BALTIMORE—Trevor Rogers pitched brilliantly and had nothing to show for it.
For eight innings, he allowed only three hits, and one that cost him. In the second inning, onetime Oriole Joey Ortiz hit a fly ball to right field that Rece Hinds misplayed for a triple.
A moment later, another former Oriole, Gary Sánchez grounded out to third, and Ortiz scored the first and only run of the game in a 1-0 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers before 32,633 at Camden Yards on Saturday.
Rogers (10-11) tied his career high by pitching eight, allowing three hits and a walk, striking out 10.
“Rog was outstanding,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “He was outstanding. These last four starts have been awesome, and especially toward the end of the year, it’s almost like he’s picked up steam.”
Albernaz attributed the gift triple to Hinds failing to carry an important piece of equipment to the outfield.
“He didn’t have sunglasses at all,” he said. “And the sun was in right field. Pretty frustrating…it was overcast to start, but it was a 4 o’clock game. I thought you would have some sunglasses.”
Hinds didn’t shirk responsibility.
“I just lost it in the sun,” he said. “Game started shady, and I just didn’t have them.”
The Orioles (75-80) are quickly reaching the point of no return, trailing the Chicago White Sox by four games for the final wild-card position. They have just seven games left. Any combination of White Sox wins and Orioles losses equaling four eliminates the Orioles, who were shut out for the seventh time this season.
Robert Gasser (5-5) allowed three hits in seven innings. Gasser threw 107 pitches, a career high, walked three and struck out two.
The Orioles hit into two key double plays. After Gunnar Henderson doubled and Hinds walked in the second, Christian Franklin, who was activated from the injured list before the game hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Samuel Basallo followed by grounding to first.
Franklin attempted to bunt on the first pitch, then took three balls before he swung at a pitch that turned into a DP.
In the sixth, after Gasser walked Leody Taveras, hit Pete Alonso with a pitch and walked Mayo, Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit into a 6-4-3 double play.
Albernaz is realistic about his team’s postseason chances, which FanGraphs calculates at .8 percent.
“It doesn’t make it any easier,” Albernaz said. “And we’re under the mindset that we’re still in, still have a chance until there’s either an E next to our name or we’re in.
“Like, we still have to go out and compete. But today’s game was particularly frustrating. Some awful bunt attempts and some interesting swing selections in certain places. So yeah, today was frustrating.”
Hinds doubled with one out in the seventh, and Taveras singled to lead off the eighth against Abner Uribe, but the Orioles couldn’t score them.
Uribe pitched a scoreless eighth, and Aaron Ashby finished with a spotless ninth for his third save.
What does this mean for Rogers? Rogers is unsigned past this season, and it could have been his final start for the Orioles at home.
“It’s something I don’t even really want to think about really,” Rogers said. “Fans were great, been great all year. The best fans in baseball. Just, it was awesome. Meant a lot to me.”
It was the second time this month that Rogers pitched well enough to win and didn’t. On September 2nd, he allowed two runs on six hits in 6 2/3 innings, striking out a career high 11 in Colorado in a game the Orioles lost in the 11th inning, 6-5.
“It’s been great,” Rogers said. “I had a hiccup there in May, but I think it’s those times in this game that get you better and I got better from it. Just being able to go out there and do my job every five, six days and give the team a chance to win, that’s what I want to be and the fact that I was able to give the guys a chance today was huge.”
Rogers has a fan in Albernaz, who will return in 2027. Rogers may not.
“I would love to have Trevor,” Albernaz said. “He embodies everything that the Orioles stand for. This dude got traded over and he wasn’t his best self. He did a great job of putting the work in, crushed the offseason, came in last year, was outstanding. And then this year, too, the way he’s navigated it, it’s been a steady presence besides the hiccup when he was sick in the middle of the year. But it’s someone, you see what he did against a pretty good lineup over there, best record in baseball, and it’s pretty impressive.”
What does it mean? The Orioles won’t many games with an outfield of Franklin, Hinds and Taveras.
What’s the stat of the day? 36-41. The Orioles have clinched a losing home record for the second straight season.
What’s the word? “I feel like I’ve been talking this issue to death, but it’s certainly something that has been a big factor, and we talk about it quite a big, and we want to get better in that space any way that we can.”-Mike Elias on the underperformance of the Orioles’ young care players.
What’s next? The Orioles play a Sunday night game against the Brewers at 7:20 p.m. Brandon Young (9-4, 3.65) faces Jacob Misiorowski (15-5, 1.89). The game will be shown on Peacock with Jason Benetti, Ben McDonald and Tim Dillard with the call.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]