The Orioles have shied away from drafting pitchers in the first round under Mike Elias. The team recently acquired and extended a former first-round starter in Shane Baz, but Baltimore has opted time and time again to prioritize position players in the draft. Tonight’s opponent—the Texas Rangers—used top 10 picks on a pair of starters in 2021 and 2022. The Orioles faced the higher of the two draft picks tonight.
Former number two overall pick Jack Leiter held Baltimore to two runs over six strong
innings. Leiter made an early mistake against Gunnar Henderson, but he minimized hard contact for the duration of his outing. Baltimore’s offense failed to build on Sunday’s strong offensive performance, and the Birds fell 5-2 in the first of three games at Camden Yards.
The Orioles built their rotation through trades and free agency. Baltimore inked Chris Bassitt to a one-year, $18.5 million deal, and the 37-year-old made his Oriole debut tonight against Texas. Bassitt took the loss after allowing four earned runs over 4.1 innings.
Bassitt ran into trouble right out of the gate. The former Blue Jay allowed a leadoff single to Brandon Nimmo, and Wyatt Langford beat out an infield hit after an assist from instant replay. Corey Seager advanced both runners with a soft ground out to second base, and Bassitt made his first true mistake after his next pitch.
Bassitt generated a comebacker that could have been a rally killer, but the righty failed to make another quality throw to home plate. The starter had Nimmo dead to rights, but he spiked a comically bad throw that allowed the leadoff hitter to score.
Bassitt recovered by striking out Joc Pederson and retiring Josh Jung, and Henderson picked him up in the bottom of the frame. Leiter fell behind 2-0 before grooving a middle-middle fastball to Baltimore’s shortstop. Henderson jumped at the pitch and sent the ball 410 feet to dead center. Just like that, the score was event at one.
Bassitt wasted no time relinquishing the lead for the second time. He allowed a leadoff double to Evan Carter before walking Kyle Higashioka. Nimmo struck again with his second single in as many innings to provide Texas a 2-1 advantage. Higashioka advanced to third on a fly out by Langford, and Bassitt loaded the bases with a free pass to Seager. Jake Burger increased the early lead with a base hit up the middle, and Pederson drove in the Rangers’ fourth run with a sacrifice fly to left field.
Bassit allowed base runners in the third and fourth innings but managed to post a pair of zeros. He issued a leadoff walk in the fifth inning, and exited after striking out Jung. His final line read 4.1 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. He threw 61 of 100 pitches for strikes.
Orioles fans may have some concern after watching Charlie Morton and Kyle Gibson fall off a cliff, but Bassitt deserves more than one start before we all press the panic button. The veteran was not sharp in his Camden Yards debut, but he’ll have an opportunity to make a stronger second impression next week.
Dietrich Enns and Rico Garcia kept the Orioles in it with impressive performances out of the bullpen. Enns struck out four batters over 1.2 innings, and Garcia blanked three over two clean frames.
Baltimore cut the deficit in half with a run in the fifth. Colton Cowser got things started with an infield single, and Blaze Alexander moved him into scoring position with a base hit up the middle. Cowser advanced to third on a flyout by Ward, and Henderson drove in Baltimore’s only other run with a sharp single up the middle.
Baltimore’s best chance to even the score came in the bottom of the eighth. Ward and Alonso singled to put the tying run on base with one out. Unfortunately, Adley Rutschman lined out to center and Tyler O’Neill produced a harmless grounder to end the threat.
Tyler Wells continued his rocky start to the season with an earned run in the ninth inning. The former starter allowed a one-out double to Burger before allowing consecutive singles to Andrew McCutchen and Josh Smith.
Pinch hitters Jeremiah Jackson and Ryan Mountcastle failed to generate a rally in the ninth inning.
The Orioles will look to climb back above .500 with Zach Eflin on the mound tomorrow at 6:35 p.m.
