Orioles turn back clock with 3-0 win over Reds behind Rogers, Basallo

CINCINNATI — The last time the Orioles played at Great American Ballpark, they swept the Reds and allowed only three runs in the series behind an unhittable rotation.

>Cole Irvin extended his scoreless innings streak to 20 2/3; John Means tossed seven scoreless innings in his season debut; and Dean Kremer took a perfect game bid into the fifth inning as the offense broke out for 11 runs.

>That was in May 2024, when the Orioles were atop the American League East standings and one of the best teams in baseball. Just one month later, Baltimore’s slide began, and the ballclub has yet to get back to its dominant ways. In fact, the Orioles have been thoroughly mediocre over the past two calendar years.

>But on Friday, for at least for one night, the Orioles turned back the clock and looked like the team of old en route to a 3-0 win over the Reds.

>Trevor Rogers delivered yet another strong start, pitching five scoreless innings to continue his surge into the summer. The Orioles’ offense did something it’s rarely done this season, scoring early to get a lead and then building on it after Samuel Basallo, Rogers’ batterymate, blasted a two-run homer. And Baltimore’s bullpen was lights out, firing four clean innings to seal a second straight win shortly before the fireworks in nearby Newport, Kentucky, adorned the night sky.

>On Tuesday, the Orioles dropped their fourth straight game after president of baseball operations Mike Elias said he plans on “going for it” at the trade deadline. That loss to the Chicago White Sox, a second consecutive ugly one, was the Orioles’ rock bottom this season, falling to nine games below .500.

>But they’ve since won two straight games with two winnable contests remaining this weekend against the National League Central-worst Reds. Baltimore is now 41-48 and 4 1/2 games back of the Seattle Mariners (45-43) for the third and final wild-card spot in the mediocre AL.

>The only thing hotter than the temperature on Friday night on the banks of the Ohio River was Rogers’ fastball. The left-hander came out firing with heaters consistently in the mid-90s mph, including a 97.3-mph fastball that was the fastest of his Orioles career and hardest since Aug. 31, 2022, with the Miami Marlins.

>Rogers’ fastball is the key to his success. It was last season en route to his comeback campaign, during which he posted a 1.81 ERA in 18 starts. And it has been this season, as the fastball’s return to form has fueled his bounce back.

>While he didn’t have his command, issuing five walks to tie the second most in his career, Rogers worked around that to escape several jams and make it long enough to earn the win. Since his ERA reached a high of 6.96 in late May, Rogers has lowered it in each of his past seven starts. Since the start of June, Rogers has a 1.77 ERA, 0.98 WHIP and .187 batting average against — numbers that are almost identical to the ones he posted last season.

>Simply put, over the past month, Rogers has been back to his 2025 self.

>The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the first inning after Gunnar Henderson, who is adjusting swimmingly to the leadoff spot after manager Craig Albernaz moved him there Monday amid the superstar’s slump, reached on a walk, stole third base and scored on a throwing error by Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson.

>Two innings later, Basallo showed off his freakish power, clobbering a sinker from Brady Singer for a 375-foot homer to straightaway left field. The ball jumped off Basallo’s bat for an easy opposite-field homer, the 13th long ball of the 21-year-old’s rookie season.

>Albernaz left Rogers in to face lefty killer Eugenio Suárez, who represented the tying run, with two outs in the fifth, and the southpaw was fortunate as Suárez’s line drive was right at left fielder Taylor Ward.

>Rico Garcia, who has struggled since the start of June, then pitched two scoreless innings, and Yennier Cano followed with a clean eighth. In the first save situation since Ryan Helsley’s elbow injury, Albernaz went with Tyler Wells for the ninth inning.

>Wells retired the side in order for his first save since Sept. 28, 2023, when he capped off the Orioles’ AL East-clinching win and 100th victory of that season.