Orioles Waste Strong Shane Baz Start in 1-0 Loss to Red Sox

The Baltimore Orioles wasted one of Shane Baz’s better starts of the season Friday night, falling 1-0 to the Boston Red Sox at Camden Yards as their offense failed to produce a single run.

Mickey Gasper’s first-inning home run accounted for the only scoring in the game, while Boston starter Ranger Suárez shut Baltimore out across seven innings. The loss dropped the Orioles to 69-73 and extended their losing streak to four games. Boston improved to 77-65 and has taken the first two games of the four-game series.

For Baltimore, it was another frustrating night in which the starting pitching did enough to win but received almost no offensive support.

Gasper Strikes Immediately

Baz’s night essentially came down to his second pitch.

After Luis Robert Jr. tracked down a 393-foot drive from Boston’s leadoff hitter on Baz’s first pitch, Gasper jumped on the next offering, a four-seam fastball, and sent it onto the flag court in right field.

The solo shot gave Boston a 1-0 lead before many fans at Camden Yards had even settled into their seats.

It was Gasper’s eighth home run of the season, remarkably all coming over his previous 16 games. Before Boston recalled him from Triple-A Worcester on Aug. 16, Gasper had only two home runs in 240 major-league at-bats.

That one swing ultimately decided the game.

Baz Settles Down and Gives Orioles a Chance

The home run could have sent Baz in the wrong direction.

Instead, he immediately recovered.

Baz allowed four hits and one earned run across 6 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six while lowering his ERA to 3.91. After Gasper’s homer, Baz retired the next six hitters he faced.

Boston threatened again during the third inning after Eli White singled and an Orioles error helped create additional traffic, but Baz escaped without allowing another run.

He worked around a leadoff walk in the fourth and survived another difficult situation during the sixth after Gasper reached and Baltimore committed another defensive mistake. Baz continued pitching into the seventh before manager Craig Albernaz turned to the bullpen following Trevor Story’s one-out single.

Baz finished with 6 1/3 innings, four hits, one run, two walks and six strikeouts.

That line was more than good enough to win.

Baltimore simply gave him nothing.

Baz fell to 5-15, tying Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee for the most losses in Major League Baseball, but the record is misleading. ESPN noted that Baz has received just 3.02 runs of support per nine innings, the second-lowest mark among qualified major-league pitchers.

The Orioles have scored only 10 runs while Baz has been in the game over his last eight starts.

Suárez Silences Baltimore

Ranger Suárez never gave Baltimore the opening it needed.

The Boston left-hander threw seven scoreless innings, allowing five hits while walking one and striking out three. All five Baltimore hits against Suárez were singles.

He needed just 91 pitches and retired seven of the final eight hitters he faced.

Baltimore had opportunities.

Blaze Alexander singled during the third inning before Coby Mayo reached on an infield hit that moved Alexander to third. That brought Robert to the plate with a chance to tie the game.

Robert hit the ball hard — 112.4 mph off the bat — but his line drive went directly to center field.

The Orioles came away empty.

Mayo later came to the plate with two runners on and two outs in the fifth but grounded out on the first pitch.

Baltimore finished 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

That became the defining statistic of the night.

Alexander Continues to Produce

One of Baltimore’s few offensive bright spots was Alexander.

Alexander finished with three hits and appeared to be at the center of nearly every meaningful Orioles moment.

He singled again to begin the eighth inning, giving Baltimore another chance to finally break through.

Instead, Robert grounded into a double play.

That play produced the game’s most heated moment.

Benches Clear in the Eighth

Alexander slid hard into second base while Boston completed the double play, and Red Sox infielder Nick Sogard appeared unhappy with the play.

Words were exchanged and both dugouts and bullpens emptied onto the field.

No significant physical confrontation developed, but Alexander had to be restrained and gestured toward the Camden Yards crowd as emotions rose.

The incident came one night after Jahmai Jones’ aggressive slide into Alexander contributed to a key throwing error during Boston’s 6-5 win Thursday.

Albernaz characterized Friday’s confrontation as two competitive teams battling in an important game rather than anything malicious.

Unfortunately for Baltimore, the emotion did not wake up the offense.

Chapman Closes It

Aroldis Chapman took the mound for Boston in the ninth and retired the Orioles in order.

Chapman earned his 32nd save of the season and the 399th of his career.

Baltimore never advanced another runner.

The Orioles finished with six hits and no runs.

It marked Baltimore’s fifth shutout loss of the season.

Orioles Losing Ground

The timing of Baltimore’s four-game losing streak could hardly be worse.

The Orioles are now 69-73 with only 20 games remaining. Following Friday’s results, Baltimore sits three games behind the final American League Wild Card position.

Boston, meanwhile, improved to 77-65 and strengthened its own postseason position.

The Red Sox have already guaranteed themselves at least a split of the four-game series after winning Thursday’s opener 6-5 and Friday’s pitching duel 1-0.

Baltimore needs to stop the skid quickly.

What Is Next

The Orioles and Red Sox continue the series Saturday night at Camden Yards.

Baltimore will send veteran right-hander Chris Bassitt to the mound. Bassitt enters at 6-4 with a 4.97 ERA and will be looking for his third consecutive victory.

Boston counters with Sonny Gray, who enters at 16-4 with a 2.82 ERA.

Facing Gray makes Baltimore’s task significantly more difficult after being shut out Friday.

The Orioles cannot afford another wasted pitching performance.

MSB Take

This one is brutal because Shane Baz did almost everything the Orioles could have asked him to do.

He made one mistake.

One.

Gasper hit it out, and that ended up being enough to beat Baltimore.

A starting pitcher who gives you 6 1/3 innings of one-run baseball against a playoff-caliber opponent should not be taking a loss, especially with the season entering its final three weeks.

Baz’s 5-15 record looks terrible on paper, but it does not reflect how well he has pitched for stretches this season. The lack of run support has been staggering, and Friday night might have been the clearest example yet.

What concerns me more is where the Orioles are in the standings.

There is still enough time to make a run, but four consecutive losses in September are incredibly damaging. Baltimore is now below .500 at 69-73 and three games out of the final Wild Card spot.

At some point, “there is still time” stops being true.

The pitching kept the Orioles alive Friday. Alexander provided three hits and some needed fire. Camden Yards even came alive after the benches cleared.

But none of it matters if Baltimore cannot score.

The Orioles need to find their offense immediately because with Sonny Gray waiting Saturday, things are not getting any easier.