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ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles might run out of catchers before they run out of time to convince the front office that they can contend in 2025.
A 10-6 win over the Rangers tonight at Globe Life Field featured another impressive start from Trevor Rogers, though falling short of his previous gem, and an emergency that also forced him to bat.
There also was a bouncing ball to follow that cracked a late lead, Gunnar Henderson's left-on-left, two-run homer against Robert Garcia in the 10th, Colton Cowser's 425-foot blast off Shawn Armstrong, and Adolis García’s 417-foot, three-run shot to left off Keegan Akin in the bottom of the 10th – accompanied by bat flip, scream and flex.
Luis Vázquez, batting in the pitcher's spot, delivered a go-ahead single off Hoby Milner in the 11th for his second major league hit, Ramón Laureano drove in a run with his third double and fourth hit, and Henderson followed with a two-run double. Akin was credited with the win after Andrew Kittredge retired the side in order.
File this one under more season insanity for the Orioles.
“It speaks to the guys that we have in this clubhouse," Henderson said. "They didn’t give anything away. It was huge hit after huge hit. Vázqy came in, first at-bat that he’s had in a while, and that was a huge hit to get us on the board."
Henderson towered over the field with his production in extras.
"It felt great to be able to come through," he said. "I feel like all of us just beared down there at the end. It’s what we needed to pick up the guys who have been throwing well for us all year. So really happy to be able to help with that.”
Chadwick Tromp was removed in the bottom of the third inning with a lower back strain that's going to force him onto the injured list today, and designated hitter Gary Sánchez celebrated his three-run double by putting on the gear.
Rogers struck out twice in his first plate appearances since 2021 with the Marlins, making him 3-for-45 with 29 strikeouts in the majors, but he carried a shutout into the sixth before Marcus Semien’s 422-foot, two-run shot into the second deck in left. Rogers appeared on his way to approaching his eight shutout innings against the Rangers last Monday.
The amusement of having Rogers hit overshadowed everything else.
“We’ve got early BP tomorrow for him," Henderson said, grinning.
"I did it four years ago a couple times," Rogers said. "Nothing changes. Gotta execute. I don’t know, fortunately, unfortunately we didn’t have to witness that.”
Rogers used Ryan Mountcastle's bat. Interim manager Tony Mansolino wanted him to keep it on his shoulder unless the situation called for a bunt, but Rogers couldn't resist.
“I told him that if he swung the bat, I was going to fine Gunnar Henderson $10 grand in the middle of the game, and he kind of smirked," Mansolino said. "I think he thought that I was joking. So Gunnar Henderson owes me $10 grand. We’ll see how that goes. It might not go so well so well for Gunn. But we told him do not swing the bat."
“I don’t know why he put that on me, but yeah," Henderson said. "He was definitely not supposed to swing. But it was pretty funny seeing him swing.”
“It was just, if we’re in that situation with a runner on, first and second or just first, try to put the bunt down," Rogers said. "If you can’t, don’t worry about it. Then he said, 'Don’t swing.' In the back of my mind I’m like, ‘OK.’ But you know I had to get off one swing. I don’t know if that was the best looking swing. Might’ve messed my golf swing up but I had to get one in.”
It’s impossible to rattle Rogers, whatever the circumstances. Start him, bat him. His confidence can’t be shaken, but a fastball might get crushed.
Semien set off fireworks above the huge video board and cut the lead to 3-2. Rogers allowed two runs and three hits in 5 1/3, threw 91 pitches and saw his ERA rise from 1.62 to 2.05.
He also watched his lead evaporate. Seranthony Domínguez struck out the first two batters in the seventh, but Michael Helman walked, stole second base and came around to score on Sánchez’s throwing error. The ball hit Helman and ricocheted into left-center, where Cedric Mullins fielded it and threw to Jackson Holliday. Helman never slowed and Sánchez couldn’t come up with the short hop. If he does, it’s an easy out.
“For me, I’m anticipating that to happen right there," Mansolino said. "I’m not sure if I’m surprised or not. In my mind, being in the big leagues the last five, six years, we’ve seen that happen. We saw Gleyber Torres do it to us a couple years ago in New York, and we’ve done it to a couple teams as well, similar scenarios. So for me, once that crowd noise goes up, our middle infielders gotta hear it and gotta know something’s going on, and we’ve got to get the ball and get it in as quick as we can. So heck of a play by their player."
The scoring for the Orioles was confined to one inning before Henderson launched a 1-2 slider 403 feet to right field at 107.3 mph. Armstrong entered, fell behind 3-0 to Cowser and threw him a fastball that left the bat at 113.7 mph.
Bryan Baker had three strikeouts in the eighth and stranded two runners in scoring position, with Holliday’s diving stop of a grounder up the middle keeping the game tied. Félix Bautista walked Kyle Higashioka with one out in the ninth and pinch-runner Ezequiel Duran stole second and third base, but pinch-hitter Alejandro Osuna struck out and Sam Haggerty bounced out to force the Rangers into a fourth consecutive extra-inning game – tying a club record.
The Orioles (37-47) got back to 10 games below .500 but will face Jacob deGrom again Tuesday night. Brandon Young is making his fourth major league start in place of Charlie Morton, who’s pushed back to Friday because of elbow tendinitis.
Zach Eflin went on the 15-day injured list earlier today with the same ailment as Tromp. The Orioles must feel like they’re cursed.
“A little bit of disbelief at times, both on offense and when we were throwing the ball on defense, too," Mansolino said. "That was kind of a classic. I told (Ryan) Klimek there, I think it was the 11th. I said, ‘Hey man, we’re going to be talking about this one in the next 10 years.'"
Akin was the last Oriole to bat on Sept. 22, 2021 in Philadelphia. John Means and Thomas Eshelman also came to the plate in the first two games of the series. Matt Harvey and Bruce Zimmermann batted four months earlier in D.C.
Laureano doubled off Patrick Corbin with one out in the first inning and was stranded. Coby Mayo and Mullins singled with two outs in the second and Tromp lined out to Semien at 102.7 mph. Mayo’s single up the middle was clocked at 106.6 mph and gave him five hits in 11 at-bats and eight in 24.
Tromp twisted his body and was in pain after the out, but he stayed in the game until the bottom of the third. Emmanuel Rivera stood on deck to bat for him with two outs in the top half, but Rogers led off the fourth with the other kind of strikeout.
The Orioles already are missing catchers Adley Rutschman (oblique) and Maverick Handley (concussion). David Bañuelos has spent his usual stretches of the season on the taxi squad, but Jacob Stallings might be the choice if a replacement is needed after signing a minor league deal on Tuesday.
No. 1 prospect Samuel Basallo is being kept at Triple-A to gain more experience.
"He was struggling to move around out there," Mansolino said of Tromp. "Pretty tough to go back out there for the next inning to catch, did everything he could to stay in the game. That’s the risk you take when you DH the second catcher. There’s a lot of teams across the league that do it constantly, but you know if you get in that scenario, that can happen. So we were just hoping Gary stayed in the game, because if Gary can’t stay in the game, we’d have been in a little more trouble right there."
Holliday and Laureano opened the third inning with singles, the latter at 107.2 mph. Henderson drew an eight-pitch walk and Sánchez lined a first-pitch slider into the left field corner for a 3-0 lead.
Laureano doubled again in the seventh and 11th to raise his OPS to .896 at that point. He’s 12-for-24 in his last six games.
Higashioka’s two-out single in the second was the last hit off Rogers until Semien’s homer. He retired 10 of 11, but a leadoff walk to Corey Seager hurt him.
The Rangers won two of three games last week at Camden Yards. The Orioles are in the midst of a 16-game stretch with six against Texas and seven versus the Rays.
“It’s a little weird at times,” infielder Jordan Westburg said earlier today. “It’s a cliché, but you’re like, ‘Oh, didn’t we just see these guys?’ And we literally did just see these guys.’”
The Orioles are seeing a lot, much of it almost impossible to comprehend.
