BALTIMORE -- Following a 56-minute weather delay, right-hander Shane Baz continued his upward trend with another quality start, this time against the 50-win Chicago Cubs.
Baz kept the Orioles within striking distance, but left-hander Matthew Boyd and four Cubs relievers were too much for Baltimore’s offense. It all added up to an all-too-familiar outcome in a 5-2 loss on Tuesday to the North Siders.
The O’s mustered only six hits -- all singles -- against Cubs pitching and went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The lone hit didn’t come until the seventh inning, when Boyd was out of the game.
Baz was able to pitch at least six innings for the ninth time this season, allowing three runs on six hits with three walks while striking out three. He’s reached at least 100 pitches in consecutive outings after throwing exactly 100 pitches (63 strikes) in the opener.
“I feel like I’m giving up three runs like every single game,” Baz said. “A lot of times it comes back to walks, just being ahead in the count and making them swing and stuff like that. I think that’s an easy thing I can fix.
“Obviously, the other team getting the lead is never ideal, especially in the first few innings. Just got to be a little better and stick to my game plan a little more and just try and go get it on the next one.”
Alex Bregman’s run-scoring knock in the third inning put the Cubs on top. Then Baz allowed two runs on three hits in the fifth.
Dansby Swanson’s single, Miguel Amaya’s double and Pete Crow-Armstrong’s RBI single made it 2-0. Bregman’s RBI forceout pushed the deficit to 3-0.
“Baz looked good, came out of the gate strong,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “The third inning, I think to me, kind of had a cascading effect. The two-out walk to Amaya proved to be his kryptonite tonight. After that, it was tough for him to kind of reel it back in.”
Facing the Orioles reliever Anthony Nunez, the Cubs added to their lead. Michael Busch hit a fly ball to left fielder Taylor Ward in the seventh, who did not throw home to try to nab Amaya at the plate. Swanson produced a late RBI single in the eighth.
The Birds had two good shots at denting the Cubs' advantage, though.
They were unable to jump on a two-on, no-out opportunity in the fourth. Pete Alonso started the frame with a sharp single to left field and Coby Mayo was hit by pitch.
But Boyd struck out Samuel Basallo, Blaze Alexander and Dylan Beavers. All three Orioles swung and missed on Boyd’s slider.
“Matty Boyd was tough,” Albernaz said. “He came out of the gate strong, too. Velo was up a little bit. When Matty has his command going, he's tough.”
Then Baltimore finally broke through in the seventh inning.
Facing Cubs reliever Jacob Webb, Adley Rutschman delivered a clutch two-run single and went to second on a throwing error by Cubs right fielder Seiya Suzuki. That cut the deficit to 4-2 with runners on second and third -- a chance to tie the game.
But Gunnar Henderson struck out swinging on a changeup at the bottom of the zone to end the rally.
“I think any player that's in that spot, you want them to come through, you want it for them and you want it for us,” Albernaz said. “When Gunnar Henderson is at the plate, I think any pitcher is going to heighten a little bit, a little more focus. That's a testament to him and how good of a player he is. Tonight, he came up short.”
Rutschman went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, but the Orioles have lost eight of their last 12, dropping to 24-24 at home and now sit eight games below .500 at 42-50.
The offense has to do better. Albernaz went to Colton Cowser, Tyler O’Neill and Leody Taveras to try to find a big pinch-hit to reverse the game. None were able to come through and the Orioles ended up striking out 12 times.
“We didn't move the ball forward at all,” Albernaz said. “When we got to the bullpen, we had some great at-bats, had some chances, Adley delivered, and yeah, that was it.”
Does Rutschman still have confidence to turn it around?
“A hundred percent,” Rutschman said. “I think just from a holistic standpoint, I think our pitching staff has just continued to get better and improve, and we know our potential on offense. We’ve just got to keep grinding away. Baseball’s a tough game, but this team's built for it, so I have all the faith in the guys in this room.”