Texas Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom is a four-time All-Star, a two-time Cy Young Award winner and holds an ERA title. But the 37-year-old arguably never looked as dominant as he did against the Orioles June 25.
Baltimore’s lineup was lifeless against deGrom, who had a perfect game through six innings and a no-hitter through seven innings, the longest he’s flirted with history in his career. Colton Cowser eventually led off the eighth with a ground ball single, bringing a smile to deGrom as he locked eyes with Cowser at first base.
Cowser’s hit ended deGrom’s day and gave the home faithful something to cheer for. That was a rarity. Baltimore’s offense was completely overmatched by one of the game’s best, while Orioles starter Brandon Young struggled in his return to the big leagues and the Rangers won, 7-0.
Baltimore (34-46) lost its second straight series and failed to take advantage of winning the series opener against Texas.
DeGrom was in complete control on the mound. The outs often came early in counts, with deGrom throwing just 89 pitches against 24 batters.
“I think they were a little baffled tonight by deGrom,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said.
The Orioles have seemed baffled offensively quite often recently, no matter who’s starting. Wednesday marked the second straight game they’ve been no-hit through six innings. That’s happened in three of the past five games, the only team to do so since 1974.
Baltimore has been one-hit three times this season, including twice in a five-day span.
“I think there’s a little bit of fatigue right now,” Mansolino said. “… I wouldn’t look too deep into it.”
The Orioles struggled despite welcoming back Jordan Westburg, who returned to the lineup following a three-game absence as he battled a finger injury.
Westburg noted that in the grand scheme of things, Baltimore’s offense has been playing good baseball the past couple weeks, most notably during a 5-2 stretch against the Angels and Rays. He’s choosing to look at the positives, rather than focusing on a “frustrating” recent few days.
Cowser echoed Westburg’s sentiments.
“I’m not concerned about it,” Cowser said. “We’re gonna stay and remain confident in this clubhouse.”
Young made just his third start of the season and first since April 26 after getting recalled from Triple-A Norfolk before the game. The Orioles opted to push Tomoyuki Sugano back a day for extra rest as he acclimates to MLB’s usual five-man rotation, as opposed to the six-man rotation he was a part of in Japan.
Before the game, Mansolino praised Young’s ability to command his fastball to both sides of the plate as a young pitcher. Young’s four-seamer has been his best and most-used pitch, both in his short time with Baltimore and in the minors. In five starts with the Tides this season, he has held batters to a .437 OPS on the fastball.
Wednesday’s start showed the promise of the pitch but also Young’s lack of big-league experience with it.
In a one-two-three first inning, four of his five fastballs were strikes. All were located near the edge of the zone, as he showed consistent good command of the pitch throughout his inning.
But Young had some trouble with his four-seamer as the game ensued. In the top of the second, Rangers third baseman Josh Jung roped an RBI single on a 2-0 down-and-in fastball for Texas’ first run. Jung added a two-run home run in the fourth inning.
Young’s final batter, Rangers’ No. 9 batter Alejandro Osuna, led off the top of the fifth with a four-pitch walk that included two fastballs well above the zone. The velocity on the four-seamers were 90.3 and 90.8 miles per hour, well below his average of 93.5 as Young lost both location and speed of the pitch.
Osuna later scored on a Corey Seager single against reliever Scott Blewett.
Young’s final line was five hits, one walk and four runs allowed in four innings. The No. 19 prospect in the Orioles’ system according to MLB Pipeline, Young has allowed 10 runs in 12.2 innings in the big leagues.
“Just the experience again, grateful to be out there,” Young said after the game. “Unfortunately, didn’t go the way I pictured it.”
Young, who dealt with right shoulder discomfort shortly after being optioned back to Norfolk at the end of April and made just two starts before his return to Baltimore, only lasted 61 pitches against the Rangers. Mansolino said he doesn’t anticipate the six-man rotation sticking around, meaning Young will likely be demoted back to Norfolk.
No matter who is pitching, the Orioles will need more from their offense to try and avoid a full fire sale at the trade deadline.
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