The Orioles comfortably won the first two games of their series with the hapless Chicago White Sox thanks to a bevy of late scoring. The runs at last came early in Wednesday’s series finale, but they also went to waste.
Baltimore ended a strong homestand and month disappointingly, falling 10-5 to the White Sox in the club’s last game of August. Provided four first-inning runs, Orioles starter Kyle Gibson gave them right back in what devolved into another noncompetitive outing from the veteran right-hander.
Gibson has provided a quality start in eight of his past 15 appearances, including in his last time out. But in his other seven starts in that span, Gibson’s ERA is 10.70. On Wednesday, he allowed seven earned runs over 4 1/3 innings, giving up three home runs for the second time in four starts.
“Just a lot of inconsistency,” Gibson said, aptly describing both his outing and this stretch. “Just didn’t feel like, for as good as I felt warming up and even in the first inning, just didn’t carry over. Kind of been just the month of August so far for me, just been really inconsistent, not limited damage. Offense did a great job of getting the runs early and giving them right back there just by not being able to make a pitch and get out of it. It was pretty frustrating.”
Gibson signed a one-year, $10 million contract over the winter to provide much-needed experience to Baltimore’s rotation and served as the Orioles’ opening day starter, but his up-and-down performance in recent months raises questions of whether he’s a viable starting option for the team in the postseason. In 16 games between Gibson’s struggles Wednesday and his nine-run start earlier this month in Seattle, , with a 3.30 ERA. That success was generally carried by the young starters for whom the expanded rotation was deemed most helpful, with Kyle Bradish, Grayson Rodriguez and Dean Kremer — Baltimore’s presumed top options to open playoff games — putting up a 1.96 ERA over nine outings.
Wednesday’s loss left the Orioles (83-50) with a two-game lead in the American League East over the Tampa Bay Rays, who are scheduled to play in the evening. Baltimore holds an 11-game buffer for any playoff spot, pending the Blue Jays’ result.
Thanks to a diving play by rookie second baseman Jordan Westburg, Gibson worked a perfect first inning before the Orioles provided four runs of support in the bottom half. Chicago starter Dylan Cease, who has struggled since finishing runner-up in AL Cy Young Award voting last season, allowed an RBI double to Anthony Santander, run-scoring singles from Ryan O’Hearn and Adam Fraizer and a sacrifice fly by Westburg as the White Sox (53-81) played haphazard defense behind him.
Gibson quickly forfeited the lead, surrendering a pair of two-run homers in the second to Andrew Vaugh and Oscar Colas. It marked only the third time in 28 starts this year he allowed multiple home runs, and the third came in the third inning from Luis Robert Jr. to put Chicago ahead. Vaughn doubled in another run and scored on a single by Elvis Andrus.
“I just thought they had a nice approach off him,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “He was throwing a lot of sinkers early. They weren’t trying to pull it, they were using the big part of the field, drove a couple balls out to center on him. I thought he was better in the fourth and fifth using the slider more, keeping them a little bit more off-balance. Just had a rough time there those two innings.
“Had a bunch of quality starts, pitched really well for us, [and] had a few which didn’t really go his way early.”
By exiting with one out in the fifth, Gibson failed to complete that frame for the first time since his final start of June. He has been largely dependable for Baltimore, entering the day leading the AL in wins and starts, but he also surrendered nine more hits to leave him with a league-leading 172 allowed in 162 2/3 innings.
“Probably just going to sit down and try to take a look at it and see if there’s something that stands out,” Gibson said. “It’s been just different outings. Some outings, you execute a lot of pitches and give up hits, and today, I feel like I didn’t execute a whole lot, and they took advantage of ones that I didn’t execute. Maybe just a little bit of predictability, maybe just a little bit of looking too much into just being one side of the plate, whatever it is. I’ll dig in, kind of see what it looks like. Been in this spot before and just got to keep grinding, keep looking for ways to get better.”
Cease, meanwhile, followed his rough first by allowing only one run on two hits over his next five innings. Santander’s third-inning home run — his fifth in the past eight games — brought the Orioles within 7-5, but the White Sox scored three runs in the sixth off Austin Voth, including two on triple by Tim Anderson on a ball that hopped past center fielder Cedric Mullins; the play was initially ruled an error on Mullins, who also made a fielding miscue on Andrus’ third-inning single.
Despite the loss, Baltimore ended the homestand 6-3, taking this series after also winning two of three against Toronto and the Colorado Rockies. With a day off Thursday before a nine-game road trip to Arizona, Anaheim and Boston, the Orioles finish August with an 18-9 record, matching April for their most wins in a calendar month this year.
“We won all three series; you’re never going to complain about that, you feel good about that,” Hyde said. “Having a 4-0 lead in the first inning against Dylan Cease, that’s a good feeling, also. We just didn’t get it done after that.”
Around the horn
- The Orioles were still without an update on All-Star closer Félix Bautista’s injured ulnar collateral ligament as of Wednesday morning, Hyde said. He added the Orioles could have more information “maybe sometime later this week.” Bautista was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday.
- All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman was out of the lineup for the first time since July 24, having started the previous 32 games. In that span, the 25-year-old hit second three times before batting leadoff in 29 straight games. He was the starting catcher 19 times and designated hitter 13 times. Rutschman pinch-hit for Jorge Mateo in the ninth inning Wednesday but grounded into a game-ending double play.
- Hyde said the Orioles are determining whether outfielder Aaron Hicks, on the 10-day IL since Aug. 19 with a low back strain, will need a rehabilitation assignment before rejoining the team. Hicks has been running at full speed and taking batting practice in recent days.
- Two Orioles minor leaguers who suffered head injuries Tuesday were placed on the injured list. Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Kyle Stowers broke his nose when a pitch hit him in the face, and Double-A Bowie infielder Max Wagner suffered a concussion when an errant throw hit him in the head.
- The Orioles are finalizing when it expands Friday, Hyde said. It’s likely those additions are one pitcher and one position player.
- Keivonn Woodard, made him the first deaf Black actor and second-youngest actor to be , threw out the ceremonial first pitch.
Orioles at Diamondbacks
Friday, 9:40 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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