Were The Bats Left At Customs?
One run and three hits were all the Baltimore Orioles’ bats could produce north of the border as the team fell by a score of 6-1 to the AL East leading Toronto Blue Jays (85-62) on Friday night. After scoring that lone run in the third inning, the Orioles managed just three walks over the next twenty-one at bats before Dylan Beavers singled with two outs in the ninth. The only threat the Birds could cause came in the sixth inning when a pair of walks put runners on first and second with one out. If the Orioles have any designs on becoming a spoiler in the AL East, going 1 for 4 with runners in scoring position is not the way to do it.
Jackson Holliday‘s one-out single scored Samuel Basallo, who had doubled to lead off the third inning.
Tyler O’Neill went 0 for 3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts in his most recent return for the IL.
Something else to keep an eye on going forward is the health of Trevor Rogers. The southpaw exited his start after 5.0 innings with “left toe discomfort”, explaining it this was after the game, “Best way to describe it is just a blister underneath the toenail. That’s just a little blood blister underneath there, and it’s just been very tough just to try to force it out of the toenail. It’s just trying to play a waiting game but also pitch every five or six days and not irritate it, so it’s just kind of that back-and-forth game. So get after it in the training room tomorrow, and there’s only so much we can do. But I shouldn’t see this affecting my next start at all.” If true, that is good news with just fifteen games remaining in the 2025 season.
Rogers allowed 1 unearned run and 3 hits with 4 walks and 6 strikeouts. The run came in the fifth inning when Colton Cowser misplayed a two-out Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single, allowing Davis Schneider to score from first and Guerrero Jr. to advance to second .
The Baltimore bullpen suffered a letdown, especially when viewed in the light of its recent successes. Dietrich Enns (3-3) lasted just 1.1 innings in relief of Rogers and was tagged with the loss after allowing 2 runs on 3 hits with a walk. Enns allowed a two-out run in the sixth inning and left the game after issuing an intentional walk to Guerrero Jr., putting runners at first and second with one out in the seventh.
Shawn Dubin relieved Enns and allowed a two-out RBI single before ending the seventh; that run was attributed to Enns’ line.
A two-RBI double with two outs by Dalton Varsho and a RBI single by Guerrero Jr. in the eighth hung a line of 3 runs allowed on 4 hits with a walk and 1 strikeout.
Baltimore pitching had no answer for Guerrero Jr. as the Toronto first baseman reached base every at bat, going 3 for 3 with 1 RBI and 2 walks. Myles Straw continued to torment the Orioles, going 2 for 3 with a double, 1 run scored, 1 RBI and a walk. Straw is slashing .444 (8 for 18)/ .474/ .722 with 7 RBI versus the Orioles this season.
Hopefully the bats clear customs in time for Saturday’s game as they will be needed against Toronto’s probable starter and future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer.
2025 Record: 69-78
Next Game: Sat. 9/13 @ 3:07 pm vs. Blue Jays in Toronto