The Baltimore Orioles were reeling in the clubhouse after a rash of deadline trades, but they will look to add to some of their recent encouraging on-field developments on Thursday afternoon in the series finale against the visiting Los Angeles Angels.
The Orioles will be aiming for a three-game sweep.
Three home runs produced all of Baltimore’s runs in a 5-2 victory on Wednesday.
Still, the Orioles haven’t totally extinguished all of their offensive woes. In their victories the past two days, they produced a total of 10 hits. Over the past four games, Baltimore is averaging 4.3 hits and two runs.
On the plus side, Tyler O’Neill, who has slumped for much of the season, homered on both Tuesday and Wednesday.
“He’s been working his tail off all year to get the feels that he wants, and obviously the results, especially early in the year, haven’t been there,” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “But it’s a testament to T.O., his hard work and not wavering from anything, and really owning it and stepping into the adversity that he’s been facing. Now we get to see him come out the other side.”
Still, the Orioles are searching for ways to jump-start their offense.
They tried outfielder Christian Franklin as the leadoff hitter on Wednesday in his second major league game. He went 0-for-3 and struck out twice before he was lifted for a pinch hitter, but he is bound to be given another chance there at some point.
“We’re extremely confident that he can take the leadoff spot,” Albernaz said. “The only thing that changes is you hit first one time and that’s it.”
After Baltimore dealt Taylor Ward to the Seattle Mariners on Monday, Jeremiah Jackson, normally an infielder, was in left field on Wednesday.
“We want to give him and all of our players every opportunity to step in and be in the starting lineup,” Albernaz said. “And with J.J.’s versatility, it’s still developing, but that’s a big asset for him if he can go out and play left field.”
The Angels will have right-hander Ryan Johnson (2-6, 7.63 ERA) as their starting pitcher for the series finale. He went 1-3 with a 7.89 ERA in five July outings.
“We saw some glimpses of the capabilities of being a reliable starter,” Los Angeles manager Kurt Suzuki said of Johnson, who will be making his 10th big-league start and 13th appearance of the season. “With his youth on his side, we feel like giving him another opportunity was fair.”
Across his last six appearances, Johnson has surrendered a total of seven home runs. In his start before that stretch, he posted six shutout innings of one-hit ball against the Orioles in a home victory on June 23, striking out eight and walking one. That was his only career meeting with Baltimore.
Right-hander Brandon Young (8-2, 3.31 ERA) will get the ball for the Orioles. In his last seven starts, he’s 3-0 with each of the victories coming in road games.
This will be Young’s third shot at collecting his ninth victory after most recently giving up four runs in 5 2/3 innings to the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday. In parts of two major league seasons, he has never faced the Angels.
The Thursday game ends a six-game homestand for the Orioles, who begin a 10-game road trip on Friday when they visit the Texas Rangers.
Going into the final 2026 meeting between the teams, Baltimore holds a 3-2 edge vs. Los Angeles.
–Field Level Media
