ATLANTA – The last time the Orioles swept an opponent, Trevor Rogers was still pitching for Triple-A Norfolk.
At the time, Rogers had just one big league start in 2025. It came against the Red Sox in late May, with 6 ⅓ innings of shutout baseball.
Who knew if the lefty could make that dominant start a habit?
He’s done just that, and today, he led the Orioles to a sweep of the Atlanta Braves. Today, the O’s came out on top 2-1.
Rogers was dominant throughout the contest, with the Braves’ first runner in scoring position coming in the bottom of the fifth inning. He struck out six and induced weak contact, both of the ground ball and fly out variety.
Baltimore’s offense didn’t need to push too many runs across with Rogers on the mound, but Jackson Holliday didn’t get the memo.
Holliday got the scoring started with a two-run home run in the top of the third inning. It was his second hit of the day after a high fly ball found some grass in the first, matching his hit total from the previous four games. He went on to record two more, including a double.
The sixth inning was the next sign of life from the O’s offense. But with runners on second and third and just one away, All-Star starter Ryan O’Hearn struck out, and Ramón Urías did the same. Holliday’s home run was the only damage surrendered by Braves’ starter Grant Holmes through six.
Jurickson Profar collected his second hit of the contest in the sixth inning, the only Brave that found much success against Rogers. But the lefty found another double play, the second of the game for the O’s, and he was through six scoreless innings again.
Another six scoreless marked the third time that Rogers has completed at least six scoreless innings this season. He’s only made five starts.
In the seventh, Atlanta nearly put a run on the board. Sean Murphy hit a ball about as far to right as possible without it going out, ricocheting off the top of the wall and back into play. He had to settle for a double, though, and Rogers kept him at third after two more outs.
The lefty exited after yet another gem, tossing 6 ⅔ innings and leaving one runner on third. Yennier Cano recorded the final out of the inning, and Rogers’ line was closed. He allowed just four hits, struck out six and walked two.
Holliday once again put the O’s in a good position in the eighth. After Jacob Stallings reached on a bloop single to right, the second baseman hit a double down the line to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Ramón Laureano and Gunnar Henderson couldn’t bring them home, and after an O’Hearn intentional walk, Urías couldn’t convert either.
Excellent pitching can mask some offensive woes, though.
Cano recorded the first two outs of the bottom of the eighth, but with a runner on second and Matt Olson in the batter's box, Gregory Soto entered the game. And after falling behind 3-0, Soto threw four consecutive sinkers for the strikeout. Another crisis averted.
After pitching for two straight days, though, Félix Bautista wasn't available for the ninth. That meant Seranthony Domínguez got the ball, despite the right-hander being unavailable the last two days with back discomfort.
Domínguez struck out Riley, but surrendered a solo home run to Murphy, who was inches away from a homer back in the seventh. It was just of the solo variety, though, and Baltimore clung to their 2-1 lead. Ozzie Albies punished a splitter that found too much of the plate for a sharp single down the line, and all of a sudden, the winning run was at the plate.
Drake Baldwin, the winning run, struck out. Two away. Michael Harris II came to the dish. Groundout, ballgame, sweep.
The win was the O’s 40th of the season, and it left the Braves stuck on 39 victories for the weekend. Both teams entered the season with high expectations, and both have underperformed. In Atlanta, though, the Orioles seemed to separate themselves from the two similar clubs.
“They’re dangerous looking lineups,” Mansolino said last night. “You see, at times, they’ve probably both struggled a little bit more than we’d like. There’s some starters on their side that they probably have healthier than ours. But both teams have some really good starters that have gone down and gotten hurt and both teams are fighting for their lives and playing with a ton of urgency, a lot of desperation right now on both sides. Yeah, a lot of similarities.”
The Orioles return home for a series against the New York Mets, who were scuffling a bit to end June but were winners of four straight entering their contest with the Yankees this afternoon.
Two more series for the O’s to make some noise before the All-Star break.