Any hopes that the Orioles would use the late-game plunking of Gunnar Henderson on Saturday to propel themselves to victory in the series finale went unanswered. The offense was largely impotent in a 5-2 rubber match loss on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards.
Let’s start with the things that went well because it’s a pretty short list. In fact, it might just be one item: Trevor Rogers.
Rogers had another nice outing. Over six innings he allowed just two runs on five hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. It was the sort of start we grew accustomed to in 2025. The lefty didn’t load up on strikeouts—although his 30% whiff rate was solid—but instead induced oodles of weak contact. Over his last four starts Rogers has reduced his ERA by more than a run, from 6.96 going into May 29 to 5.86 now. Progress!
The only two runs that San Diego scored against Rogers came in the second inning. Samad Taylor led off with an infield single, moved to second on a ground out, stayed there while a teammate struck out, and then came in to score on an unorthodox Rodolfo Durán double. It was a two “bagger” in the literal sense, bouncing off of the second base bag, lofting over the second baseman Jeremiah Jackson into the shallow outfield and leaving the O’s defense scrambling. Fernando Tatis Jr. cashed in on the oddity with a normal single into center field, scoring Durán for an early 2-0 lead.
There were some good signs for the Orioles on offense. They had 10 hits—two more than the Padres—and had plenty of traffic on the bases. But much like their loss on Saturday, many of those runners were left stranded. The team went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left eight runners on base.
It took until the fifth inning for the O’s to get on the board. That run came via a solo homer off Jackson’s bat, his seventh of the year and first since April 30. That’s quite a drought, but somewhat understandable given his lack of playing time since the return of Jackson Holliday.
Rico Garcia was the first name out of Craig Albernaz’s bullpen. It was an interesting choice since Garcia has often been the team’s go-to arm in the highest of leverage situations, which this seventh inning was not. But it’s possible that, in the midst of a tough stretch for Garcia, the manager was simply hoping to get him a little confidence against the bottom of the Padres order. Unfortunately, it would not work that way.
Garcia walked the first batter he faced, got a strikeout, and then allowed a two run bomb to Durán, making it a 4-1 lead for San Diego. Garcia has now allowed five runs (four earned) across his last four appearances. His ERA in June is 8.31.
The Orioles clawed one run back in the bottom of the inning with their lone hit with runners in scoring position. Blaze Alexander opened the inning with a double into left field, and then came in to score on a Henderson single to right. The score improved to 4-2 at the moment, but the O’s would get no closer.
Mason Miller came on with two outs in the eighth inning and shut down any chance of an Orioles comeback. He struck out three of the four batters he faced to wrap up a series win for the visiting Padres.
The final score would end up 5-2 because of some hideous defense on the Orioles part in the top of the ninth inning. The lead off hitter in the inning reached base on a fielding error from Henderson. After a strikeout to Jase Bowen, Durán hit a bouncer up the middle that Holliday flubbed. Henderson collected the ball and fired a wild throw wide of first base, allowing a runner to scoot over to third base. The O’s nearly got out of trouble when a line drive to right field was caught by Alexander and fired home to throw out the runner there. But a Padres challenge got the call overturned and widen the gap back to three runs.
It was a fittingly ugly end to a poor couple of days for the Orioles. The only solace may be that there were no bean balls or intentional hit by pitches. The only tense moment came when Padres starter Walker Buehler and O’s outfield Leody Taveras exchanged words after a Taveras fly out. It’s unclear what was going on there, but nothing much came of it.
This is probably just how it’s going to be for this team. They will quickly oscillate between inspiring and putrid from day to day unless some of their “stars” become more dependably amazing. Don’t hold your breath.
The Orioles now head to Seattle for a series that begins on Tuesday at 9:40. We just saw those guys! Brandon Young (5-1, 3.04 ERA) is expected start Game 1 against Logan Gilbert (4-4, 3.62 ERA). Enjoy the off day, everyone.
