The Orioles are looking forward to an off day. They are also looking forward to moving on from the toughest part of their schedule.
After the Padres series, the Orioles have the sixth easiest schedule going forward, making their postseason stretch run a little less difficult on them. Before then, they had to play San Diego, who needs to play almost perfect ball to get into the postseason picture.
Suffice to say, the Padres downed the Orioles in the final two games after Grayson Rodriguez shut them down in the first one.
The series loss makes the Birds 3-3 on their West Coast trip, with a three-game set with Oakland ahead. They are now two games up on the Rays as they go into their off day.
Let’s take a look at how this series played out.
GAME 1: O’s 4, SD 1
The Orioles’ youth was on display in the opener of the series. Grayson Rodriguez continues to show how valuable he is to the Orioles and their starting rotation.
Making his sixth start since being recalled to the big league club, Rodriguez continued his growth and fooled the Padres all night. Going seven innings for the first time in his big league career, Rodriguez (W, 3-3) yielded three hits and a walk, allowing just one run and striking out six.
As the Orioles roll down the stretch, Rodriguez could be the difference-maker. His last six starts have shown why Rodriguez was the majors’ top-ranked pitcher before graduating prospect status.
Rodriguez’s last six starts: 35.2 innings, 3.03 ERA, 30 strikeouts, 11 walks, .195 average against
Offensively, Ryan O’Hearn hit his 10th home run to get the scoring started. In the fifth, the Birds would load the bases for former top prospect Gunnar Henderson, and he would lace an opposite field double to clear the bases and give the O’s a 4-0 lead.
Jacob Webb (H, 7) and Félix Bautista (S, 32) shut it down the rest of the way as the Birds would win 4-1.
GAME 2: O’s 3, SD 10
Jack Flaherty was making his third start for the Orioles, and it got bad really quick. The former Cardinal struggled through the first, as he gave up five runs, then allowed two more in the second to put the Birds in a deep hole early.
Flaherty lasted just three innings, allowing four hits and four walks, which led to seven runs.
Nick Vespi pitched two innings, allowing three runs and giving the Padres a 10-0 lead before the O’s would scratch across a run. Shintaro Fujinami and Mike Baumann pitched a scoreless inning each, and cather James McCann pitched a scoreless ninth to help the bullpen out.
Gunnar Henderson, Cedric Mullins and Austin Hays all had RBIs to help the O’s score three times, but it was too late.
O’Hearn, Mullins and Hays (HR, 11) all had two hits, and the offense totaled 11 hits all together. But it wasn’t enough, as the Orioles would drop the game 10-3.
GAME 3: O’s 2, SD 5
Dean Kremer was sent out to pitch the rubber match, and the Orioles jumped out quickly to a 1-0 lead thanks to an Anthony Santander sacrifice fly.
Kremer didn’t pitch poorly, though he struggled in the third when he allowed three runs. His final line was six innings, allowing five hits, two walks (both scored) and three runs.
Though Kremer (L, 11-5) took the loss, he did have a quality start and left with the Orioles down 3-2 after a Ryan Mountcastle solo home run.
Unfortunately, the Orioles scored only two runs and picked up just two hits after the sixth inning.
Fujinami allowed two runs in 0.2 innings of work, one run scoring after a Cionel Pérez throwing error and a Fernando Tatis Jr. straight steal of home.
Webb worked a perfect eighth inning to finish the game as the Orioles would drop the game 5-2 and lose the series.
BATTERY ❌-FACTOR
This series was laid solely on the starting pitching, which was why they were dubbed the BATTERY ❌-FACTOR.
With two quality starts from the O’s starters, it was easy to think that the Birds would take the series. Unfortunately, the offense was unable to come through on their end, and an overworked bullpen contributed to the series loss.
For the series, the starters were 1-2, Rodriguez picking up the lone win, while both Kremer and Rodriguez picked up quality starts.
Unfortunately, the starters gave up a combined 11 runs in 13 innings of work for a 6.19 ERA for the series. Though they had one bad start, the starting pitching was a crucial part of the series being lost.
The Orioles will have a day off tomorrow before heading to Oakland to open a three-game series against the A’s.
Will the Birds feast on the lowly athletics, or will the A’s play spoiler and try to dampen the Orioles’ playoff run? Tune in Friday as it all goes down in Oakland.
What do you think of this series loss to San Diego? Let us know in the comments below! Make sure to follow The Baltimore Battery on Facebook, Twitter and TikTok, and use the hashtag #baltimorebattery when sharing our content!
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