The Boston Red Sox defeated the Baltimore Orioles 1-0 Friday as Mickey Gasper's first-inning home run off Shane Baz proved to be the game's only run, continuing a season-long them of Baz making quality starts but the Orioles offense providing him historically low run support.
Baltimore managed six hits to keep it interesting but could not push a run across and lost its fourth straight game, falling further out of position for the final American League wild-card spot with only a few weeks left in the regular season.
Ranger Suárez was dominant for Boston, working seven shutout innings and allowing five hits while striking out three and walking only one. Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman each added a scoreless inning to finish off the shutout.
Baz took the loss despite pitching into the seventh, going 6.1 innings while striking out six and allowing the one homer and walking only two on 95 pitches . "It was a good swing," Baz said, "and it ultimately decided it."
Blaze Alexander went 3-for-4 to pace Baltimore's offense and incited a benches- and bullpen-clearing dustup in the eighth inning -- "He's a fiery competitor," Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said -- but the O's bats went mostly quiet in the second game of a four-game set at home.
The benches have emptied and nobody knows what's going on.
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) September 5, 2026
Does this go back to the slide from Jahmai Jones last night? Blaze Alexander was working hard to try and get the crowd involved 😂 pic.twitter.com/ZmCDiBpL1g
The loss drops Baltimore to 69-73, leaving the Orioles two-and-a-half games back of the final American League wild-card spot with the postseason window narrowing.
A night after drilling two long balls in his return to Baltimore, Adley Rutschman went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
Bad Luck Baz
Baz dropped his ERA to below four (3.91), but was charged with his MLB-leading 15th loss of the year, with only five wins.
"This is the best version that I've been of myself, with the command, with my stuff, my mentality of how I'm able to stay locked in the whole game and stick to the game planning side of stuff," Baz said. "I feel like I'm better than I've ever been at that. You know, it's just taking it one game at a time and being as prepared as I can for my next start. I was happy with today."
He might have been the only one, but he's used to it. He's received around an average of three runs per game of offensive support in his starts. For whatever reason.
"I'm just trying to do my job and pitch as well as I can, just give us a chance," Baz said. "I'll never blame anybody else for something happening, or anything like that. It's easy to not think about."