Orioles can't secure sweep against White Sox (updated)

A third fly ball landed on the other side of the fence today and an angry fan sitting near the Camden Yards press box couldn’t contain his emotions. Didn’t want to try.

“It’s the White Sox!” he yelled, the exit velocity of his words immeasurable.

A team that didn’t bring much energy to the series, lost the first two games by a combined 18-3 score and fired two senior members of the front office last week.

A team that fell behind by four runs this afternoon in the bottom of the first inning.

Kyle Gibson surrendered four in the top of the second and three more in the third, and the Orioles lost 10-5 before an announced crowd of 17,723 to deny them the sweep.

They went 18-9 this month and are 83-50 overall, with a 42^nd comeback win failing to materialize – even against the lowly White Sox.

Anthony Santander had an RBI double and his 26^th home run through the third inning. He drove in nine runs in the series, but the Orioles must wait to top last year’s victory total. They fly to Arizona later today.

Gibson worked eight innings in his last start, the longest outing by an Oriole, but he tied his season high with three homers surrendered. Andrew Vaughn and Oscar Colás had two-run shots in the top of the second inning for a 4-4 tie, the latter ball traveling 421 feet to right-center. Luis Robert Jr. cleared the center field fence in the third, Eloy Jiménez and Vaughn had back-to-back doubles, and Elvis Andrús singled for a 7-4 lead.

The same fan switched to “Take him out, Hyde!”  

Brandon Hyde didn’t make the move until Jiménez singled with one out in the fifth. Gibson was charged with seven runs and nine hits, with no walks and two strikeouts. He’s allowed nine or more hits in three of his last four starts.

"I just thought they had a nice approach off him," Hyde said. "He was throwing a lot of sinkers early. They weren't trying to pull it. They were using the big part of the field, drove a couple balls out to center on him. I thought he did better in the fourth and the fifth using his slider more, keeping them a little more off balance. Just had a rough time there those two innings."

"Just a lot of inconsistency," Gibson said. "I just didn't feel like, for as good as I felt warming up, even in the first inning, just didn't carry over. Just the month of August so far for me has been real inconsistent, not limiting damage. Offense did a great job getting runs early, and then giving right back there by not being able to make a pitch and get out of it, pretty frustrating."

Gibson has registered 14 quality starts this season, but his ERA rose to 5.15 today and he allowed 26 runs in 29 2/3 innings this month for a 7.89 ERA. Nine of those runs scored on Aug. 11 in Seattle, where he also gave up three homers.

"Had a bunch of quality starts, pitched really well for us, had a few that didn't really go his way early," Hyde said.

"I'm just going to sit down and try to take a look at it, see if there's something that stands out," Gibson said. "It's been just different outings. Some outings you execute a lot of pitches and give up hits, and today I felt like I didn't execute a whole lot and they took advantage of the ones I didn't execute. Maybe just a little bit of predictability, maybe just a little bit of looking too much into just being one side of the plate.

"Whatever it is, I'll dig in and see what it looks like. I've been in this spot before. Just try to keep grinding and keep looking for ways to get better."

The White Sox tallied three runs against Austin Voth in the sixth to lead 10-5. Two scored on Tim Anderson’s triple, which was first ruled a single and two-base error on Cedric Mullins after the ball scooted past him.

Mullins would have experienced the first two-error game of his career. He committed two this season before today and had none in 2022.

Dylan Cease was runner-up for the Cy Young Award in the American League last year, but he isn’t the same ace in 2023. He threw 30 pitches in the first inning today, which began with back-to-back doubles by Gunnar Henderson and Santander.

Ryan O’Hearn delivered an RBI single with one out, Cease drilled Mullins underneath his right arm with a 91.8 mph fastball and Adam Frazier singled off the out-of-town-scoreboard to score O’Hearn. Jordan Westburg gave the Orioles a 4-0 lead with a sacrifice fly to center field, and Cease’s pitch count froze at 30 because Frazier got caught in a rundown.

Frazier should have been out on the basepaths after breaking too soon for second base with Westburg at the plate. Cease threw behind him to Vaughn, who held the ball and gave Frazier his 50^th career steal.

Santander led off the third with his shot to right field, increasing his team lead to three over Henderson. He hit five on the homestand. His 79 RBIs are 10 short of his career high set last season.

Jorge Mateo reached on an infield hit with two outs in the fourth and was picked off. Henderson led off the fifth with a walk and was stranded. Westburg walked in the sixth and didn’t score. Mateo had a leadoff single in the seventh and Henderson grounded into a double play. Frazier and Westburg began the ninth with singles, but pinch-hitter Adley Rutschman grounded into a game-ending double play.

Cease threw 109 pitches in six innings and allowed five runs and six hits with seven strikeouts.

DL Hall tossed a scoreless seventh with one hit, walk and strikeout. Cionel Pérez and Jacob Webb also stranded runners.

The Rays play tonight and are two games behind the Orioles in the division race.

"I think you look at a 6-3 homestand, we won all three series, so never going to complain about that, you feel good about that," Hyde said.

"Having a 4-0 lead in the first inning against Dylan Cease, that's a good feeling, also, and we just didn't get it done after that. ... It's a little disappointing but you look at it as the total picture, you take a 6-3 homestand and enjoy an off-day tomorrow and go play the Diamondbacks."

"I think we're still playing really good baseball," Gibson said. "I think it's more frustrating when you have a good homestand and then you come out and put up those types of three innings to start the game and don't give the team a chance. But these guys are playing really good baseball and we like where we're at."

Note: Triple-A Norfolk’s Kyle Stowers (fractured nose) and Double-A Bowie’s Max Wagner (concussion) went on the injured list today.

Stowers was hit in the face last night by a pitch. Wagner was hit in the head by a throw.