The Baltimore Orioles opened a three-game Holiday weekend series at Great American Ball Park Friday night. While there is no evidence that any of the Orioles team were treated to Skyline Chili, they did not act like good guests as they shut out their hosts, the Cincinnati Reds (40-47) 3-0. While the team left Baltimore, the Baltimore weather followed the team; the game time temperature was a “cool” 92 degrees.
The Orioles capitalized on a gift from the Reds in the first inning. Gunnar Henderson walked to start the contest, advanced to second on a single by Taylor Ward. Henderson then scored when Reds’ catcher Tyler Stephenson air mailed a throw to third trying to catch him stealing third; the throw was so wide of the base that henderson scored easily.
In the third inning, with Adley Rutschman on third following his lead-off double, Samuel Basallo sent a Brady Singer sinker 375 ft. to left center field for a two-run homerun and a 3-0 lead.
Henderson proved to be a defensive wizard, making quite a few outstanding plays at shortstop.
Meanwhile, Trevor Rogers (6-7) was keeping the Reds in place. In 5.0 innings of work Rogers limited the Reds to a pair of singles. He did however, walk 5 while countering that with 4 strikeouts. Rogers struggled a bit, needing 93 pitches (57 K’s) to navigate the start; he pitched with traffic on the bases in every inning except the fourth.
From there a trio of Baltimore relievers finished what Rogers started. Rico Garcia (2.0 IP, H, BB, 2 K), Yennier Cano (1.0 IP, H) and Tyler Wells (1.0 IP, K) completed the shut out. Wells earned the save, his first of the ’26 season.
Pete Alonso (1 for 4) recorded the other Orioles’ hit.
2026 Record: 41-48
Next Game: Sat. 7/4 @ 7:10 pm @ Cincinnati Reds
