By Jill Gattens, Rachel Veslany and Tim Klapac
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writers
Despite hitting three home runs in an offensive showcase on Towson University night at the ballpark, the Baltimore Orioles continued their season-long narrative of blowing leads, falling 7-6 Friday night to the Texas Rangers.
The loss moves the Orioles (46-95) closer to another 100-loss season and marks another three-game losing streak. The only suspense remaining in Baltimore’s season: whether the team’s win total will surpass the number of games it trails the New York Yankees by in the American League East standings.
Trailing 6-4, the Rangers loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the seventh inning after a misplayed ball by Orioles left fielder DJ Stewart resulted in a double. Reliever Paul Fry issued back-to-back walks.
Texas right fielder Shin-Soo Choo singled to score center fielder Scott Heineman to bring the Rangers within one run. In the next at-bat, shortstop Elvis Andrus singled to center to plate two more runs, giving Texas a 7-6 lead.
The offense was on display early as the Rangers took a 1-0 lead when left fielder Willie Calhoun homered with two outs in the top of the first inning.
Baltimore’s Trey Mancini answered with his 30th home run to knot the game up at 1-1, making him the team leader in home runs for the season. Mancini had been homer-less in his last 73 at-bats, dating back to Aug. 12 in New York.
The Orioles took a 4-1 lead after a three-run home run from Richie Martin in the bottom of the second inning. Martin’s two-RBI night was a season high. He hit his first home run in 97 at-bats.
The Rangers tied the game 4-4 in the top of the third inning with a three-run home run courtesy of Calhoun, his second of the game. This was Calhoun’s first multi-homer game and first career four-RBI game.
Anthony Santander blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning to put the Orioles up 6-4, extending his hitting streak to 11 games. Prior to the game, his 10-game streak ranked as the AL’s longest active hitting streak and tied for the third-longest active streak in the majors.
The Orioles bullpen was called on for relief in the sixth inning, and has often been the case this season, it didn’t come through. Orioles fans took notice, booing relief pitchers off the mound and cheering sarcastically when a strike was finally thrown.
The Orioles threatened in the bottom of the ninth inning with the game-winning run on second base with one out. But with a strikeout and a popout, the team left a total of six runners on base and went 2-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Fry took the loss (1-8) after allowing three runs on one hit, while issuing two walks as he faced three batters and recorded no outs.
Baltimore starting pitcher Dylan Bundy recorded the no-decision after going six innings, allowing five runs on eight hits, while striking out four and allowing one walk.
Rangers starting pitcher Brock Burke pitched six innings, allowing six runs on six hits while striking out one and allowing two walks. Reliever Jose Leclerc recorded his 11th save of the season.
“We just had that one bad inning, but other than that, we swung the bats well and Dylan pitched really good and we played good defense,” Martin said. “They just happened to score more runs than us, but I don’t think we should hang our heads. We played a good ballgame today.”
Added Baltimore manager Brandon Hyde: “It just didn’t happen tonight, but we did a nice job of battling. We scored runs, did some nice things offensively.”
Towson students, alumni and others flocked to Oriole Park at Camden Yards on one of the many Orioles “University Nights,” in which universities in the Baltimore area are honored throughout the tail end of the Major League Baseball season.
“It was a really awesome experience to have so many people out supporting both Towson and the Orioles,” said Brittany Fontz, a 2014 Towson graduate. “Hopefully they continue the tradition next year because it’s a great way to reconnect with old friends.”
Participants who purchased the proper ticket received a commemorative, TU-themed Orioles cap, and were placed in the 300-level of the stadium, behind home plate, leaving a perfect view of the ballpark.
The atmosphere felt calm for most of the night, as the game moved at a rapid pace until a slowdown in the seventh inning due to multiple pitching changes by both teams. The Orioles thanked members of the Towson family for their participation with a video board message in the third inning.
While Towson fans showed up in force, the rest of Camden Yards was relatively quiet — as it has been for much of the dismal second half of the season.