BALTIMORE—Three surviving members of the 1966 Orioles World Series team, the one that shockingly beat the Los Angeles Dodger in four games to win the team’s first title, threw out first pitches before Friday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox.
Jim Palmer, Boog Powell and reliever Eddie Watt were on hand, and watched the 2026 Orioles look nothing like the ’66 champs.
Shane Baz, whose bad luck is nearly farcical, allowed just one run on four hits in 6 2/3 innings, but his teammates couldn’t mount any attack against Ranger Suárez in their fourth straight loss, 1-0, before 19,821 at Camden Yards.
It was the 10th time in 28 starts that Baz (5-15) didn’t receive offensive support.
The Orioles (69-73) were shut out for the fifth time and with Cleveland’s doubleheader win on Friday, the Orioles trail the Guardians by three games for the final wild-card spot.
Mickey Gasper, Boston’s second batter, hit Baz’s second pitch for his eighth home run.
“He definitely jumped me on that one, put a good swing on it,” Baz said. “But that’s kind of my game, that’s how I pitch. I want to be ahead in the count, and I trust my stuff in the zone.
“I got a couple of great first-pitch outs later in the game, even first pitch of the game. But, yeah, it was one of those days where I felt like I was commanding the ball well and able to change speeds and stuff. And, yeah, that’s a good swing, and, yeah, it ultimately decided it.”
Baz struck out two and walked two. No other runner got to third while he was on the mound.
Alex Hoppe relieved him after Trevor Story singled with one out in the seventh. Hoppe loaded the bases, walking Roman Anthony and hitting Gasper with a pitch with two outs and retired Adley Rutschman on a fly to center.
Suárez (6-4) allowed five hits in seven scoreless innings. The only runner to get to third was Blaze Alexander, who singled with two outs in the third. Coby Mayo tapped a single to right as Alexander took third. Luis Robert Jr. flied to center.
“He was just putting the ball wherever he wanted, all pitches,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “He was pitching out there. The one thing we had going and Robert hits an absolute rocket right at the centerfielder. Outside of that, it was tough to get anything going. He did a great job of moving in and out, pairing his pitches together, staying off the barrel pretty much outside of Robert.”
Alexander, who had three hits, singled against Garrett Whitlock, who relieved Suárez to start the eighth. After pinch-hitter Samuel Basallo flied to center on the first pitch, Robert grounded to shortstop Trevor Story, who threw to second baseman Nick Sogard for the second out. Sogard’s throw to first was in time for the double play, but Alexander’s slide, during which he stuck out his right arm, annoyed Sogard, and both benches and bullpens briefly emptied.
“I thought it was a clean slide into the bag and just getting stared at. I wanted to know why I’m getting stared at, and, yeah, that’s really it,” Alexander said.
Jahmai Jones’ hard slide into Alexander on Thursday night led to a throwing error and might have been on the players’ mind.
“Maybe a little. But I mean, I don’t know why they’re upset,” Alexander said. “I didn’t touch him. There was more contact on the play last night. And that’s it.”
Aroldis Chapman pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save.
How disappointing are the losses for Baz? He’s received three or fewer runs of support in 11 of his 12 starts since June 29th.
Baz again pitched well and his ERA is 3.91.
“I think this is the best version that I’ve been of myself, just with the command, with the stuff, just my mentality of how I’m trying to pitch and how I’m able to stay locked in the whole game and stick to the game-planning side of stuff,” he said.
“I feel like I’m better than I’ve ever been at that. It’s just taking it one game at a time and just trying to be as prepared as I can for my next start. Just really focusing on that. I was happy with today.”
What was the issue with Alexander? After Alexander argued with the Red Sox, he pumped his arms and acknowledged he was trying to spur the crowd, which included many Red Sox fans.
“Obviously, Chapman’s coming in and get the crowd going a little bit,” Alexander said. “Yeah, you never know. Score two there and we win and it looks real good. But it is what it is. Back to it tomorrow, and we’ll be ready to go.”
Sogard didn’t seem angry at Alexander.
“It’s a competitive game,” he said. “He slid in pretty hard. I didn’t have a problem with his slide, but we turned the double play. I was just looking back to see how far he went. I don’t know if he liked me looking back. But that was pretty much it.”
Sogard also didn’t think there was a carryover from Thursday night.
“No, I don’t think so. I think he plays hard,” Sogard said. “He was kind of talking the whole game, to Ranger and the whole deal. I think that’s kind of, I don’t know if that’s his deal or what. But that’s about it.”
What does it mean? With the Orioles now three games back, wins are imperative.
“It’s always disappointing to lose four in a row, especially right now at this point in the season where we’re at,” Albernaz said. “Yeah, it’s hard, and we’ve done it to ourselves. We’re here, and there’s a game tomorrow and we still have a chance, a good chance to kind of keep this thing going. Our guys have to turn the page quickly because tomorrow’s going to come and the next day. No one feels sorry for us.:
What’s the stat of the day? 15. Baz ties Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee for the most losses in baseball.
What’s the word? “I’ve never really thought about that, you know, just in my career. So it’s kind of easy to not think about it or dwell on it or stuff like that. I’m just trying to do my job and just pitch as well as I can and just give us a chance. I’ll never blame anybody else for something happening or anything like that.”-Baz on the lack of run support.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Rece Hinds had four hits and Triple-A Norfolk benefited from six Jacksonville errors in a 10-5 with over the Jumbo Shrimp.
JT Quinn pitched five scoreless innings, allowing three hits in Double-A Chesapeake’s 3-1 win over Portland.
Yasmil Bucce hit a three-run home run, Jaiden Lo Re had three hits and drove in two runs as High-A Frederick won its franchise record 81st win with a 9-5 win over Brooklyn.
Miguel Rodriguez had two hits in Single-A Delmarva’s 5-4 loss to Kannapolis.
What’s next? Chris Bassitt (6-4, 4.97) will start against Sonny Gray (16-4, 2.820) on Saturday at 7:05 p.m.
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