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PHILADELPHIA – The Orioles hadn’t scored in 18 innings and their No. 5 hitter today didn’t produce an extra-base hit or RBI in his first 17 major league plate appearances. The batter behind him began the day with a .213 average and was 2-for-23 since a three-hit game in Baltimore. But post-deadline baseball is meant to provide opportunities with the hope that some wins are attached.
Jeremiah Jackson broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with a double down the left field line off Ranger Suárez and Coby Mayo followed with a big-boy three-run homer in a 5-1 victory over the Phillies that prevented a sweep at Citizens Bank Park.
Trevor Rogers had traffic every inning but held the Phillies to one run through the sixth, and the Orioles improved to 52-63 overall and 2-4 on their road trip. They’re off Thursday and host the Athletics over the weekend.
"It feels great," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "You walk in here against this team, especially after getting your teeth kicked in for two nights, it’s easy to lay down at a 12:35 game when you’ve got Ranger Suárez on the mound in Philadelphia with kind of the momentum they have and the lack thereof that we have. For the boys to go out there and do what they did, awesome."
Gunnar Henderson began the fourth with an opposite-field single and Adley Rutschman beat out a grounder that deflected off Suárez’s glove. Jackson gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead and Mayo padded it with authority, blistering a first-pitch changeup 421 feet to left field at 108.5 mph.
Mayo wasn't sitting first-pitch change. It just appeared that way.
“I wish I could say ‘yes,'" he said. "No, I think it’s been a theme recently, they’re just trying to get ahead 0-1, so just looking for a pitch up in the zone I can hit and kind of saw that changeup hop and stay up in the zone and put a good swing on it.”
The Orioles are playing Mayo every day with Ryan O'Hearn traded and accepting whatever results come from it.
“A lot more comfortable," he said. "Coaching staff’s been great with me. Constant communication and they believe in me, the work that we’ve been putting in. They’re not putting any pressure on me whatsoever. And they know what kind of player I am and what kind of player I can be in this league, and just having confidence in me helps a lot.
"They’re constantly telling me, ‘You suck today, you’re gonna be playing tomorrow, you suck that day, you’re gonna play the next day.’ So it doesn’t really matter what I do that night. It’s about how I can kind of roll over the next day and play with a clear mind and just look forward to the next at-bat.”
Mayo has four major league home runs and the first three traveled 412 feet at 106.9 mph, 413 feet at 101.7 and 413 feet at 108.1. He does not believe in cheapies.
“Listen, there’s going to be good days and bad days for Coby," Mansolino said. "Today was a good day. We’re happy for him. Hopefully, he builds on it going forward.
"We don’t expect him to become a star player right now. We expect him to become a really good player within the next couple of years. Today’s a good day. He’s going to have some good moments. He’s going to have some bad moments. As long as he continues to build and work with our coaches, and work on the swing and be open-minded and get better as opposed to trying to be comfortable, then he will become what he can become earlier than not.”
The waters were choppy for Rogers after he cruised in his two previous outings with one run and five hits over 15 innings. He threw a season-high 104 pitches today and allowed eight hits, walked two batters and struck out six. His ERA held at 1.44.
"We’re starting to expect that," Mansolino said. "He’s still reestablishing himself in the big leagues right now. He established himself in ‘21, and because of injuries and things that he went through, he lost his footing here a little bit. We’re watching him every day kind of get back to the profile and the guy that he was. The way this level is, the way this division is, it’s really hard. We are incredibly optimistic about him, but we also know we’ve got a long way to go, and we’re going to need him to do the same thing next year."
“I was saying it before, it’s not like we expect it but now like we’re starting to kind of say like, ‘OK, Trevor, you need to give us six, seven, eight innings every time,'" Mayo said.
"The game the other day in Chicago was unbelievable. I think the game was an hour and 40 minutes (1:49). He’s that type of a pitcher, and I’ve been saying it all year in Triple-A, he looks really, really good and there was just a few things he wanted to clean up before he got up here, and he’s done a lot better than I think a lot of people thought he could be, and maybe even himself. Maybe he’s surprised himself. But he’s a really good pitcher and when he’s on the mound, you know we’re gonna get a good outing, and we just want to give him some runs, as well.”
Trea Turner drew a leadoff walk in the first, Kyle Schwarber grounded into a double play, Bryce Harper singled and Nick Castellanos struck out on a 94.3 mph fastball. Edmundo Sosa singled with two outs in the second and Weston Wilson struck out looking at a four-seamer. Turner tripled with one out in the third after center fielder Dylan Carlson attempted a diving catch, but Rogers struck out Schwarber on a changeup and retired Harper on a ground ball. Harrison Bader reached on an infield single with one out in the fourth and another strikeout followed, this time a 2-2 sinker that froze Otto Kemp.
Grit also can get a pitcher through a start.
The Phillies finally broke through in the fifth on a leadoff walk to Wilson, single by Rafael Marchán – the last two batters in the order – and Turner’s soft single into center. Schwarber struck out again on a changeup, Harper grounded into a force and Henderson made a nice backhand stop and throw to retire Castellanos.
That grit again.
"He made the big pitches when he needed," Mansolino said.
Kemp singled with one out in the sixth and Rogers retired Sosa on a popup to win an 11-pitch battle. Wilson lined a single into center, Mansolino stuck with Rogers while two relievers warmed, and the switch-hitting Marchán grounded out.
"This outing was huge for me," Rogers said. "Couldn’t tell you how many times they stuck it to me when I was in Miami. To go six solid innings with one-run baseball and get out of some tough jams and really give our team a chance after that three- or four-run inning there. This was huge for me. Honestly, not just for me, but for the team, we’ve been scuffling a little bit. I was just glad we were able to pull out a win there."
Rogers credits the mental skills training that he's performed the past few months for preparing him to handle these situations.
"Really just able to just keep my composure and not let the moment get too big and really focus on executing a pitch," he said. "Let them beat me, because there’s been a lot of times in the past where I’ve beat myself, and I wasn’t trying to let that happen today."
Rogers was 1-6 with a 6.71 ERA and 1.682 WHIP in 11 career starts against the Phillies before today.
“One hundred percent, it’s kind of like icing on the cake," he said. "But you know, they’ve had my number for a while and finally just a little bit of payback and pull out a win there against a really good lineup. It’s really good for me personally and something I’ll continue to build off.”
The Orioles didn’t put a runner in scoring position last night until two outs in the ninth inning. Colton Cowser doubled today with two outs in the second, moving Rutschman to third, but Carlson flied out. Cowser was 2-for-20 before the at-bat. Carlson went 0-for-4 today and is hitless in his last 28 at-bats.
Alex Jackson doubled with one out in the seventh and scored on Jackson Holliday’s single for a 5-1 lead. Jackson’s first nine hits with the Orioles are for extra bases, a modern day record for any player with a new team, per STATS.
Suárez has 10 starts this season with one earned run allowed or fewer. He exceeded three only twice before today.
With the outcome hinging on the results of a remade bullpen, left-hander Dietrich Enns gave up a leadoff double to Turner in the seventh and struck out Schwarber, Harper and Castellanos. He came back out for the eighth, retired the side in order and struck out two more batters.
Keegan Akin was handed the ninth in his third straight appearance and got a game-ending double play after a walk.
The Orioles hadn't used multiple left-handers in a game without a right-hander pitching since Sept. 5, 2022 with Akin, Nick Vespi and Bruce Zimmermann.
"It’s trying to keep the lefties on the bench," Mansolino said.
"It worked out. Sometimes it won’t."
Vidal Bruján became the 57th player to appear in a game for the Orioles this season when he replaced Carlson in center field and singled in the eighth. Carlson moved to right.
