BALTIMORE -- Orioles right-hander Brandon Young is venturing into new territory down the stretch of the 2026 season.
And while Thursday’s start in a 4-1 loss to the Angels was far from a clear sign of fatigue, it was a reminder of just how much Baltimore needs to keep the 27-year-old rolling down the stretch to remain in postseason contention.
Young went 4 1/3 innings in his shortest outing since going 3 2/3 innings on May 17 against the Nationals, with all three of his runs allowed coming on Zach Neto’s third-inning shot to right-center.
That was enough to prevent the Orioles from earning a fifth series sweep and pulling into a tie with the idle Rangers for the third AL Wild Card spot.
Baltimore, one of five teams within 1 1/2 games of Texas, begins a series there on Friday.
“It was just a frustrating outing overall,” Young said. “I made a lot of pitches in the second. Got back in the dugout and was a little gassed. And [I] didn’t do a good job of landing offspeed [pitches] early.”
In his previous start, Young allowed four runs over 5 1/3 frames against the Phillies to open this six-game homestand.
Those seven runs in two outings tied a season-high for earned runs allowed in consecutive starts, set twice previously. And while Young (8-3) is still carrying an impressive 3.43 ERA, this speed bump also comes in the context of an unprecedented workload.
His 107 2/3 Major League innings worked are well above his 2025 Orioles total, and when you add his work at Triple-A, Young has pitched 124 1/3 innings in 2026, surpassing his career high of 111 innings in 2024.
“I think today was an anomaly, just with velo and how I was feeling,” Young said. “It was just sort of what it was. But I think the velo has been up for the past month or so. ... I haven’t thrown this much [before], but I feel really good about it.”
Yohel Pozo homered in Baltimore’s only run on a day the Orioles had oddly few scoring chances considering the traffic they generated against Ryan Johnson and four Angels relievers.
With four hits and eight walks, they finished only 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position while also literally running into trouble. Dylan Beavers was thrown out trying to steal second in the third inning. And Gunnar Henderson interrupted Baltimore’s potential fourth RISP at-bat in the eighth when he hesitated trying to score on Samy Natera Jr.’s wild pitch and was thrown out at home.
“As soon as he stops, he just has to stay,” O’s manager Craig Albernaz said. “We all know Gunnar’s aggressive, making things happen. And he sensed that we needed to get another run across. But if he trusted his first instinct, if he was going to go, go. But as soon as you stop, you just have to get back.”
Nolan Schanuel’s seventh-inning sac fly off Yaramil Hiraldo plated the Angels’ final run as the Orioles (56-59) finished the homestand 3-3 while missing a chance to move within a game of .500 for the first time since April 30.
Young threw 60 of 98 pitches for strikes, allowed six hits and two walks while striking out four, and was punished for leaving a sinker up over the middle when Neto connected.
And he deserved credit for avoiding a worse fate on a day when a lost fly ball in the sun resulted in one base hit, and his own inability to field a sharp grounder permitted another.
In the second, Young struck out Jose Siri and Josh Lowe consecutively en route to escaping a bases-loaded, none-out jam. In the fourth, he induced Oswald Peraza into a double-play grounder with the 13th pitch of his at-bat.
“He threw way more pitches than he needed to,” Albernaz said. “Otherwise, he kept us in it.”