Alexander's Two-RBI Single Breaks It Open for Baltimore
Blaze Alexander singled to left in the fourth inning, scoring two runs and swinging Baltimore's win probability from 60% to 81% in a single swing. The Orioles held on from there, beating Washington 3-1 behind a sharp outing from Trevor Rogers.
The story of the night was how quickly Baltimore seized control and how efficiently Rogers protected the lead. In the fourth, Alexander's single to left scored both Coby Mayo and Tyler O'Neill, pushing Holliday to second and giving Baltimore a 2-0 cushion. That one play — win probability jumping 20 points in an instant — was effectively the ballgame. Washington's Andrew Alvarez had already been navigating trouble, and the two-run deficit proved too steep to overcome against a Baltimore lineup that kept putting the ball in play.
Washington did answer in the fifth. Keibert Ruiz singled to center to score Jacob Young, cutting the deficit to 2-1 and giving the Nationals a pulse. But Baltimore wasn't done. In the seventh, Mayo — who had scored in the fourth — came back up and doubled to left, this time scoring Taylor Ward and pushing Alonso to third to make it 3-1. That insurance run looks, in hindsight, like the moment Washington's comeback window closed for good. Alvarez finished with 4.1 innings, allowing 6 hits, 2 earned runs, and 3 walks against 5 strikeouts — a workmanlike line that left the bullpen to absorb the rest. Brad Lord followed with 2.2 innings, giving up 1 earned run on 2 hits with 3 walks and 5 strikeouts, and Zak Kent closed out the ninth cleanly: 1.0 inning, no hits, no earned runs, 2 strikeouts.
On the Baltimore side, Rogers was the clear standout. He went 6.1 innings, scattered 5 hits, allowed just 1 earned run, issued zero walks, and struck out 7. That zero-walk line is worth emphasizing — against a Washington lineup that was clearly trying to work counts, Rogers simply didn't give them the free passes to build anything. Taylor Ward went 3-for-5 and scored a run, Mayo finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Alexander's 1-for-3 night with 2 RBI made him the most impactful bat in the box score. With the league hitting its midseason mark this week, Baltimore appears to be a team playing with real confidence right now — though whether that holds over the second half is a question the schedule will answer.