BOSTON — In a season where not a whole lot has gone right for the Orioles, Trevor Rogers stands as a major source of consistency in a down year.
Rogers continued his impressive season on Monday night in Boston by shackling the Red Sox’s lineup, tossing seven innings of one-run ball to help the club take a 6-3 victory at Fenway Park.
“I have the confidence to go out there and know what I’m going to do and just execute my game plan,” Rogers said.
For Rogers, it was his eighth straight start in which he threw at least six innings and allowed two runs or fewer. It’s the longest such stretch by an Orioles pitcher since Jim Palmer went eight straight from May 20-June 18, 1978.
“Nobody knew this was going to come,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “What he’s doing right now is ace-type.”
Boston barely offered up any resistance to Rogers on the night, with only one player reaching third base against the right-hander. Mixing in a wealth of off-speed offerings, the Orioles’ starter had Boston’s bats off balance all night, holding them to just four hits and a walk while striking out seven.
“As impressive a run as we’ve seen in the big leagues this year by any pitcher,” Mansolino added. “As the game went on, he kind of got stronger. The velocity ticked up, the changeup was really good, the slider, the sweeper. It looks like a very uncomfortable at-bat for the opposing hitters.”
With the win, Rogers improves to 6-2 on the year and he continues to push his ERA south as it now sits at 1.41. In the process, he became the first Orioles starter to have an ERA under 1.50 through his first 12 starts of a season, besting the prior record of 1.50 set by Hoyt Wilhelm in 1954.
He also produced his 10th quality start of the season, a career high for the 27-year-old southpaw.
In just his second game since being called up, rookie Samuel Basallo (Baltimore’s top prospect) was behind the plate for the first time at the big league level and earned the praise of his starter.
“I really have to tip my hat to Basallo,” said Rogers. “He was really good back there. …First game behind the plate in Fenway and he did a hell of a job.”
“Knowing he said something nice definitely means a lot to me,” said Basallo after being informed of Rogers’ praise. “Obviously, this was my first game catching and with all the good work he’s been doing the last couple of months, it feels very nice to hear that.”
Basallo also went 2-for-5 at the plate, collecting his first double while driving in two runs and scoring one.
“I think yesterday felt a lot more stressful. I felt a lot more comfortable today,” added the 21-year-old backstop, who went 1-for-4 in his debut on Sunday. “Trevor and I had worked together previously as well and I think that helps.”
Gunnar Henderson led a 12-hit barrage from the team, getting the O’s on the board in the third inning with a Statcast-projected 414-foot solo home run to dead center field, his 15th of the season. He followed that up with a seventh-inning triple and finished the night with 2 RBIs and 3 runs scored.
Baltimore will look to make it a two-game sweep of Boston on Tuesday with RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (10-5, 4.13) making the start.
