ATLANTA — The Orioles and Braves entered this weekend’s series as near-mirror images of one another.
When the season began, both teams had World Series aspirations anchored by talented, mostly homegrown lineups. Injuries and underperformance have caused them to play well below expectations, placing them outside the playoff picture heading into Friday’s series opener.
The Orioles (40-49) showed there is a difference between them this weekend, however, sweeping the Braves (39-50) with a 2-1 win Sunday afternoon. Trevor Rogers continued his resurgence with 6 2/3 shutout innings and Jackson Holliday went 4-for-4 at the plate and smacked his 11th home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third that proved to be the difference.
It’s not the first time Rogers and Holliday have combined to lead the Orioles to a win, but both put together some of their best performances of the season on Sunday. Rogers held a Braves lineup that was without Ronald Acuña Jr. and Marcell Ozuna to four hits and two walks with six strikeouts, working efficiently despite showcasing less velocity with his pitches compared with his first four starts.
He lowered his season ERA to 1.57 with the effort, further demonstrating that he is a different pitcher than the one who was demoted to Triple-A after recording a 7.11 ERA in four starts with Baltimore in 2024 after being acquired from the Miami Marlins at last year’s trade deadline.
Holliday became just the fourth player in Orioles history to record multiple four-hit games at 21 years old or younger, joining Manny Machado, Eddie Murray and Brooks Robinson. He finished a triple shy of the cycle, collecting three of Baltimore’s four hits off Braves starter Grant Holmes.
None was bigger than the home run, which snuck over the right field wall at a Statcast-projected 375 feet. The Orioles’ offense otherwise struggled to string together any rallies and finished 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on the day.
Rogers gave way to Yennier Cano with two outs in the seventh, and the right-hander stranded a runner at third with a groundout to end the frame. He then went back out for the eighth and worked around a leadoff single by right fielder Stuart Fairchild to record two outs before Gregory Soto came in and struck out first baseman Matt Olson.
Seranthony Domínguez, who wasn’t available the past two days with back soreness after he slept on it awkwardly, got the save opportunity with closer Félix Bautista unavailable because he pitched the previous two nights.
He gave up a solo home run to catcher Sean Murphy to end his 16 1/3-inning scoreless streak and allowed the tying run to reach when second baseman Ozzie Albies singled, but he struck out Drake Baldwin and got Michael Harris II to ground out and secure the victory.
Instant analysis
As the Orioles await word on whether any of their players will join Ryan O’Hearn at the All-Star Game back in Atlanta next week, Holliday has one of the best cases among the rest of their roster.
Even if he doesn’t make the initial roster, he’s been among the most productive second basemen in the American League this season as his four-hit performance Sunday raised his season slash line to .260/.309/.415. He’s tied with Cedric Mullins for the second-most homers on the team and has nine stolen bases.
Holliday still has room to grow with his plate discipline, but it’s a scary thought for the rest of the league to imagine what the 21-year-old will be able to do once he becomes more polished.
On deck
The Orioles return to Baltimore after wrapping up a 4-2 road trip. They have a day off on Monday before the New York Mets come to town for another clash against a National League East opponent. Right-hander Brandon Young is set to start for the Orioles opposite Clay Holmes, who has a 2.99 ERA in 17 starts for the Mets this season after being converted from a reliever.
This article will be updated. Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/ByMattWeyrich and instagram.com/bymattweyrich.
