CHICAGO—What happened? The Orioles left Chicago with a three-game sweep, their first of the season, but they had to overcome a strange play from starting pitcher Kyle Bradish.
After Bradish committed two errors on one play in the fifth inning, putting the Orioles behind, they scored two in the sixth to ensure that he didn’t take the loss.
Tyler Ward had four hits, including three doubles, and drove in a tack-on run in the ninth in the Orioles’ 5-3 win over the White Sox before 10,133 at Rate Field on Wednesday.
Bradish allowed three runs, two earned, but the one that stood out is the unearned run.
With the scored tied, 2-2, in the fifth, the White Sox had runners on first and second on two walks by Bradish with two outs.
He walked Colson Montgomery to load the bases and muffed catcher Adley Rutschman’s easy toss back to him. After he belatedly realized that Chase Meidroth was charging home, he threw wildly as Meidroth scored and Montgomery advanced to third.
Bradish was charged with two errors and left after five innings trailing, 3-2.
“Frustration came out. Unacceptable,” Bradish said. “That’s just childish behavior, and that will not happen again.”
He talked with manager Craig Albernaz after the inning,
“I went up to him right after in the tunnel and we talked about it,” Bradish said. “I voiced my frustration with myself, and nobody’s going to be harder on that than myself and he knows that. Team knows that. Like I said, that will not happen again.”
Albernaz spoke honestly with Bradish.
“That play shouldn’t have happened with KB,” Albernaz said. “KB is frustrated. We talked. You know he’s frustrated. He owned up to it, and we had a good conversation.
“That was a great win for us. The boys battled.”
The Orioles (6-6) bailed Bradish out in the sixth when Pete Alonso broke his 1-for-25 slump with a double. He moved to third on Tyler O’Neill’s infield single and scored on a passed ball by Chicago catcher Reese McGuire. O’Neill scored on Dylan Beavers’ sacrifice fly.
Bradish (1-2) got his first win, working five innings, allowing six hits, walking three and striking out seven.
Tyler Wells pitched a scoreless sixth, walking one and hitting a batter. Grant Wolfram threw a scoreless seventh, allowing a hit and a hit batsman. Anthony Nunez pitched a spotless eighth, and Rico Garcia recorded his first major league save with a scoreless ninth.
In the second, the Orioles took a 2-0 lead on Ward’s RBI double and a wild pitch by Chicago starter Sean Burke that allowed Ward to score. Ward is the first Oriole to have nine doubles in eight games and leads the majors in doubles.
The Orioles have won 10 straight games over Chicago and 11 straight games at Rate Field.
Davey Lopes, a longtime second baseman for the Los Angeles Dodgers and a coach for the Orioles from 1992-1994, died at 80.
How important has Ward been? Ward has lifted his average to .383 with a 1.038 OPS. Last year, he hit 36 home runs and doubled 31 times for the Los Angeles Angels.
He hasn’t homered in 12 games, but has those nine doubles and batted second for the first time on Wednesday after leading off all season.
“I’m just thankful to be getting out there, winning games,” he said. “I just think that’s the biggest thing. Homers will come, if it happens. If not, you know. It is interesting, but it’s all good.”
The last four Oriole games, one in Pittsburgh and three in Chicago, were played in cold, windy conditions. Those aren’t conducive to home runs.
“I think having just a line drive approach is good,” Ward said. “And once I start catching more out front, hopefully I see the ball flying a little more, but as of right now, it’s all good. It’s good to get these wins.”
How did the lineup shuffle work out? For the first time this season, Gunnar Henderson led off and Ward batted second. Adley Rutschman hit third and Pete Alonso batted fourth.
Ward’s doubles in the third and ninth drove in Henderson, who walked and doubled.
“Both of them swinging the bat well,” Albernaz said. “It was great to see Gunnar shoot the ball to left field with the lefty. It was great to see him score from first on the first one, open up a little bit, but no, that’s where our offense is clicking. We’re getting guys on base, causing traffic, working the pitcher. We worked Burke today with a high pitch count early in the game. It was a great job for the offense.”
Ward, who came to the Orioles in exchange for starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez, likes the lineup.
“The potential is going to be there all year, which is awesome.” Ward said. “I think some guys are still trying to get going, and there are going to be some days when we put it to some teams, and those are going to be really fun, where everybody is swinging it.
“I just think that when guys aren’t swinging it, you have other guys in the lineup who can pick you up, pick those guys up, is the biggest thing. I think that’s what’s going to help carry us throughout the year. But lineup potential is phenomenal.”
Why did Garcia pitch the ninth? Ryan Helsley recorded saves in the first two games of the series, and with Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns and Andrew Kittredge on the injured list, Albernaz turned to Garcia, who has yet to allow a hit or a run in 5 2/3 innings.
“As we were talking through the plan, we wanted Rico to take the ball in the ninth,” Albernaz said. “He stepped up to it. It was great. It was a little dicey early, obviously, but he settled in and made pitches when he did.”
Garcia is 32 and, in his 65th major league game, got his first save.
“Drafted in 2016, 30th round. It means a lot,” Garcia said. “Just trying to keep doing it, day after day. This is just a testament to all my family and friends and teammates throughout the way that they stuck with me. If it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t be in this position, so thank you to them, my family, my wife. It’s definitely a special moment.”
What does it mean? No matter the opponent, sweeps are important, and it was good for the Orioles to score five runs for the first time in the last five games.
What’s the stat of the day? 3-3. The Orioles are 6-6. The last time they were at .500 in 2025 was when they were 3-3 on April 2nd.
What’s the word? “I think there’s a lot of luck in this game, and then I also think you create your own luck.”-Ward on his hot start.
What’s next? The Orioles are off on Thursday and will begin a three-game series with the San Francisco Giants on Friday night. Shane Baz (0-0, 3.27) will start against Landen Roupp (1-1, 4.22) at 7:15 . The game will be televised exclusively on AppleTV.
Call for questions: I answer Orioles questions most weekdays. Please send yours to: [email protected]