Orioles blow 5-0 lead after Rogers leaves too late

Orioles blow – Trevor Rogers snapped out of his pitching funk and carried a 5-0 lead into the seventh, shutting out the Blue Jays through six. Then two straight two-run homers changed everything, and the Orioles’ late-game reversal ended in a 6-5 loss at Camden Yards. The de

Trevor Rogers walked to the edge of his pitching night with something the Orioles hadn’t had much of lately: rhythm.

He shut out the Blue Jays heading into the seventh and built a 5-0 lead. After that? What happened after the sixth inning was hard to watch.

In the seventh, Rogers allowed a pair of two-run homers. He didn’t retire a batter, and he sat with his head bowed as Charles McAdoo circled the bases in his major league debut.

Yennier Cano took over in the eighth—two nights after exiting with hamstring tightness—and the Blue Jays scored twice in a 6-5 victory before an announced crowd of 25,494 at Camden Yards.

The stunning reversal left the Orioles with a 26-32 record and three games behind Toronto for third place. The best they can do from here is split the series to conclude the homestand.

By the time Rogers was done, Tyler Wells had already replaced him and retired his three batters after the change. But the eighth inning quickly tilted back toward Toronto.

George Springer and Ernie Clement began the eighth with singles. They scored on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 110.1 mph line-drive double to left field. Keegan Akin stranded Guerrero at third base.

Clement’s two-out error in the ninth kept the Orioles alive, but Braylon Fisher recorded his first save.

Rogers did lower his ERA from 6.96 to 6.84. The improvement mattered—but it wasn’t the moment that decided the game.

Manager Craig Albernaz later admitted the decision that mattered most was the timing. He conceded he should have pulled Rogers sooner.

“Yeah, absolutely. Yeah,” Albernaz said. “That’s a struggle. Leaving him in too late. He was efficient with his pitches and where the ‘pen was, but yeah, left him out there too long.

“He hasn’t gone more than five innings since April 7.”

Rogers acknowledged the same problem from the mound.

“I was getting tired towards the end,” Rogers said. “But until Alby takes the ball out of my hand. I’m going to give it everything I’ve got for the guys. I think it was a learning moment for both of us. I think I probably should have, sixth inning, put my ego aside and probably turn it to the bullpen. But this game’s about learning, and we’ll make adjustments.”.

Albernaz said he didn’t consider sending Wells back out for the eighth after he threw six pitches.

“Cano, that’s what we earmarked,” Albernaz said. “We know there was a string of righties. They weren’t going to pinch-hit for that spot in the order. We love the matchups with Cano and he’s been throwing the ball extremely well. We were more than comfortable bringing him in there.”

The game’s swing came after Rogers’ fast start. Guerrero singled to lead off the seventh and Kazuma Okamoto hit a two-run homer. Daulton Varsho doubled while Wells was warming. and Albernaz stuck with Rogers before McAdoo barely cleared the right field fence on his debut—landing in the first row and beating the leaping attempt of Colton Cowser.

For Orioles fans, there was a strange contrast: Rogers looked like the pitcher who had found something before the seventh.

“He threw the ball extremely well tonight,” Albernaz said. “Getting out of some jams early, too. He was efficient with his pitches. I love. like we talked about before the game. the fastball locations were right where they needed to be. and it opened up the changeup. And the bigger breaking ball, the sweeper, was on full display, too. So he did a great job tonight.”.

Braylon Holliday agreed.

“That was awesome,” Holliday said. “It was awesome watching him do his thing, especially playing behind him. Just one inning that they kind of put some good swings on the ball. Probably yesterday or the day before, that’s not a homer. But, yeah, I thought he threw the ball great. It was fun to watch.”.

Rogers’ turnaround began long before the damage. He retired 12 in a row before Brandon Valenzuela doubled with one out in the sixth. George Springer walked, and Clement grounded into a 4-3 double play.

Rogers came back out with his pitch count at 74, threw 10 more, and headed for the dugout after the damage started to form. The applause was polite—until the homers landed.

Earlier, the Orioles had taken control with a mix of early chances and clean execution.

Varsho tripled to center field with one out in the second. Leody Taveras was unable to make the catch at the fence, but McAdoo struck out and Myles Straw lined to Jackson Holliday at 103.2 mph.

Rogers’ numbers looked like stability: he threw 28 pitches, 22 for strikes, through the third inning, then 39 pitches, 30 for strikes, through the fourth.

Rogers said he was encouraged throughout, pointing to a specific change.

“I was very encouraged,” he said. “I was avoiding the middle of the plate, something I did really well last year, and I was really encouraged. I think there’s a lot of positives that we can take into the next one.”

When asked what changed in the seventh, Rogers said it wasn’t effort—it was decision-making on the mound.

“I think I just got too amped up and just went back to trying to blow fastballs by guys. The third time up, they’re ready for heaters. I’ll learn from it. That’s on me. We should have won the game and just got to be better.”

The defense supported him early, including Taylor Ward’s diving catch near the line in the third.

The Orioles scored early against Austin Voth, who entered the game as the bulk reliever and made the most of his matchup with a few sharp innings—until the Orioles found a way to pile on.

Tonight’s lineup was designed more for Voth, who entered the game with two outs in the second inning.

Samuel Basallo had a left-on-left single against Adam Macko in the second inning. Macko made his first major league start after six relief appearances. Taveras also singled, but Coby Mayo lined out to center field against Voth at 109.1 mph.

Voth surrendered a leadoff single to Holliday in the third and walked three straight batters to force in the game’s first run. Voth walked Adley Rutschman on four pitches to break the scoreless tie, and Basallo lifted a sacrifice fly to left field.

Holliday deposited a splitter onto the flag court with two outs in the fourth inning for a 3-0 lead. Halfway to the cycle.

Pete Alonso homered to right-center with two outs in the fifth, and Basallo cleared the fence in left—also putting him halfway to the cycle—and giving the Orioles a 5-0 lead.

Alonso has 11 homers and Basallo got his ninth.

Holliday said he felt good at the plate.

“I feel good,” Holliday said. “I feel like I’m seeing the ball good. I’ve enjoyed working with the hitting guys and trying to keep simple thoughts up there. I’m happy with where I’m at.”

After the fifth inning, the Orioles didn’t get another hit.

“Maybe they just executed pitches better,” Holliday said. “Thought we swung the bat really well the first half of the game, and sometimes that happens. Sometimes they make good pitches and hitting is really hard.”

Ward’s early spark kept coming even while his broader month has lagged. He had a leadoff single in the first inning for his fourth hit in the last three games. His numbers are down this month, but he has a hit in 13 of his last 16 games. His on-base percentage in May was .351 before tonight, and after tonight he drew another walk.

Up and down the organization, the Orioles also had their own moving parts.

They signed right-hander Chris Kachmar. 29. to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Norfolk. where he started tonight and tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings with one hit. Kachmar hasn’t pitched in the majors. He made 24 combined appearances in 2025 with Double-A Knoxville and Triple-A Iowa in the Cubs organization, posting a 5.22 ERA in 24 starts.

The Cubs drafted Kachmar in the 28th round in 2019 out of Lipscomb University. He had a 4.46 ERA and 1.364 WHIP in 106 games before tonight.

Heston Kjerstad delivered an RBI double in the first inning.

Elsewhere in the system, Norfolk outfielder Jhonkensy Noel was transferred to the development list. Noel is batting .121/.217/.243 with four doubles and three home runs in 30 games.

In Double-A Chesapeake, Sabastian Gongora allowed two runs and two hits in 6 2/3 innings at Erie. Shortstop Griff O’Ferrall had four hits and four RBIs. Catcher Ethan Anderson. first baseman Adam Retzbach and center fielder Fernando Peguero had three hits. and Aron Estrada belted his seventh home run.

In Single-A Delmarva, Stephen Still allowed an unearned run and struck out five in four innings.

The night belongs to what happened in that seventh inning—where Rogers’ strong work unraveled fast, and where the Orioles’ lead turned into the kind of loss that lingers.

They’ll regroup and try to split the homestand series, but the way they let a 5-0 game slip will be the detail that fans remember when they look back at this one.

Orioles Trevor Rogers Blue Jays Camden Yards Charles McAdoo Yennier Cano Craig Albernaz Braylon Fisher Kazuma Okamoto