thursday afternoon, but an early five-run deficit proved too much to overcome in a 7-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Baltimore dropped to 65-69 with the loss, while St. Louis improved to 67-68 and snapped a five-game losing streak. The Orioles still won the three-game series after taking the first two games, 13-1 and 8-7.

The Orioles entered the finale with an opportunity to complete a sweep, but Cardinals opener Gordon Graceffo retired all nine batters he faced, and St. Louis jumped on Baltimore starter Trevor Rogers for a pair of damaging home runs.

Baltimore did not go quietly.

Coby Mayo launched a massive three-run home run in the seventh inning to pull the Orioles within two runs, and Baltimore brought the potential tying run into play again in the eighth. The comeback ultimately ended there as St. Louis held on.

Cardinals strike first

Rogers worked around traffic early, but St. Louis broke through in the bottom of the second.

Alec Burleson singled to extend his hitting streak to 13 games before Joshua Báez doubled. Rookie Blaze Jordan then crushed a three-run homer to center field, giving St. Louis a 3-0 lead.

The damage continued in the fourth.

Former Orioles infielder Ramón Urías hit a two-run homer off Rogers to stretch the Cardinals’ advantage to 5-0. It was Urías’ third home run of the season.

The two homers were especially costly for Rogers.

They were the 15th and 16th home runs he has allowed this season, setting a new career high. Orioles manager Craig Albernaz described the outing afterward as essentially being decided by two mistakes.

Rogers hurt by the long ball

Rogers’ final pitching line looked much worse than much of the outing actually felt.

The left-hander allowed six runs on seven hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked only one, but the two home runs accounted for five of the runs charged against him.

Rogers fell to 9-9.

The seven strikeouts were encouraging, particularly because it marked only the third time in his last 10 starts that Rogers reached seven strikeouts. But Baltimore simply could not afford the long balls.

The Jordan homer came on a changeup, while Urías drove a sinker that stayed over the middle of the plate.

That has become the primary issue for Rogers.

He can miss bats, limit walks and work effectively for long stretches, but one or two poorly located pitches can erase all of that work immediately.

Thursday was another example.

Baltimore offense starts slowly

The Orioles had scored 21 runs over the first two games of the series, but Baltimore’s bats were completely quiet early Thursday.

Graceffo was used as an opener by St. Louis and could not have executed the plan much better.

He retired all nine Orioles he faced and struck out four over three perfect innings.

Baltimore did not put a runner on base during those first three frames.

Albernaz said afterward that Baltimore simply did not have an answer for Graceffo, who attacked the strike zone aggressively and repeatedly worked ahead in counts.

That slow start became even more costly as the Cardinals continued adding runs.

By the time the Orioles offense finally started producing, the deficit had grown too large.

Mayo launches a monster homer

Baltimore finally began making things interesting in the second half of the game.

The Orioles entered the seventh trailing 6-1.

Then Mayo changed the entire feel of the game with one swing.

Facing left-hander Caleb Ferguson, Mayo unloaded on a pitch and sent a three-run homer an estimated 446 feet to center field.

Suddenly, Baltimore trailed just 6-4.

It was Mayo’s 18th home run of the season and his 14th against a left-handed pitcher. That tied Atlanta Braves slugger Matt Olson for the most home runs against left-handed pitching in Major League Baseball this season.

That statistic continues to show just how dangerous Mayo has become in favorable matchups.

Power has always been his calling card, and he delivered one of his biggest swings of the season when Baltimore desperately needed it.

Henderson cut down in crucial eighth inning

The Orioles continued applying pressure in the eighth.

Baltimore and St. Louis traded runs during the inning, keeping the game within reach.

The biggest moment came with Gunnar Henderson representing the potential tying run.

Henderson stood at second base when Samuel Basallo hit a hard ground ball back toward reliever George Soriano.

Henderson aggressively broke for third.

Soriano fielded the ball and fired toward third baseman Blaze Jordan. Jordan made a difficult catch and applied the tag to Henderson for the out.

The play prevented Baltimore from potentially creating an even bigger inning.

Jordan injured his left ankle while making the play and was forced to leave the game. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol indicated afterward that the injury appeared potentially significant.

For Baltimore, it was a razor-thin moment.

If Henderson reaches third safely, the entire inning could look different.

Instead, St. Louis escaped while maintaining the lead.

O’Brien closes it

Baltimore entered the ninth trailing by two runs.

Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien handled the rest.

O’Brien pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his National League-leading 34th save.

That performance was particularly important for St. Louis after O’Brien had surrendered seven combined runs while taking losses in his previous two appearances.

The Cardinals finally had their 7-5 win.

Orioles still take the series

Thursday’s loss was disappointing, but Baltimore did accomplish one important goal in St. Louis.

The Orioles won the series.

Baltimore dominated the opener 13-1 and survived an 8-7 thriller Wednesday before dropping the finale.

That matters with the Orioles trying to remain in the American League Wild Card race.

Following Thursday’s games, Baltimore sat at 65-69 and three games behind Cleveland for the final AL Wild Card position.

The Orioles are not in a position where moral victories mean much anymore.

But winning two of three series consistently gives them a chance.

With fewer than 30 games remaining, Baltimore needs to start stacking those series wins together.

Mayo becoming a major factor

One of the biggest positives for Baltimore continues to be Mayo.

His seventh-inning home run was not simply a stat-padding shot in a blowout.

It completely changed the game.

Baltimore went from trailing 6-1 to suddenly being within striking distance at 6-4.

Mayo has repeatedly shown the kind of power that made him one of the Orioles’ most highly regarded prospects.

His production against left-handed pitching has been particularly impressive.

Fourteen home runs against lefties is not merely good.

It is among the best production in baseball.

If Mayo continues developing against right-handed pitching while maintaining this kind of damage against lefties, Baltimore may have found another legitimate middle-of-the-order bat.

Another rough home-run day for Rogers

The Orioles also need Rogers to figure out the home-run issue quickly.

Seven strikeouts and only one walk should normally put a starting pitcher in position for a quality outing.

Instead, Rogers allowed six runs.

That is the danger when the mistakes leave the ballpark.

Jordan’s three-run homer changed the game in one swing. Urías’ two-run homer did the same.

Five runs on two pitches.

Baltimore can survive singles.

Baltimore can survive the occasional walk.

It is much harder to survive multi-run home runs.

That will be something Rogers and the Orioles pitching staff need to address before his next start.

Road trip continues in Sacramento

Baltimore now heads west as part of a three-city, three-time-zone road trip.

The Orioles open a series against the Athletics Friday night in Sacramento.

Right-hander Brandon Young is scheduled to start for Baltimore. Young enters the game 9-3 with a 3.50 ERA.

After Sacramento, Baltimore continues to Colorado.

The travel will not make things easy.

Neither will the standings.

But the Orioles leave St. Louis having taken two of three and still very much alive in the Wild Card chase.

Now they have to keep winning series.

MSB Take

This was a frustrating loss, but it was not a disastrous one.

The Orioles should have wanted the sweep. At this point in the season, every opportunity matters, especially when Baltimore is chasing teams in the Wild Card race.

But taking two of three on the road is still productive.

The biggest concern Thursday was Trevor Rogers.

He did plenty of things well. Seven strikeouts and one walk normally indicates a pitcher controlling the game. Unfortunately, the two mistakes he made ended up in the seats and accounted for five runs.

That cannot keep happening.

The positive story was Coby Mayo.

A 446-foot three-run homer against a left-handed pitcher is exactly the type of swing Baltimore needs from him. Mayo is showing legitimate middle-of-the-order power, and his dominance against lefties is becoming one of the most interesting developments on this Orioles roster.

Baltimore also deserves credit for making another game competitive.

The Orioles were down 6-1 and could have simply mailed in the finale after winning the first two games.

Instead, they battled back to 6-4 and eventually had Gunnar Henderson representing the tying run in a huge eighth-inning moment.

They gave themselves a chance.

Now the margin for error gets smaller.

Baltimore sits three games out of the final Wild Card position. There is still time, but the Orioles need more series like this one — and fewer missed opportunities to finish sweeps.