Orioles starting pitcher Shane Baz was understandably ticked off with second base umpire Nic Lentz in Sunday’s 6-4 loss to Toronto.
We all watched what happened in the bottom of the sixth inning, and one way of evaluating a controversial call is to ask whether anyone of consequence would be screaming about it if Blue Jays baserunner Ernie Clement had been called out for deviating more than three feet from his base path. I doubt it, but I’ll leave that thoroughly-covered debate to those who take much more enjoyment in the modern national pastime of complaining about sports officiating.
One can acknowledge a bad call while also confronting the Orioles’ significant hand in their own demise at Rogers Centre. Otherwise, they could have just left the field at that moment and taken an earlier flight home to Baltimore. There were three more innings to show some resolve, and they didn’t.
Baz also had a right to be annoyed with the infield defense’s part in transforming a 4-1 lead into a 5-4 deficit by the time the starter welcomed his teammates back to the dugout at the conclusion of that sixth inning. After all, Clement wouldn’t have even been on base to run halfway to Montreal if shortstop Gunnar Henderson didn’t boot a routine grounder that should have been the second out of the inning. Many have walked on eggshells regarding the 24-year-old’s disappointing start to 2026, but you need better in that situation from the guy who’s supposed to be your best player. To his credit, Henderson acknowledged that in his postgame comments to reporters.
There was also the lack of awareness and ill-advised glove flip from second baseman Jackson Holliday that allowed the go-ahead run to score from second base on the Nathan Lukes comebacker off Yennier Cano, who had just replaced Baz to try to close out the inning. Even a perfect flip to first base wasn’t going to get Lukes, so Holliday needed to put that one in his pocket to make sure Andres Gimenez didn’t do exactly what he did, which was round third base and keep on going.
Perhaps the next hitter, George Springer, still puts the Blue Jays ahead anyway, but Holliday’s play completed a sixth-inning collapse that consisted of poor pitches from Baz, shoddy defense, and yes, a bad call. It didn’t help that Baltimore squandered a golden opportunity to at least tie the game in the next inning.
That the Orioles failed to win a three-game set in which they won the opener in impressive fashion and had Kyle Bradish and Baz starting the next two days was disappointing enough, especially when they need every victory they can get to climb out of an early hole that bottomed out at eight games under .500 a few weeks ago. However, the defense playing such a pivotal part in Sunday’s defeat reminded too much of the season’s first two months. No one expects Gold Gloves from this collective group, of course, but more reliable defense has been part of the uptick that’s moved this club closer to .500.
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Entering Monday, Craig Albernaz’s club ranks 20th in defensive runs saved and 25th in outs above average while committing the 10th-most errors in the majors, and that’s even with the recent improvement. The steadier defense has shown up for a pitching staff that ranks fifth in starter ERA since May 22 despite ranking 29th in strikeout rate over that same stretch.
Defense matters even more to a team’s success when pitchers aren’t missing many bats, and that doesn’t figure to change much the rest of the way with Baltimore ranking 24th overall in strikeout rate.
If the Orioles are going to be good enough to contend the rest of the way and secure a playoff spot, the defense needs to make the routine plays and know where to go with the ball at the very least. That didn’t happen in Sunday’s fateful sixth inning, and they can’t blame the umpiring crew for it.
