Pederson's 414-Foot Blast Sinks Baz's Masterpiece in Texas

Shane Baz threw eight innings of three-hit ball, struck out nine, and still lost. One swing from Joc Pederson — a 414-foot two-run homer in the sixth — was the entire difference in a 2-1 Texas win over Baltimore.

Baz was dominant from the first pitch. He went 8.0 innings, allowed just 3 hits and 2 earned runs, walked one, and punched out nine. On most nights, that line wins you a ballgame. The story of the night was that it wasn't enough, and the margin between a quality start and a loss came down to a single at-bat.

Baltimore actually drew first blood. In the second inning, Leody Taveras reached and eventually scored when Coby Mayo singled to center, putting the Orioles up 1-0. That lead held through five innings while Baz kept mowing through the Texas lineup. Nathan Eovaldi worked 5.1 innings for Texas, allowing 4 hits and 1 earned run — serviceable, but not the reason his team won. Then came the sixth. With Elias Díaz on base, Joc Pederson turned on a pitch and sent it 414 feet to right field. Two runs scored. BAL 1, TEX 2. The win probability swung from 44% to 74% on that single swing, and the game never recovered its equilibrium. Jacob Latz followed Eovaldi with 2.0 clean innings — 2 hits, 0 runs, 3 strikeouts — and Robby Ahlstrom handled the ninth without incident, finishing off a 1-0-0 line to close it out.

Pederson finished 1-for-4 with the homer, 2 RBI, and a run scored — every meaningful Texas offensive contribution on the night ran through him. On the Baltimore side, Taveras went 2-for-4 with a run, and Cowser reached base in two of his plate appearances, but the Orioles couldn't manufacture anything after the sixth. It looks like the kind of loss that stings hardest: Baz gave his team every reasonable chance to win, and the offense simply couldn't back him up after the early lead evaporated. Texas needed one big moment, got it from Pederson, and let their bullpen handle the rest.