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The Orioles went to extremes today to prove that they can score without relying too much on home runs, that the small ball approach remains in their skill set.
That station-to-station doesn’t always require movement.
A two-run third inning that broke a scoreless tie featured a single, double, two more singles and a sacrifice fly. The exit velocities in three straight at-bats were clocked at 79.3, 77.9 and 76.3 mph.
Charlie Morton didn’t need the Orioles to bring much thunder on a sunny day. They gave him a lead and he allowed an unearned run in a season-high 6 2/3 innings in a 3-2 victory over the White Sox before an announced crowd of 33,037 at Camden Yards that completed the first sweep in 2025.
Morton lowered his ERA to 6.20 and raised the Orioles’ record to 22-36 with their sixth win in eight games and seventh in 11. They’ve gone 7-8 under interim manager Tony Mansolino. The White Sox (18-41) have lost 12 of 16.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air for sure," said reliever Bryan Baker, who closed today. "I think there’s a little bit of a different attitude in here. Obviously, getting the sweep and finishing the homestand strong like that is big. Obviously, got a lot of work to do still. We should’ve won that game by about five runs today if we clean some stuff up, and we should. But a win’s a win. It’s awesome to get a sweep against a big-league team and hopefully we can carry that momentum going into this road trip.
“It seems like everybody’s looser. We’re having a little bit of fun. It’s obviously easier to have fun when you win, but it just seems like everyone’s having a little bit more fun, we’re looser, not as uptight. It’s contagious. That kind of thing is contagious. I think if we show up to the ballpark with a positive mindset and have a little fun, I think that goes a long way.”
The rotation allowed one earned run in 19 2/3 innings in the series and strung together three quality starts for the first time since Sept. 10-14, 2024. Baker earned his second career save today and first since Oct. 5, 2022 with Félix Bautista unavailable.
“They were awesome," Mansolino said of the rotation. "I feel like it’s been trending this way for a while. I feel like after those couple starts against, I think it was the Nationals, the first two days of the change, I mean, those were tough days. But I feel like after that we’ve been in every game one way or the other, within a few runs. I feel like the starting pitching has been really good here going over a couple weeks now.”
Bautista worked back-to-back days for the second time since his elbow surgery and threw a combined 53 pitches. He wasn't budging today, leaving Baker as the likely choice. He retired the side in order and struck out two, and his ERA is down to 2.77.
“Honestly, we have so many options right now it’s kind of hard to tell," he said. "I mean, I was ready for whatever. It’s always nice to get those opportunities. It’s kind of what you grow up hoping to get, especially once I made the switch to reliever, you know, back eight years ago or so. You dream of those moments. It was awesome getting to throw to Mav (Maverick Handley), as well, who I’ve had a lot of reps with the last couple years. Share that moment with him is pretty cool.”
Morton stranded six runners through the fifth, and he picked off Chase Meidroth at first base in the first inning after a leadoff infield single. Luis Robert Jr. reached on catcher’s interference with two outs in the fourth. Right fielder Heston Kjerstad tried to make a leaping catch on the warning track in the fifth and missed the ball, giving Mike Tauchman a two-out triple, but Morton escaped the jam.
The 41-year-old right-hander is giving the Orioles what they expected after signing him for $15 million. He’s allowed two earned runs in 12 2/3 innings since re-entering the rotation and four in 22 innings over his last five appearances. His ERA was 10.00 on April 26.
The White Sox were an ideal opponent, though they created traffic. Morton was 5-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 0.890 WHIP in five career starts against them before today. The Orioles are 18-5 against them since 2022.
"I’m just trying to go out there and do my job," Morton said. "I knew, physically, I’m still OK. I think it’s just some tweaks and trying to get my stuff going in the zone a little bit better and, like I said, the shapes of the breaking ball. It’s nice to feel like I’m more myself than a month ago."
The unearned run scored in the sixth after Andrew Benintendi’s leadoff single and a balk. Lenyn Sosa struck out, but Jackson Holliday misplayed Joshua Palacios’ ground ball to reduce the lead to 2-1. Dylan Carlson denied Robert with a sliding catch in left and fired to Holliday, who dropped the ball as Palacios scrambled back to first base.
Morton struck out Edgar Quero on his 90th pitch, a curveball with the count full, and fans stood to cheer him. It wasn’t that long ago that he was booed.
The ovation grew louder after Morton returned for the seventh and retired the first two batters. Mansolino removed him at a season-high 100 pitches.
“He was great, and it was awesome," Mansolino said. "I love the fact, and I told the guys, the best part of that whole thing for him, he goes 6 2/3, he gets into the seventh, and with everything that he’s been through this year, there’s been negativity surrounding him, and I get it and I get we need guys to perform and all that, but this is also a guy that’s performed a long time in the big leagues, and to see the negativity but then the Baltimore fans stand up and give him a standing ovation coming off the mound, that was my favorite part.
"I told the infielders that when I went out there. That was nice to see because we know Charlie the guy, we know how incredible he is and how accountable he is, and it just makes us all bigger fans of him and makes us feel really good when we see Charlie be Charlie.”
Adrian Houser, who signed with the Orioles last August but didn’t pitch for them, stranded two runners in the first but fell behind 2-0 in the third.
Handley led off with a single off the left field wall, a home run in 22 ballparks according to Statcast. Holliday doubled to right and held at second base on Ramón Urías' RBI single to center field. Robert approached the ball as if he could catch it and might have deked Holliday.
Gunnar Henderson followed with another soft single to center and Holliday held at third base before scoring on Ryan O’Hearn’s fly ball to left.
O’Hearn walked to open the sixth inning – he’s reached base in 31 of 32 games – Coby Mayo grounded into a force and Carlson delivered an RBI double to right-center. Third base coach Buck Britton had the aggressive send, waving in Mayo before the White Sox botched the relay.
The Orioles didn't come close to playing a clean game, the mistakes including Kjerstad collecting his first career triple only to have Quero pick him off third base in the fourth inning. Gregory Soto replaced Morton and Tauchman greeted him with a home run. But they aren't apologizing. They're 14 games under .500 for the first time since May 17. It feels like momentum.
“How great is it to be able to make mistakes, baserunning and defense, and still win the game?" Mansolino said. "When was the last time that kind of happened here this season? And that’s probably more a testament to our pitching and the ability to not let things unravel and blow up.”
The Orioles completed their first home sweep since April 15-17, 2024.
"It’s tough, because trying to find some momentum, trying to find some semblance of our identity, trying to figure out the cadence of just where we are day to day, the vibes of the clubhouse, and sometimes it just takes a little while to get there," Morton said. "It just takes a little bit of time to feel like the dust settles a little bit. Losing, losing multiple games in a row or multiple series in a row and everything that happened with Hyder (former manager Brandon Hyde), and it’s just kind of a whirlwind. Not really knowing exactly what’s wrong, it’s like if we pitched well, it just seemed like we had some trouble scoring runs, or if we scored runs, it just seemed like we weren’t firing on all cylinders, and I think that’s where we’re trying to get to.
"It’s just trying to get some momentum going. So a series like this is really good. But it’s also how we feel in the clubhouse, and I’ve noticed a change in a good way. Hopefully, go out west and continue that."
Morton said the room is coming together, which, of course, is easier when the pitching is better. They can go hand-in-hand.
"I really think that when the team as a unit feels more cohesive, and I’m not talking about just this team, I’m talking in general, moving together, kind of just feeling better day-to-day and like things aren’t so out of place," he said. "Like for me personally, I’ve said this a few times, I’d wake up and it’s like I said, it’s almost surreal feeling how badly it’s going. ... Pitching, by and large, drives the show. Like by and large, pitching wins baseball games over 162 in a season. We as a rotation, as a pitching staff, can go out there and do a good job and give our team a chance to win every day, it’s a huge deal.
"I felt like in spring training, even early on, I felt like the guys were a tight group, but it was just like we couldn’t get going. Hopefully over the course of a maybe 10-game stretch or something like that, you start to see kind of things change. It’s not just you lost a couple then you go out and score like 12 runs and you win that game but it never really catches, you never really catch that next gear as a team. So that’s my hope, and that’s what I feel like we’re starting to do.
"Everything’s kind of settling, start to realize that’s really not as bad as you think. If you keep feeling like it’s that bad, it’s probably going to get worse. As a team, we can kind of rally around each other and kind of build a wall around each other and protect each other, have each other’s backs and just on a day-to-day basis, just as like friends, but I think you can slowly start to see that translate on the field."
* Tomoyuki Sugano, Cade Povich and Zach Eflin will start for the Orioles in the three-game series in Seattle that begins Tuesday night.
* Colton Cowser played left field today at Triple-A Norfolk and has a single, double, two RBIs and a run scored. Jordan Westburg is 0-for-4. Samuel Basallo hit his 10th home run.
Chayce McDermott was charged with nine runs and six hits, with six walks, in two innings. Preston Johnson let three inherited runners score.
