Slow start, fast finish: O's whip White Sox, 13-3 in series opener (updated)

The start to the Orioles' latest homestand, which began with them playing easily the worst team in the majors, could have gone better.

Right-hander Corbin Burnes, who began today with an 8.59 ERA over his last three starts and 7.36 over his past five, gave up a couple of soft hits and both runners scored in the top of the first to give the Chicago White Sox a 2-0 lead.

One of those two runs was unearned, thanks to an error by first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, and the O’s gave up 90 feet on the bases overthrowing the cutoff man. Not a sharp start to the series.

They were playing a White Sox team that fell to 31-107 with Sunday's defeat to set a franchise record for losses. They had lost 10 in a row and 14 of 15, and were 4-40 the last 44 games.

They came to Baltimore with the second-worst major league record after 138 games since the Philadelphia A’s (30-107-1) of 1916.

The pressure was on the Orioles to get some wins.

And after their slow start, they got the lead in the third, added on two innings later and blew the game open in the sixth, scoring six runs. The Orioles hammered the Sox 13-3 to open their homestand with a win and get to 80-59 in front of a Labor Day crowd of 35,906 at Camden Yards.

For now, they pull into a first-place tie with the Yankees atop the American League East pending the Yankees' game tonight at Texas.

Burnes used to crank out six-inning starts. He got the win today but completed just five innings, coming up short of six for the fifth time his last six games.

But he settled in after the first and did not allow another run. Over the five frames he gave up six hits and the two runs (one earned), allowing one walk and getting four strikeouts. He improved to 13-7 with a 3.19 ERA, throwing 89 pitches. It was his first win since Aug. 4 at Cleveland.

The O’s cut their two-run deficit to one when Gunnar Henderson hit his ninth leadoff homer of the year to begin the O’s first. He drilled Chris Flexen’s fastball 397 feet with 108.2 exit velocity. That was No. 34 for Henderson and a milestone home run, as he tied Cal Ripken Jr. (1991) and Miguel Tejada (2004) for most homers in a year by an Oriole shortstop.

The Orioles have hit 12 leadoff homers this year to tie the club record set by the 1996 Birds. Brady Anderson hit all 12 that year.

The O’s had frustrations early today on offense, like after Henderson’s homer when they had runners at second and third with no outs but did not score.

Through the fourth inning today they led 3-2 but also had left eight on base to that point, going 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position.

But they would push two across in the third for a 3-2 lead they would not later relinquish. Struggling Adley Rutschman flared a hit to left and O’Hearn walked. Anthony Santander’s RBI single tied it up and Austin Slater’s two-out double, following back-to-back strikeouts, was clutch and provided a 3-2 lead.

The O’s added two in the fifth to lead 5-2. Cedric Mullins singled, Slater was hit by a pitch and the bases became loaded when Jackson Holliday hit a bouncer to the mound. Reliever Fraser Ellard threw high to second trying to get a force and everyone was safe. Henderson’s sac fly made it 4-2 and gave him two RBIs today and four in his last two games. Rutschman’s single to center made it 5-2.

In the sixth, the O’s started cashing in with runners in scoring position, delivering a six-run inning that made this an 11-2 game.

That inning started with two walks, and then Mullins’ RBI double made it 6-2 and Slater’s two-run single to left made it 8-2 and gave him a three-hit, three-RBI day. Emmanuel Rivera’s two-run triple made it 10-2 and Henderson’s grounder made it 11-2 and gave him a three-RBI day.

Corey Julks' RBI single in the eighth off Cole Irvin completed the scoring for the White Sox as Chicago fell to 31-108 overall, 13-54 on the road and 0-5 against the Orioles. That is 11 straight losses. 

The O's made it 13-3 in the home eighth on Cedric Mullins' two-run shot to right, his 14th homer of the season. 

The O’s were finally pouring it on against this bad Sox team. Their 13 runs were the most they've put up since scoring 17 on June 20 at the Yankees. They went 4-for-6 with RISP in the sixth inning today.

The O's have scored 13 or more runs three times this year. Baltimore had 18 hits, marking the third time in 2024 they have had that many or more. Their season high was 20, on June 20 at New York.  

The O's finished the day going 7-for-23 with RISP with 16 left on base. And Irvin got a rare three-inning save. Yes, in a 10-run game.

A few postgame quotes:

Manager Brandon Hyde on 13 runs: “Beginning of the game was really frustrating because we left so many runners out there. Our bats weren’t the best there with multiple runners on base the first few innings. But fortunately, we broke it open there in the sixth, got some big hits. Austin Slater with a great day. And Emmanuel with big day too. So I thought once we kind of got into their bullpen the bats were really good.”

Hyde on Slater’s .836 OPS with the Orioles: “I think he was hurt a little bit beginning of the year. He had some good years with the Giants on good teams, kind of in that platoon role. But I wanted to get (Anthony) Santander off his feet today playing the outfield. Really comfortable with Austin in three spots in the outfield. Gives you a professional at-bat. He’s a really smart player. He understands the game really, really well and will give you everything he has at the plate. Had a big role on some good teams in San Francisco.”

Hyde with more on the offense: “This second half we haven’t had many games like this. It’s usually - and today it was, too - 3-2 in the fifth. That is about what it is most nights. And hopefully this gives our hitters some confidence, too, with a bunch of guys grinding offensively, and they have been for a while. You start seeing your numbers improve on the board and get a couple of hits, you come to the park a little bit differently the next day."

Slater on a big day for the batters: “It’s a ton of fun, especially when everyone one through nine contributes like that. I think that’s the offense we believe that we are, and it was fun to see it come out today, especially after a tough travel last night. To come out the way we did today showed a lot of toughness, and I think it, hopefully, turns the tides for us here.”

Burnes on his outing: “When we get back to getting weak contact and getting some quick outs, some outs on the ground, we’re in a good spot. First inning, two baseballs that I don’t think I could have thrown any better for hits. That led to a run there. Other than that we made some pitches to get out of some jams, ball on the ground, weak contact, swing-and-miss, definitely tended to trend in the right direction.”

Burnes loved getting a lot of soft contact: “I know that when I’m getting soft contact I’m in a good spot. Sometimes there’s not much you can do about it. Some guys go out there and put some bat on the ball that they don’t normally do. But yeah, I mean, it’s tough knowing I’m making good pitches and getting good contact. Most of the time, it’s gonna go for outs. But occasionally you’re gonna go through the stretch that you’re in and then everything falls in, feels like you’re start getting singled to death. But made some pitches and got out of it. It’s easy to try to make an adjustment when you’re getting weak contact. I’ve done this long enough I know that when I’m getting weak contact and making good pitches that things are gonna turn in my favor, eventually."