9 October 2023
Here’s what The Baltimore Sun sports staff had to say immediately after the Orioles’ 11-8 loss to the visiting Texas Rangers in Game 2 of the best-of-five American League Division Series on Sunday at Camden Yards.
Nathan Ruiz: Among all starters in the postseason, Kyle Bradish and Grayson Rodriguez ranked first and second in second-half ERA. The Orioles opened their first postseason appearance in seven years with those young right-handers leading their rotation, and they lost both games. To get back to that pair, Baltimore will rely on Dean Kremer and Kyle Gibson — one of whom likely would be in the bullpen if not for John Means’ elbow injury.
Jacob Calvin Meyer: What makes the 11 walks and 11 runs even harder to swallow is the fact the Orioles’ lineup did exactly what it needed to do. They got to Jordan Montgomery early, scored five runs off him and knocked him out of the game in the fifth inning. Then, Aaron Hicks delivered a three-run homer in the ninth that meant nothing because of the poor performance from Baltimore’s pitching staff.
Hayes Gardner: There was so much excitement. More than 46,000 fans greeted the Orioles for both Game 1 and Game 2, the team’s first home playoff games in nine years, but they left with disappointment. It was seemingly contagious poor pitching that betrayed the Orioles on Sunday, a day after their bats did.
Grayson Rodriguez struggled, as did nearly every other reliever Brandon Hyde tried. This loss falls squarely on the pitching staff, especially the 11 walks they allowed.
Teams have come back from down 2-0, and the Orioles can win on the road. But winning three games in a row against, perhaps, the best offense in the American League? It’s a tall order.
Sam Cohn: Even when it was hard to fathom how exactly the Orioles might be able to pull it off, the comeback kids never felt entirely out of it. A sliver of hope remained in each orange towel twirl right down to Aaron Hicks’ three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. Shaky pitching in the game’s front half and an inability to go blow for blow in a shootout with the AL’s top regular-season offense by OPS leaves the Orioles one loss away from closing the book on their historic run. But even with chips stacked heavily against them, they’re not out of it just yet.
Tim Schwartz: What a nightmare of a day for Baltimore sports fans. The Ravens collapse and the Orioles follow suit an hour later. Mitch Garver’s grand slam felt like the nail in the Orioles’ coffin this season, even though it’s not technically over. But Baltimore faces an uphill battle, going to Texas to likely face starter Nathan Eovaldi in Game 3 in what will be the Rangers’ first home playoff game this postseason. The Orioles have bounced back every time they’ve had their back against a wall this season, but this task feels too tall for these young Birds. Perhaps big-game Dean Kremer can do it again, but even still, they need to win three in a row against the hottest offense in baseball. But if anyone can do it, it’s the Orioles.
C.J. Doon: Man, that grand slam was a gut punch. It was only the third inning, but a 9-2 deficit felt unsurmountable with the way the Rangers have been playing of late. It sucked the life out of Camden Yards, which was treated to very few moments of joy in its return to postseason baseball for the first time in almost a decade. It’s going to take a herculean effort for this not to be the last home game of the season in Baltimore, and that’s a sobering thought for a team that won an AL-best 101 games. The rest vs. rust debate can rage on, but the Orioles have simply failed to deliver in big moments. At least there’s a sliver of hope for a team that has battled back all season and hasn’t been swept in almost 18 months.
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