Orioles Limp Toward Deadline With 14 Strikeouts In Shutout Loss To Phillies

If Orioles fans had known top baseball exec Mike Elias would be into August in his eighth season at the helm, in their penultimate game before the trade deadline, in this fashion, few would have believed it.

Yet here we were Saturday night at Camden Yards, the Orioles on the fringes of the final Wild Card spot and Philadelphia fans cheering wildly for their Phillies, and mounting intrigue about who is going to be sold off after Dean Kremer, the pitcher who toiled the most during the Elias era, was dealt late Friday night for a teenager. Elias spent the weekend making the case for why he could shed salary and sell veterans yet again, and rumors about former first-overall pick Adley Rutschman swirled ahead of first pitch.

What ended up as a 5-0 loss ensured the Orioles (54-57) will hit the deadline below .500 and they once again sleepwalked through most of a baseball game. They just don’t put the ball in play nearly enough with flaws that Elias has hardwired into their processes and philosophies and struck out 14 times. It’s the 11th time in 15 games since the All-Star break they struck out at least nine times and the fifth time in that span they struck out at least 13 times.

It’s one of the reasons Elias won’t commit to adding anything of any worth to this horribly flawed team he constructed and he’s always looking for reasons to save his boss money and deal away veterans this time of year. A team that has won more than three straight games once all season has provided him plenty of cover.

The whiffing started right away for Baltimore, and you can set your watch the first six innings of Orioles games these days – and really since June 1. The Orioles will do virtually nothing against the opponent starting pitcher, and they faced a great one Saturday in Cristopher Sanchez, and he was pristine against them. And Baltimore’s starter – unless it was Kremer - will acquit himself quite well, too.

Sanchez entered with a 13-4 record and Cy Young-worthy resume and despite rarely getting ahead of anyone he struck out nine through five innings and then struck out Gunnar Henderson (so tough on lefties) and Pete Alonso (for the third time) to notch 11 in the game. Whenever his control got him in a jam the Orioles complied with a K.

Shane Baz, who has been a workhorse for the Orioles but far more of a plow-horse than a thoroughbred, churned through the Phillies lineup Saturday, too, and nearly matched Sanchez. The extra base hits are what get him into trouble, but Baz avoided that against this slumping lineup. He’s used to getting no run support by now.

Baz wasn’t inducing a lot of swing-and-miss but he maximized his arsenal and registered a whopping 20 called strikes to aid his cause. The sinker was a weapon as well and he pitched into the seventh again and gave up just one run and may have finished that inning if Henderson didn’t boot an easy grounder ending Bryson Stott’s epic 15-pitch at bat.

Neither Team Could Break Through

The Phillies manufactured their first run the fourth with two outs, with a walk to Stott coming back to bite Baz. Stott moved to second on a groundout and scored on Bryan De La Cruz’s single. That was it until a four-run 8th for them.

"He had to go pitch for pitch with Cristopher Sanchez," rookie skipper Craig Albernaz said after the game. "... He had to step up and he did. Shane was outstanding."

Sanchez, who started the All-Star Game for the NL, meantime, absolutely toyed with this lineup with his nasty changeup, but his control alluded him after three innings and he walked five batters or more for just the second time in his career. He walked the bases loaded in the fourth before striking out Ledy Taveras to end the jam.

He gave up a single and walked two in the sixth, pushing 100 pitches, and again faces Taveras with two outs and ended up in a full count after nearly hitting Taveras in the foot – or hit the backstop with catcher JT Realmuto somehow scooping it – and then Taveras grounded out to short.

Albernaz thought his team deserved credit for the five walks off Sanchez - highly out of character for him - despite not plating a run, which is the kind of loser talk you get all the time from him. "To do that was impressive in itself," according to him.

The Orioles pen has been pristine lately but Grant Wolfram didn’t have it, walked two in the 8th and both came around to score. as Andrew Kittredge, almost certainly gone by Monday, wasn't nearly as sharp has he has been lately, allowing more than one earned run for the first time in 15 games..

Bird Seed

Newly acquired catcher Jake Rogers, considered quote strong defensively, showed great behind the plate and recorded a pick-off at first base. He has exactly the type of defensive toolkit and resume – and is at the right point in his career – to truly mentor 21-year-old catcher Samuel Basallo when he comes back from the Injured List. If Rutschman is dealt this duo will be just fine … With one game before the trade deadline - a day game after a night game at that - and Elias making his stance clear, we could see quite a lineup Sunday. Baltimore is off Monday and there’s no reason to risk injuries with players central to trade talks.

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock' On YouTube For The Most Incisive Orioles Coverage:

Add us as a preferred source on Google