Rogers loses again as Tigers limit Orioles’ anemic offense to 3 hits in 4-1 loss

BALTIMORE–What happened? Trevor Rogers suffered his sixth straight defeat, and while his Sunday night start wasn’t as bad as some recent ones, it wasn’t close to being good enough.

Rogers allowed a two-run home run to Dillon Dingler in the first, and after retiring 11 straight gave up two more runs in the fifth on the way to a 4-1 Orioles loss to the Detroit Tigers in the Sunday night game of a split-doubleheader before 19,735 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles (23-30) had won the first two games of the series against Detroit (21-33), which broke an eight-game losing streak.

Colton Cowser’s three-run home run in the ninth inning of the first game gave the Orioles a dramatic 5-3 win.

Troy Melton (1-0) came off the injured list and limited the anemic Orioles offense to two hits in 5 2/3 innings. The Orioles had just eight hits in the two games.

Samuel Basallo drove in the Orioles’ only run on his bobblehead night with a sacrifice fly that scored Adley Rutschman in the fourth. Singles by Basallo in the second and Pete Alonso in the fourth were the only two the Orioles had in the first seven innings.

“I wouldn’t say anything was missing,” manager Craig Albernaz said of his offense. “Melton was really good. He’s a really good pitcher. The velo, the split. He has the breaking balls. Like, he’s a really good pitcher. Forgive me for saying this, but we hit a lot of balls hard enough. On the barrel. And that’s all you can do is try to get barrel to baseball and see what happens, and our guys put a lot of good swings on the ball tonight.”

Dinger’s 10^th home run in the first gave Detroit a 2-0 lead, and after Rogers (2-6) retired the 11 straight, Kevin McGonigle’s two-run single put the Tigers ahead 4-1. Rogers walked two in the fifth and threw a 3-2 changeup in the middle of the plate to McGonigle after nearly getting out of the bases-loaded jam.

Rogers allowed four runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings, walking two and striking out two.

“I think this past month, we kind of took a couple steps back, and it’s like, ‘OK, what can I really improve on?’” Rogers said. “And I think my command on the inside part of the plate has been terrible up to this point, and that was probably my main focus this outing, command the inside part of the plate, get them to start looking inside so it opens up away. I think I did an OK job of that. I don’t think I commanded as well — I was getting strikes on the inside part.”

Tyler Holton retired the four batters he faced. Drew Anderson gave up a one-out single to Taylor Ward in the eighth. He walked Alonso and Basallo to begin the ninth before Leody Taveras, Tyler O’Neill and Blaze Anderson all struck out on pitches out of the strike zone.

The Orioles designated right-hander Albert Suárez for assignment. Suárez pitched four scoreless innings, but the team wanted to keep left-hander Grant Wolfram, who came off the injured list on Sunday to serve as the 27^th man. The Orioles have 39 players on their 40-man roster.

How did Rogers pitch? Albernaz saw progress.

“The velo was great on the fastball,” he said. “He did a great job pairing the two-seam and the four-seam together and getting to the right locations and mixing in the cutter, too, as well. And obviously you know Rogers’ changeup is a really good pitch. He did a good job of getting it where it needs to go and kind of not leaving it out over the plate. It was a very encouraging outing, and I thought he was close to getting out of that jam in that inning. So he threw the ball well. Very encouraging for us.”

Rogers realizes he’ll have to pitch better if he’s going to help the Orioles.

“Just keep going about my days and execute what I need to execute,” he said. “McGonigle, he got my pitch. My pitch is my changeup and he got me, so you just have to tip your cap. I think if I really focus on executing on the inside of the plate, and that means throwing more strikes, and get their attention in there, I think that can open up everything else. I think that’s when things are going well with the 11 straight. I was getting strikes on the inside part and everything else was there.”

What does it mean? The Orioles are incredibly inconsistent. Until they get several good starts in a row combined with productive hitting, they won’t win enough.

What’s the stat of the day? 2. The Orioles did not produce an extra-base hit for the second time this season. The last time was April 4^th at Pittsburgh.

What’s the word? “I really like where I’m headed and just keep showing up every day and basically things will start going my way more consistently.”–Rogers on his performance.

What’s going on in the minor leagues? Heston Kjerstad hit his first home run of his rehab assignment in Triple-A Norfolk’s 6-5 loss to Jacksonville. Jonathan Rodriguez drove in two runs.

Braylin Tavera and Leandro Arias homered to lead High-A Frederick to a 4-3 win over Greenville in the first game of a doubleheader. Tavera homered in the second game to enable the Keys to sweep with a 6-5 win.

Left-hander Caden Hunter and right-hander Todd Kniebee are being promoted from Delmarva to Frederick.

Single-A Delmarva salvaged a split of its doubleheader with a 4-3 win over Wilson. Elvin Garcia drove in three runs.

What’s next? The Orioles will open a three-game series with the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday. Kyle Bradish (2-6, 4.13) will start against Shane McClanahan (5-2, 2.82). Game time is 1:35 p.m.

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com