The Orioles go 2-10 with RISP as the bats continued their prolonged slump in the loss to the Giants.
The Orioles added another frustrating offensive performance to their record Wednesday, wasting multiple scoring opportunities in a 5-3 loss to the Giants.
The wasted opportunities started early on as Baltimore continued their recent trend of being brutal with runners in scoring position. Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the third, the Orioles started off the inning with an impressive string of at-bats by the bottom of the order. Emmanuel Rivera started the inning by taking a 3-2 fastball just out of the zone for a leadoff walk. Jackson Holliday then worked the account against Giants starter Hayden Birdsong, getting ahead 3-1 and then rocketing a 3-2 fastball into RF for a single.
The Holliday single game the offensively challenged O’s an excellent scoring threat, as they had runners at the corner with no one out for No.9 James McCann. The Orioles’ catcher looked to tie the game when he lifted a Birdsong slider high into right field. What at first looked like a game-tying sac fly turned into an RBI double when the ball caromed off the right fielder and right field wall.
Face card never declines. pic.twitter.com/9W29DBA1Nt
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 18, 2024
With the game tied at 1-1, runners at second and third with no outs, the Orioles had a chance to race out to an early, commanding lead over San Francisco. Instead, Gunnar Henderson struck out, Cedric Mullins grounded out to second and Anthony Santander bounced out on a failed check swing. The Mullins grounder did bring Holliday home to give Baltimore a 2-1 lead, but after going 1-4 with runners in scoring position, sighs of offensive disappointment once again began to echo throughout Birdland.
Those sighs would only grow loader as the Orioles marched toward their third straight loss. After starter Dean allowed three runs in the top of the 4th and another in the 6th, the Orioles faced a 5-2 deficit—with an offense that had only scored 5 runs once in their last 11 games.
The bats showed signs of life in the bottom of the 6th thanks to some impressive two-out at-bats from Colton Cowser and Ryan O’Hearn. Cowser would chase Birdsong from the game with a hard-hit single into right field, breaking a streak of nine straight PAs without a hit. The Giants tried to counter O’Hearn with left-handed reliever Erik Miller, but the 1B jumped on Miller’s first pitch, sending the fastball into the left-field corner for an RBI double.
Rivera would pick up the Orioles’ second hit with RISP when he reached on an infield single on a sharp grounder to deep third. Brandon Hyde then chose to pinch hit Austin Slater for Holliday, only for Slater to strike out and strand O’Hearn at third.
The Orioles would mount one last rally in the 7th, only to see their struggles with runners on base rear its head again. McCann led off the inning with a five-pitch walk before Gunnar Henderson rocketed a single into left field to put the tying run on base.
What ensued was the most frustrating stretch of the night. Cedric Mullins struck out as he failed to even advance the runners. Anthony Santander was able to provide a productive out, grounding into a 4-6 fielders choice that moved McCann to third but with two outs.
That left the fate of the rally on the shoulders of rookie Heston Kjerstad. Behind 0-2, Giants’ reliever Sean Hjelle bounced a curveball that skipped past catcher Curt Casali. At first, it looked like the Orioles had cut the deficit in half, McCann scoring on a wild pitch. Instead, the umpires ruled that the ball hit Kjerstad, loading the bases and keeping the score 5-3.
After starting the brief rally in the 7th, Cowser once again had a chance to be a hero. Instead, he lined out on a 100mph flyball to left to squelch the scoring threat. The O’s would then go down in order in the 8th and 9th, sealing a series victory for the Giants with their ninth loss of September.
The pitching has been so good of late that three runs might have been enough other nights, but not on Wednesday. Kremer had stretches where he looked dominant, but ultimately the long ball and an unlucky 4th inning doomed the right-hander’s outing.
The O’s starter came into Wednesday’s without allowing a HR since August 8th—and then allowed a solo homer on the first pitch he threw. Being behind 1-0 after the leadoff batter is certainly less than ideal, but it didn’t seem to rattle Kremer. After giving up a two-out single, he got out of the first on a routine pop-up to second base. That started a streak of seven consecutive Giants set down as Kremer consistently induced weak contact and generated a flurry of easy ground outs.
All-Star outfielder Heliot Ramos broke that streak with a leadoff single in the 4th, and from there, the inning quickly unraveled for Kremer and the O’s. Michael Conforto would follow Ramos’ single with a hard grounder that skipped past Jackson Holliday and into right field. Grant McCray then laid down a bunt to the third base side and beat Kremer’s throw to first to load the bases.
A defensive blunder then kicked off a big inning for the Giants. With the bags full, Grant McCray tapped a ground ball out in front of the plate. Kremer fielded his position well and flipped the ball to James McCann for the force out at home. However, the Orioles catcher had set up with his foot just an inch or two in front of the plate, meaning the O’s got nothing and the Giants got the tying run. The next batter, Casey Schmitt, singled right under the glove of Emmanuel Rivera at third to score two runs and give San Francisco a 4-2 lead.
The Orioles have their best offensive inning since the 7th on Saturday — a span of 23 frames — and Dean Kremer and the defense begin the next inning like this:
Single
Single
Infield single
McCann error
SingleA 2-1 Orioles lead is now a 4-2 Giants advantage.
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) September 18, 2024
Kremer would escape further damage in the 4th thanks to a 4-6-3 double play and a groundout to short. He’d settle back in nicely, striking out the side in the 5th, with the last two Ks coming on perfectly executed splitters. All the good feelings from that great 5th evaporated when Conforto blasted a ball inside the foul pole and onto the flag court to lead off the 6th. That solo HR gave the Giants a 5-2 lead and meant that Kremer wouldn’t earn a quality start at home for the first time since July 14th.
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The loss keeps the Orioles’ magic number to clinch a postseason berth at six. Since taking three out of four from the White Sox to start September, the Orioles have now dropped four straight series to teams currently on the outside of the playoff picture. Zach Eflin will look to salvage a win in Game 3 when he faces off against Giants ace Logan Webb, tomorrow at 1:05pm.