The Orioles did not get swept by the White Sox. They decided to try something different in the series finale, getting a good outing from the starting pitcher, a respectable amount of offense, and a clean game on defense. They would be higher up in the standings if they got this more often. On Wednesday afternoon, it was the recipe for a 6-1 victory to avoid the sweep. It’s better than if they’d lost, but there is, of course, a lot of work still to do.
Early in the game, the signs were there of this
thing going in a different direction. Starting pitcher Dean Kremer returned from the injured list to make the start after an absence of nearly two and a half months. He allowed a home run on the second pitch he threw. The Orioles trailed immediately in the game, down 1-0 as soon as rookie leadoff man Sam Antonacci finished rounding the bases.
This did not turn out to be the start of a disastrous return for Kremer. He retired the next 11 batters he faced and, with a little help from his friends, even once that streak came to an end, he still kept the White Sox off the board. Kremer’s 11-in-a-row was interrupted with two outs in the fourth inning as outfielder Braden Montgomery came maybe one inch away from hitting a home run. Montgomery hit a fly ball that bounced off the back edge of the right-center field fence padding, close enough that the Sox insisted on a crew chief review to check if this was actually a home run. It wasn’t.
Kremer walked the next batter, Jacob Gonzalez. An ongoing problem for Orioles pitchers this year has been getting that last out to stop a two-out rally from getting out of hand. That was nearly the story again on Wednesday, as Chase Meidroth slashed a line drive the other way towards right field. Tyler O’Neill got a good jump, gave chase, and made a great diving catch to stop Chicago from adding on more runs. No, really, O’Neill did something good. More on that in a moment.
Chicago’s leadoff man reached in the fifth inning. That was Tristan Peters, who hit a single. Helpfully for the Orioles, the White Sox made the tactically poor decision to have shortstop Luisangel Acuña drop an attempted sacrifice bunt. Acuña wasn’t good at it, with Kremer throwing out Peters at second base. Acuña compounded his negative contribution by attempting to steal second base, during which he was thrown out as Adley Rutschman made an excellent throw. Rutschman has now thrown out 15 of 40 runners this year. That’s a 37.5% rate, absolutely elite stuff.
Through all of this, the Orioles offense mustered zero hits. They had nothing to show through the first four innings of the game except for three walks. Better to have the three walks than not, but still. Sheesh. Get some hits!
It was O’Neill who broke the no-hitter before anyone really had to start wondering, “Geez, what if this White Sox pitcher who brought an over 5 ERA into the game throws a no-hitter?” Noah Schultz, a recent top 30ish prospect in the game, also returned from the injured list for this start. Schultz is notable for being 6’10” but more relevant to facing the Orioles, is left-handed. That’s their curse this year.
Schultz threw O’Neill a sweeper that didn’t quite sweep enough. The Canada native did not miss on Canada Day, blasting a mammoth home run 430 feet to left field to tie the game at 1-1.
Within three batters, Schultz’s day was done. The last two he faced were Jackson Holliday and Blaze Alexander, who walked and singled, respectively. Chicago turned to reliever Bryan Hudson to stop the rally. Instead, the Orioles continued the conga line around the bases. Gunnar Henderson added a single to load the bases with one out. Another curse for the Orioles this year, at times, is performance with the bases loaded. Could they write a different story today?
The answer turned out to be yes. Following Henderson, Rutschman hit a line drive that went out to the outfield so fast that there was no opportunity for any runner to advance more than 90 feet. This gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead, one that, it turned out, would be enough to win the game. Thankfully, they kept scoring anyway. Taylor Ward added a sacrifice fly, after which Chicago changed pitchers again. The next reliever, Trevor Rogers, brought home a fourth Orioles run as he hurled a wild pitch. You may note that this means the Orioles scored all three runners after first loading the bases with one out. They should try that more often.
Staked to a three-run lead, Kremer gave up a single to the first Sox batter he faced before retiring the next three in order. Though he wasn’t at a high pitch count, the Orioles did not push him beyond six innings in his first start back from the injured list. Kremer’s final line with 79 pitches thrown was six innings with one run allowed on four hits and a walk. Chicago did not score again after their first batter of the game.
Alexander delivered an RBI triple for the fifth Orioles run, and later on, Leody Taveras homered for the third time this season to set the score at its 6-1 final. The O’s had the same number of hits in the game as they did walks, and they made a good showing out of their scoring chances. As we know, this is not guaranteed this year.
Even though the Orioles had a five-run lead, they were warming up closer Ryan Helsley to pitch the ninth inning just to get him an inning of work to keep him from getting rusty. Helsley never made it into the game. His warmup tosses were shut down and MASN cameras showed him sitting back down in the bullpen, holding his right elbow area ominously. After the game, manager Craig Albernaz said there was elbow discomfort. Helsley will get checked out further. That’s a sour lingering taste from a nice win.
The 40-48 Orioles have a day off on Thursday before resuming their season in Cincinnati for a 4th of July weekend series against the Reds. Trevor Rogers and Brady Singer are currently listed as the scheduled starting pitchers for the 7:10 Friday opening game of the series.
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It has been a tradition for many years on Camden Chat to nominate a Most Birdland Player of the game after every victory. What does “Most Birdland” mean? Each person must search themselves and decide. In some cases, this is the game’s most valuable player. In other cases, it does not. Give us your pick in the comments below.
