The Orioles’ strategy for beating the heat wasn’t sustainable, but they had a solid plan for winning a game.

How does a team prepare for a first-pitch temperature of 100 degrees?

“By being inside,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino.

The Orioles didn’t hit this afternoon or plan on taking batting practice before the next two games. But they eventually had to face the oppressive conditions, as well as the Rangers, and try to rebound from back-to-back losses in the Bronx.

The option to not hit would be lifted at 6:35 p.m. and Jackson Holliday went to work by driving in the Orioles' first four runs to support Trevor Rogers, who kept his cool with eight magnificent, scoreless innings in a 6-0 victory before an announced crowd of 13,929 at Camden Yards.

Rogers made his second career start at Camden Yards and allowed only three hits, with no walks and four strikeouts against an entirely right-handed lineup. He retired 17 of the first 18 batters he faced, including 14 in a row before Sam Haggerty’s infield single with two outs in the sixth. He mixed pitches, had good velocity and stacked outs.

"He was gonna need the changeup against a right-handed lineup," Mansolino said. "That was kind of a prerequisite for the night. And in the first inning he threw a couple and you thought, ‘OK, this is gonna be OK tonight.’ But then just the way the fastball jumped through the zone tonight, that was impressive. I think it was in the eighth inning there were some 95s up on the board. To carry that velocity through the eighth inning on a 130 degree night, super impressive. Sweeper/slider thing was another gear down from that, so three different speeds. Just really good.”

The eight innings are a career high and he left to a standing ovation. Kyle Bradish was the last Orioles pitcher to complete eight in the regular season on Sept. 26, 2023 against the Nationals.

Holliday inflated an early cushion with a three-run homer off left-hander Patrick Corbin in the fifth inning for a 4-0 lead. The four RBIs tied his career high from grand slams on July 31, 2024 and April 16, 2025.

Rogers threw 35 pitches, 26 strikes, through the first two innings and was clocked at 96.3 mph - his fastest since April 2, 2023 - 96.1, 96 and 95.2 (twice). He needed only five pitches to dispose of the Rangers in the third.

"I mean, the innings kind of got easier as he went on," Mansolino said. "Those first two innings he threw a lot of pitches it felt like. I told (major league development coach) Grant Anders, who was sitting next to me, ‘We need a quick inning right here and he’s gonna be just fine,’ and it was the first 1-2-3 inning, and then he kind of rolled from there. When it’s that type of temperature, it’s hard to expect the starter to stay in through the eighth, and pretty impressive.”

Wyatt Langford followed Haggerty’s infield hit in the sixth with a line drive single to left, but Marcus Semien flied out on Rogers’ 82^nd pitch. The Rangers went down in order in the seventh on only six pitches, allowing Rogers to return for the eighth and do it again on 13.

The rotation had one quality start in the last 11 games. Rogers’ only start with seven shutout innings before tonight was on April 21, 2021 against the Orioles, and he had more in the tank against the Rangers.

"To be honest, I don’t even really think about how long I go, how short I go," he said. "I just focus on pitch execution, and if I go long that day, I know I’m doing my job. And if I go a little bit shorter, it’s just the way the game goes. Really, I was pumped to be out there in the eighth. First time, I think, in my career that I went that far. But the game plan didn’t change in the eighth inning. Really just focusing on executing, that’s it."

This is a different Trevor Rogers from the guy who came over in the Marlins trade last summer and was optioned after posting a 7.11 ERA in four starts. And who reported to spring training with a knee injury.

This was the Rogers who shut out the Red Sox over 6 1/3 innings as the 27th man in a May 24 doubleheader. Certainly not the pitcher who returned in Tampa on Wednesday and allowed three runs and five hits with three walks in 2 1/3 innings. He deserved a mulligan.

"He was throwing 88 last year at some point," Mansolino said. "That’s 95 in the eighth inning 100 pitches deep. In a strange way, the (second) one, the bad outing the other day, for me that’s just a product of a guy that’s been in the big leagues for a while, he’s fighting for his life a little bit, get out to an eight-run lead and then he nibbles a little bit. Unfavorable conditions. It’s his first start back after the Boston one.

"And I think in those scenarios for most pitchers, I think that their mentality is usually, ‘I’m gonna throw six innings and give up four,’ and then it usually turns into throwing seven and giving up zero in an 8-0 game. But I think because of what he’s been through, he’s fighting for his life to stay here, so there’s pressure and he’s nibbling and he feels like if he goes 5 1/3 it might not be enough. And I think that’s a normal thing for guys who kind of go up and down a little bit. So I think what we saw in Boston, what we saw tonight, I think that’s gonna be more what it’s gonna be like than what we saw in Tampa.”

"It was really just simplifying my approach," said Rogers, who earned his first win since July 26, 2024. "Anytime it came to two strikes, really just focused on executing the pitch, nothing else. I think Tampa, I got a little bit away from that with two strikes and really just kind of simplified my thought process and we were back to where we want to be.

"That was probably the most frustrating thing for me last year is I knew deep down what I could do for this organization, and I wasn’t doing it. I just put too much pressure on myself and self-doubt crept in and a bunch of other things. But I look back now and thankful for that. Really, I had to take a hard look in the mirror and figure some things out and just get better. I think the Orioles did an unbelievable job as far as the plan in place. Obviously, I didn’t understand the plan at the time when getting sent down, but I think we had a long-term plan here, and I think it’s finally coming to fruition."

Corbin retired the first eight batters before back-to-back doubles by Chadwick Tromp and Holliday in the third inning created a 1-0 lead. romp got his first hit with the Orioles. Holliday had another left-on-left conquest.

They were the only Orioles to reach until Coby Mayo’s bloop single into right field with one out in the fifth. Cedric Mullins lined a single into right, Tromp struck out and Holliday deposited a sinker into the bullpen for his ninth home run. His 32 RBIs are second on the team to Mullins’ 35.

He also singled in the eighth to come within a triple of the cycle.

“Pretty neat," Mansolino said of the home run. "After that swing, I told whoever was standing next to me, I was like, ‘This is your leadoff hitter, at least for the next five years.’ Left- or right-handed, I don't think this kid goes anywhere else in the lineup. I took him out of the leadoff spot against (Tarik) Skubal. I don't think I'll ever do that. I think he's probably staying there, barring something unforeseen. But he's getting to the point where he’s getting more neutral.

"I was looking at his splits today, his left-handed splits today, and they're not bad. They're definitely going up. He's 21 years old and it's like, Coby smoked the ball in right-center today. It's a different part of the field, but it's the point being the oppo gap. Coby’s got massive power and I don't even know if it hit the warning track with how thick the air was tonight, and the ball wasn't really carrying. Jackson hits one to the other gap, the other opposite field, and it went over the wall. When you compare that to Coby, that's pretty impressive.”

Holliday gladly will stay atop the order.

"It’s really cool, really cool to hear that," he said. "It means a lot to have his trust and to be able to lead off for such a great team and hopefully set the tone for a while." 

Left-handers were batting .194/.267/.358 before today against Corbin, who was charged with five runs and nine hits in five-plus innings and has a 7.27 ERA in six starts at Camden Yards.

"It’s been encouraging lately to be able to face some really good left-handed pitching and have some success," Holliday said. "Yeah, it’s definitely encouraging to put some good at-bats against good lefties."

The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth and settled for one run on Mayo’s ground ball off former Baltimore reliever Jacob Webb. Colton Cowser had a bunt single. They loaded the bases again in the seventh, with a Dane Dunning changeup hitting Gary Sánchez on the right hand, and Ramón Urías followed with sacrifice fly.

The day began with the Orioles putting backup catcher Maverick Handley on the seven-day concussion list, the 22^nd time that they’ve used the IL. Catcher Adley Rutschman was lost over the weekend with an oblique strain. Infielder Jordan Westburg is day-to-day with a sprained finger that could make him unavailable until the next series.

“There’s no self-loathing, there’s no feeling sorry for yourself,” Mansolino said this afternoon. “We’ve won plenty of games here recently not being at full strength. I just think it’s kind of the next-man-up mentality that we see across all sports. I don’t think it’s abnormal, and I think these guys are resilient.

“It’s been really unfortunate. I think it’s got to be historical in some ways, some of the injuries, but so be it. We still need to win.”

They did, getting back to 10 games below .500 at 34-44 and improving to 8-15 against left-handed starters, 15-5 against the Rangers in the regular season since the start of 2022 and 19-8 since 2021. Tonight marked their third shutout. 

And it came on the hottest game at Camden Yards since Sept. 29, 2012, per STATS.

* The Orioles set the franchise record by drawing a walk in 156 consecutive games.