The Orioles dominated the defending World Series champion Rangers on Thursday, beating them 11-2 in their first meeting since Texas swept Baltimore in the ALDS.
This isn’t the same Orioles team the Texas Rangers swept out of the playoffs last year.
There are offseason additions such as starter Corbin Burnes, who dominated Texas with seven innings of one-run ball in the Orioles’ 11-2 win Thursday night. Then there are the familiar names who are either trying to show they’re capable of taking the next step, such as Heston Kjerstad (2-for-3 with a home run and three RBIs), or already have in Gunnar Henderson (2-for-5, two runs scored) and Jordan Westburg (1-for-4, two RBIs).
Baltimore (51-30) hosted the Rangers on Thursday for the first time since Texas knocked the inexperienced Orioles out of the 2023 American League Division Series. The reigning World Series champions’ title defense hasn’t gotten off to a stellar start, but they still trotted out a roster that largely resembles the one that outscored the Orioles by 10 runs across the three games in the first round.
Thursday’s game, which was Pride Night at Camden Yards with a paid attendance of 29,479, made evident that much has changed in the past eight months. Burnes, coming off a season-worst outing in which allowed four runs in seven innings against the Houston Astros, was the ace he has otherwise been all year for the Orioles. He held the Rangers to one run — a homer by outfielder Adolis García — on nine hits and zero walks with five strikeouts. Burnes induced 19 swings and misses, the most whiffs against him in any game since September 2022 by Statcast’s tracking.
“I wasn’t trying to miss bats, and that’s the funny part,” Burnes said. “Just trying to put pitches in good spots and kind of use their aggressiveness against themselves and get some quick outs and we were able to do that most of tonight. Obviously, some squeaked through and got some traffic but was able to pitch around it. Outside of the one home run pitch, thought we did a pretty good job tonight.”
The Orioles acquired Burnes with the hope that he would be the missing piece for a team that needed both front-end rotation help and an innings eater who could give the bullpen a break every five days. That’s exactly what Burnes has been. The right-hander ranks fourth in the majors with a 2.28 ERA and his 106 2/3 innings trails only Kansas City Royals starter Seth Lugo for the most in baseball.
His presence, all the more important with Kyle Bradish out for the season, has been a steady one atop the Orioles’ rotation. Burnes has never failed to complete five innings in an Orioles uniform and hasn’t gone fewer than six since April. With him expected to take the ball for the Orioles’ opener in October, a World Series title of their own is that much closer to their grasp.
“What a professional effort,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Seven innings, a few singles mixed in there, but no real traffic after the first and really good stuff again.”
Of course, it takes an offense to score runs behind him and the lineup did well to pull its weight Thursday. On the day six of their position players were named finalists for the MLB All-Star Game, the Orioles scored eight runs off Rangers starter Jon Gray with home runs by Kjerstad and Cedric Mullins. Kjerstad has started three of four games since being recalled Monday and gone 4-for-11 at the plate.
“That was a really good game for us offensively,” Hyde said. “Obviously, Burnesy set the tone there with just giving up one run through seven. But offensively off a good arm off Jon Gray, who’s a really good starting pitcher, we put together a lot of really good at-bats. You know, Westy, a huge double there in the first inning. A lot of really good things offensively for us tonight. I thought we were aggressive, we drove the bases, ran the bases well, took really good at-bats.”
The Orioles gave Burnes a big cushion early, scoring three runs in the first on an RBI single by Kjerstad and a two-run double by Westburg. They added another three two frames later with Ryan Mountcastle driving in Henderson on a sacrifice fly and Kjerstad’s two-run blast, his first of the season.
“When I came up earlier I was probably trying a little bit harder to have success or trying to force it, maybe over-swinging from time to time or just trying to make something happen when it wasn’t a pitch that I normally handle,” Kjerstad said. “So, probably a little bit more settled in, a little bit more comfortable.”
Adley Rutschman and Colton Cowser also chipped in with solo homers off the Texas bullpen in the seventh and eighth, respectively, helping the Orioles break their franchise record, set in 2016, for the most home runs in the month of June with 57. That total is the second most in June by any team in MLB history behind the 2023 Atlanta Braves (61) and 2022 New York Yankees (58). The Orioles’ record for their most home runs in any month is 58, set in May 1987.
After Burnes’ day was done, the Orioles used Bryan Baker in the eighth and Nick Vespi in the ninth. Baker gave up one run, only his second since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on June 11, on an RBI single by Nathaniel Lowe, and Vespi worked a scoreless ninth.
The Orioles have won back-to-back games following a five-game losing streak, giving them a .630 winning percentage and a spot in first place in the AL East with the Yankees as they reach the midpoint of the season. They’re on pace to improve on their 2023 win total by only one game, but their roster, a year older and with Burnes in tow, has offered hope that this year’s team can go on to have the same kind of finish Texas had last October.
“Obviously, we’re coming off the five-game losing streak a couple days ago, but those are the streaks, those are the times, that you kind of learn who you are as a team,” Burnes said.
“The last two days, we played good baseball, and I think there’s no reason why we can’t keep playing good baseball. Just got to know when you go through those tough stretches that everybody everybody has them. The best teams in baseball have two, three stretches like that a year. So, the fact that we just did our first one really, 70-plus games in the season, is pretty impressive. So, I think we’re set up good for the second half.”
• Orioles right-hander Dean Kremer made his third rehabilitation start Thursday afternoon in Norfolk, throwing 75 pitches (48 strikes) with four runs allowed on six hits, two walks and five strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Kremer didn’t make it out of the first inning in his previous outing, delaying his ability to rejoin the Orioles’ rotation. Hyde said before the game that he feels “much better about it than the last time he threw” and Kremer is a candidate to make his next start back in the majors.
• Rutschman was struck in the hand by a foul tip during the top of the fifth inning. After meeting with a trainer, he stayed in the game but could be seen shaking his hand between at-bats. The Orioles catcher did homer three innings later, but Hyde said after the game that he expects Rutschman to be sore Friday.
• Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann made his first rehab start since suffering a hamstring injury, pitching 3 1/3 scoreless innings with High-A Aberdeen. The Baltimore-area native has not appeared in the majors this season.
• Catching prospect Samuel Basallo left Double-A Bowie’s game Thursday with a “lower body contusion,” the Orioles announced. Basallo has been on a tear lately in Bowie, but has dealt with several injuries this season including a fractured elbow, dizziness, a thumb injury and a right ankle contusion.
Rangers at Orioles
Friday, 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
