The Orioles pulled off a 9-5 win against the Guardians on Wednesday night at Camden Yards, and man, what a wild ride. You had to feel like this was finally the night Shane Baz would get a break, but even with a monstrous offensive explosion, it felt like we ended up with more questions than answers about our guy on the mound.
The Eighth-Run Avalanche That FINALLY Broke Through
Look, if you’ve been watching at all this season, you know Baz has been riding a struggle bus made of bad luck. This dude has been getting the least run support of any qualifying starting pitcher in all of Major League Baseball. Seriously, the *least*. And it felt like that terrible trend was gonna continue early tonight. For the second start in a row, the second batter of the game went deep on him. First it was Boston’s Mickey Gasper with a solo shot, then tonight, Cleveland’s Chase DeLauter absolutely crushed a two-run bomb. Right there, you’re thinking, “Here we go again. Baz is cooked, and the bats are probably still asleep.”
But then the bottom of the third inning happened, and holy smokes, the bats woke up and then some! Eight of the nine runs the Orioles scored came in that one inning. It was an absolute barrage: eight hits, two walks, a hit by pitch, and even a Guardians error to help things along. Leody Taveras and Carlos Narváez kicked it off with back-to-back singles. Then Foster Griffin, the Guardians pitcher, decided to throw an error on a pickoff attempt, which set up Dylan Beavers to double both runners home with a little flare that barely hit 53.4 mph off the bat but landed perfectly. Pete Alonso singled, Coby Mayo walked, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand got hit by a pitch to score another run. Jackson Holliday drove in Alonso with a single, Rece Hinds blasted an RBI sac fly to the warning track, and then Jeremiah Jackson, Leody Taveras, and Beavers all hit run-scoring singles to cap off the outburst. Eight runs, all charged to Griffin, who had previously owned the Orioles earlier this year when he was with the Nationals, allowing just one unearned run in seven innings. Talk about a reversal!
Baz Settles, Then Stumbles and the Questions Remain
With all that offense, you’d think Baz would be cruising, right? And for a bit, he was. From the second inning through the fifth, he kept the Guardians mostly quiet, allowing just one hit, one walk, and one hit by pitch, none of which threatened in the same inning. It felt like we were set to coast to a series win, a nice, easy W after that monster inning.
But of course, it’s never that simple with Baz this season. He came back out for the sixth inning, got two quick outs, and then the wheels started to wobble. He hit Travis Bazzana, then Nathaniel Lowe made him pay, crushing a 407-foot homer onto the right field flag court to cut the lead down. They left Baz in, and it didn’t get better. Angel Genao singled, and then Patrick Bailey doubled, bouncing one off the base of the right field wall to score Genao. That was finally it for Baz, and Josh Walker came in to relieve him. It’s tough, because while the team got the win, and they finally broke out for him offensively, Baz’s late-game fade leaves you wondering if he’s truly out of this funk. This win was huge for the team, but it definitely didn’t make us feel any calmer about our starting rotation’s consistency.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
Leave a Reply