The Baltimore Orioles finished the first half of the season with a 38-43 record and in fourth place in the American League East, 10 1/2 games out of first place.
But the Orioles have a chance to start the second half on a more positive note Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim, Calif., as they try to finish a challenging nine-game western road swing with a winning record and back-to-back series victories.
Right-hander Trey Gibson (1-2, 5.81 ERA) will make his sixth major league start for the Orioles in the rubber game of a three-game series with the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday and will oppose right-hander Jose Soriano (8-4, 3.03).
Baltimore started the trip by losing two of three games in Seattle but won the final two contests of its three-game series with the two-time reigning World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Orioles, behind eight shutout innings by Kyle Bradish, won Monday night’s series opener with the Angels 6-1 but were no-hit for 5 1/3 innings by Ryan Johnson in a 5-1 loss on Tuesday.
That was the third career start for the 23-year-old Johnson.
So there’s a lot of momentum to be gained for the Orioles in Wednesday’s series finale for Baltimore, which would finish the trip with a 5-4 record with a win.
Infielder Coby Mayo, who hit his 10th homer of the season on Monday, called his team’s first half start to the season “decent.”
“Obviously, we want to play better,” Mayo said after the Orioles managed just three singles in Tuesday’s loss. “I think this team is more than capable of playing better baseball. Obviously, it’s baseball and there’s going to be some good times and some bad times and some in-between. … First half is done now, and we have a lot more games to play.”
Gibson, who will make his first career appearance against the Angels, was Baltimore’s Minor League Pitcher of the Year in 2025 and was ranked the organization’s No. 3 prospect by Baseball America.
He enters Wednesday’s game off a no-decision in his most recent start Friday against the Dodgers, when he allowed three runs on seven hits over five innings. He walked four and struck out eight but was denied his second major league win when the Dodgers rallied for three runs in the bottom of the ninth against closer Ryan Helsey for a 6-5 win.
Soriano, who is 0-1 with an 0.00 ERA in two career relief appearances against Baltimore, also suffered from a bullpen meltdown in his most recent start on Friday against the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif. He left with an 11-4 lead after five innings, allowing four runs on six hits and four walks while striking out six. But the A’s rallied for a 12-11 victory in 10 innings.
The Angels finished the first half with a 33-48 mark and a .407 win percentage, worst in the American League. Still, they will try for their third straight home series victory on Wednesday following Johnson’s brilliant performance on Tuesday to even the series.
Johnson, who entered the contest with a 12.83 ERA in five games this season, held the Orioles without a hit until one out in the sixth inning, when Jeremiah Jackson lined a single to center. Johnson walked one and struck out a career-high eight over six shutout innings.
“He was attacking with the fastball,” Angels manager Kurt Suzuki said. “Threw some good cutters, some sweepers, changeups. I thought he was just executing his pitches down in the zone, up when he had to be. I thought he was great.”
–Field Level Media
