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BOSTON – The Orioles waited until after yesterday’s rainout to announce their Game 2 starter. They waited until after their Game 1 loss earlier today. Too many variables, including possible bullpen usage to cover innings.
Interim manager Tony Mansolino confirmed outside the visiting clubhouse that left-hander Trevor Rogers would make his 2025 debut. It proved to be a wise decision at a time when pretty much everything seems to be going against this team.
Rogers cruised into the seventh before leaving with two runners on base, one out and the game scoreless. He allowed two hits, walked none and struck out five before Andrew Kittredge replaced him, the move coming with Rogers at 87 pitches.
Kittredge stranded the runners and Ryan O’Hearn singled with two outs in the eighth to score Gunnar Henderson. Finally, a breakthrough. A reason to feel good again. Savor these moments in a season that would rather tease and torment.
Seranthony Domínguez stranded the two runners he inherited in the eighth, allowed a leadoff home run to Abraham Toro in the ninth and notched his first save in the Orioles’ 2-1 victory over the Red Sox before an announced crowd of 34,604 at Fenway Park.
Jorge Mateo scored in the top of the ninth and almost robbed Toro of the home run. The ball was in his glove for an instant and popped out as he flipped over the fence and landed in the Red Sox bullpen. Relievers approached Mateo and got him back on his feet.
The Orioles bullpen wasn’t at full strength after five relievers pitched in Game 1. The club designated Cionel Pérez for assignment to leave two left-handers, and both appeared in the opener. Left-handed hitters were 9-for-23 (.391) with two doubles and two home runs against Domínguez before tonight, but he struck out Jarren Duran in the eighth and retired Rafael Devers on a foul popup.
“We trusted Frenchie (pitching coach Drew French) to sprinkle his magic dust on Seranthony right here, and he did, and it worked," Mansolino said. "He got him to pop up.”
Then came a tense ninth with the tying run on base at the end.
"We told Seranthony, go out in the ninth. It was his game," Mansolino said. "We didn’t necessarily have a whole lot of people down there, and we were going to give it to him one way or another.”
Dylan Carlson lined a two-out RBI double to left field in the ninth after Mateo walked and stole second base, and the Orioles improved to 17-34 with their second win in 12 games. They’re 5-16 this month.
The night meant the most to Rogers, who had a 7.11 ERA and 1.842 WHIP in four starts with the Orioles last summer and wondered if he might be done for good. It got that bad.
"It answered a lot of questions for me, a lot of self-doubt," he said. "I always knew in the back of my mind that I could help this organization and I just wanted to do my job. In the last year we all know what happened and I just came out here with a very simple mindset to try to attack hitters and execute my pitches, and things went my way. All around, we just really battled today We got the win, that’s what’s most important."
Rogers became emotional as he explained his mental anguish.
"If I could even pitch at the highest level anymore, you know?" he said. "It just felt like I was putting the work in but I kept going backward. It’s a lot of self-doubt, you know, if I need to find another career path, and that’s not a good place to be, but today was a huge step in the right direction for me, mentally. So you know, I’m just really happy with the process in general."
Rogers reported to camp with a right knee subluxation that kept him out of games and delayed his clearance to begin throwing. His numbers with Triple-A Norfolk didn’t hint at a call-up – an 8.10 ERA and 1.650 WHIP in 13 1/3 innings – but the Orioles needed a 27th man for the doubleheader and seemed hesitant to use Charlie Morton tonight and leave them searching for a Tuesday starter.
The results were fantastic. Rogers retired 19 of the first 20 hitters, with Kristian Campbell leading off the second inning with a single. He set down 16 in a row before hitting Rob Refsnyder on the foot with one out in the seventh. He was in total control.
The ground became shaky when Campbell’s fly ball fell in shallow right field, leading to the pitching change and hearty congratulations for Rogers in the dugout. Kittredge got a ground ball and a strikeout, a reminder of what the Orioles missed while he was rehabbing from knee cartilage surgery in March.
"I was really happy for Trev and really happy for the Baltimore Orioles watching him pitch," Mansolino said. "Just everything that’s surrounding him, watching him maybe struggle a little bit last year when we got him and just kind of some of the flack that the organization got for him. We just saw a guy that looked pretty good to me. It was 95-96 (mph) with a changeup and a slider at times. He made a pretty good lineup, some pretty good hitters over there, look a little bit uncomfortable."
Kittredge came back out for the eighth and gave up a leadoff single to Nick Sogard. Pinch-runner David Hamilton stole second base, Connor Wong walked, Ceddanne Rafaela flied out and Domínguez took his turn.
Rogers threw his hardest pitch as an Oriole at 95.6 mph to strike out Marcelo Mayer, the Red Sox’s No. 2 prospect who made his major league debut tonight.
"I was around that velocity in Norfolk, I really felt good about it," he said. "The whole pitching department, we really just broke down mechanics and what I can improve on to try to get my velocity back and I think we’re seeing that. I’m just really happy with where things are at right now."
How good was Rogers beyond tonight’s stats? The most scoreless innings he’s logged are seven against the Orioles on April 21, 2019, long before they traded for him at last summer’s deadline and parted with prospects Kyle Stowers and Connor Norby. He was barreling toward that mark before the hit batter and dink.
Having a healthy Kittredge at his disposal made it easier for Mansolino to pull Rogers.
The Orioles, who are starting Dean Kremer Sunday, returned Rogers to Norfolk but can recall him in fewer than 15 days because of his 27th man status. He isn’t optioned.
"It was a great night," Mansolino said. "We’ll see where this goes. There’s a lot of moving pieces right now. If there are more opportunities for him, hopefully he can continue to do what he did tonight."
“Man, that’s my first time catching him this year and super impressed," said Maverick Handley. "I think he threw the lights out of it. It was the four-seam, two-seam, both breaking balls and changeup. He was able to fill up the zone with all of it. It was awesome.”
The problem for Rogers was an inability to receive much offensive support. Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito tossed seven scoreless innings with six hits allowed.
Henderson drew a leadoff walk in the first, Emmanuel Rivera singled with one out in the second, Carlson led off the third with a single but was thrown out trying to steal. Ramón Urías and Rivera had back-to-back, two-out singles in the fourth. No one crossed the plate.
Adley Ruschman singled with one out in the sixth and O’Hearn grounded into his second double play. Heston Kjerstad walked with two outs in the seventh and was thrown out trying for third base on Mateo’s single to right. The play wasn’t close.
Handley drew a leadoff walk against Brennan Bernardino in the eighth and Luis Guerrero walked Rutschman with two outs. O’Hearn lined a 2-2 changeup into right field for a 1-0 lead.
An all-important tack-on run came later, and Kittredge had his first win as an Oriole. Mateo had a few bumps and bruises, but also caught a sinking liner to end the game. And Rogers had fewer doubts about himself.
"I think, in the back of my mind, I always knew what I could do," he said. "You go through life and life’s going to suck sometimes and you never know when it’s going to turn around, but I know for certain it’ll never turn around if I quit on myself. So I just kept putting in the work, hoping in the back of my mind that it’ll turn around. Today was a big step forward."
