ARLINGTON, Texas – The Orioles got rid of any no-hit talk tonight with Cedric Mullins’ leadoff bunt single in the top of the third inning. Jacob deGrom, the two-time Cy Young winner, wouldn’t make another run at baseball history.
Getting a run against him figured to be the more daunting task.
Gary Sánchez made sure that Gunnar Henderson wouldn’t be stranded in the fourth, barreling a 99.4 mph fastball with two outs and clearing the left field fence. Forget the shutout, too. But there wasn’t much else that the Orioles could do.
deGrom held them to two runs in six innings, and the Rangers scored three times against rookie Brandon Young in the third and twice against Matt Bowman in the fifth and sixth to set up a 10-2 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 30,933 at Globe Life Field.
The rubber game is Wednesday night and the Orioles are 4-10 in those scenarios. Their overall record is 37-48.
The Rangers also scored three times against Gregory Soto in the eighth on a hit batter, two walks, three wild pitches and Justin Foscue's two-run double. Foscue was 0-for-44, the longest dry spell in club history.
Infielder Luis Vázquez made his third relief appearance in less than two weeks and recorded the final out on one pitch to leave his ERA at 0.00 in 3 1/3 innings.
Alejandro Osuna’s first major league homer was a two-run shot off Bowman with two outs in the fifth to give Texas a 5-2 lead and set off more indoor fireworks. Adolis García kept abusing the Orioles with a two-run single in the sixth.
Young allowed three runs and six hits in four innings in his fourth major league start and second straight against the Rangers. He walked two batters, struck out four and threw 71 pitches before Bowman replaced him.
Corey Seager doubled with one out in the first, but Young retired Marcus Semien on a fly ball and struck out García on a 94.4 mph fastball. Jonah Heim doubled with one out in the second and Young retired Billy McKinney on a ground ball and struck out Ezequiel Duran on a full-count curveball.
The bottom of the third began with singles by Sam Haggerty and Josh Smith, the latter on a fly ball that fell in shallow center field. A one-out walk loaded the bases and García lined a two-run single into left. Osuna struck out on a splitter, but Heim singled to give Texas a 3-0 lead.
To Young’s credit, he buckled down again in the fourth after Sam Haggerty’s one-out walk. Josh Smith grounded into a 3-6-1 double play.
García doubled with two outs in the fifth and Osuna walloped a cutter, the ball leaving his bat at 108.9 mph. García hit a game-tying three-run homer last night in the 10th inning and had three hits and four RBIs tonight.
deGrom carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning at Camden Yards before Colton Cowser’s leadoff single. He walked Ryan O’Hearn tonight leading off the second and Mullins laid down a bunt in the third for a single. That counts as heavy traffic against deGrom.
Sánchez hit .354/.415/.646 with four home runs and 18 RBIs in 13 games last month and began July with more loud contact.
deGrom has allowed six hits or fewer and two runs or fewer in his last 14 starts, the longest stretch by a traditional starter in baseball’s modern era, excluding openers, according to STATS.
Jacob Latz, who no-hit the Orioles for six innings at Camden Yards, entered in the seventh and was greeted by back-to-back singles from Colton Cowser and Ramón Urías. But the rallied fizzled.
* Jacob Stallings made his Orioles debut in the ninth and struck out.
* Reliever Keagan Gillies, chosen to the All-Star Futures Game, is moving up from Double-A Chesapeake to Triple-A Norfolk, according to sources.
Gillies, 27, has registered a 1.15 ERA, 0.574 WHIP and eight saves in 26 games. He’s surrendered only two home runs, walked four batters and struck out 34 in 31 1/3 innings.
Baysox outfielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., who’s battled hamstring injuries, was scratched from tonight’s lineup as a precaution due to wet field conditions. He also will play in the Futures Game.
Norfolk outfielder Dylan Beavers hit his ninth home run, a three-run shot in the second inning. Tyler O’Neill went 2-for-3 with a walk.
Outfielder Stiven Martinez was removed from his Florida Complex League game with right hamstring tightness.