Streak Busters: Baltimore Orioles Sweep the Astros, Then End Boston's Historic Run

For a team that spent most of the first half in the AL East basement, the Baltimore Orioles picked a fine week to become the most interesting spoiler in baseball. They came out of the All-Star break and swept the Astros in Houston to run their winning streak to seven, hit a wall at Fenway Park against a Red Sox club riding the hottest stretch in its 125-year history, and then, in Wednesday's nightcap, ended Boston's franchise-record-tying 15-game winning streak with a 5-1 win behind a freshly extended Kyle Bradish. A 4-2 week leaves Baltimore at 50-53, which isn't glamorous, but with the August 3 trade deadline looming and the front office insisting it's still going for it, the past seven days mattered more than most.

The Week That Was: A Clean Sweep in Houston

Baltimore opened the second half Friday night with a 3-2 win at Daikin Park, and it followed the template of most good Orioles wins lately: hang around, then strike late. Taylor Ward's two-run homer in the eighth flipped a 2-1 deficit, Cam Sanders picked up the win in relief, and Tyler Wells closed it out for his third save. Saturday's game needed 11 innings, and Baltimore won it 4-2 on small-ball chaos: Tyler O'Neill's infield single scored Gunnar Henderson, and Leody Taveras tacked on an insurance single. The play of the night came an inning earlier, when O'Neill caught Jose Altuve's fly ball and threw out Nick Allen at the plate to escape a bases-loaded, nobody-out mess in the 10th. Trevor Rogers had set the table with 6.1 innings of one-run ball and eight strikeouts.

Sunday's 5-2 win completed the sweep and made it seven straight, and it came with a degree of difficulty. Adley Rutschman sat with a sore wrist, and Samuel Basallo left early with shoulder discomfort, leaving the lineup short both catchers. No matter. Henderson singled in a run and stole home to make it 2-0, Taveras delivered a two-out, two-run single in the fifth, and Coby Mayo added his 13th homer of the season. Brandon Young, quietly one of the better stories on this pitching staff, went seven innings, allowed one run and struck out seven to improve to 8-2, while Houston starter Hunter Brown walked six and hit Ward with the second pitch of the game.

Fenway, Four Errors and a Streak Snapped: Baltimore Orioles News From Boston

Then came the Red Sox, who arrived at Monday night's sellout riding 13 straight wins and playing like a different franchise than the one Baltimore saw in April. The Orioles handed them number 14 in a 6-5 loss that stung precisely because it was winnable. Baltimore committed four errors, all on throws, including a two-out miscue by Jeremiah Jackson in the third that opened the door for a three-run Boston push. Christian Encarnacion-Strand's RBI single made it a one-run game in the sixth, and the Orioles put the tying run on against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth before O'Neill lined out to end it. Manager Craig Albernaz's club knew it, too; Jackson said afterward that it was a game they probably should have taken.

Tuesday's game was pushed into a Wednesday doubleheader, and the opener went badly. Dean Kremer was tagged for six runs over six innings in a 6-3 loss, most of the damage arriving in a four-run first built on Caleb Durbin's two-run single and Jarren Duran's two-run triple. Encarnacion-Strand homered and finished with three hits, but Chapman slammed the door for his 23rd save and Boston's 15th consecutive win, tying the 1946 Ted Williams club for the longest streak in Red Sox history.

The nightcap belonged to Baltimore. The Orioles jumped starter Eduardo Rivera for four first-inning runs, capped by Dylan Beavers' two-run single, and Bradish did the rest, holding Boston to one run on four hits over six innings in his first start since signing a five-year, $90 million extension over the weekend. Three relievers allowed one hit the rest of the way, Masataka Yoshida's RBI single stood as the Red Sox's only run, and the streak died at 15. Money well spent, at least for a night.

Standout Performances

The rotation carried the week. Bradish's streak-snapper was the headline, but Rogers has been the steadier hand: per the broadcast notes out of Houston, he owns a 1.23 ERA over his last six starts, which is the kind of run that gets a pending free agent's name into every deadline conversation. Young's seven-inning gem in the sweep finale pushed his record to 8-2 and reinforced that the Orioles' second-half rotation is deeper than anyone expected in April.

Offensively, the contributions came from the supporting cast. Taveras drove in runs in back-to-back wins in Houston. Beavers had the biggest swing of the doubleheader split. Encarnacion-Strand was the best Orioles hitter in Boston, homering in the opener Wednesday and scratching out runs Monday. Ward's eighth-inning homer on Friday won a game by itself, and Henderson's steal of home Sunday was the week's most delightful highlight, even in a season where his overall numbers remain below his 2023-24 standard. Wells took the loss Monday on Durbin's eighth-inning homer, a reminder that the late innings remain this roster's thinnest area.

Where the Baltimore Orioles Stand in the AL East

The ledger reads 50-53, fourth in the AL East, roughly nine and a half games behind first-place Tampa Bay and well clear of last-place Toronto. The division is functionally out of reach; the wild card is not. Baltimore entered the week's end about two games behind the third AL wild-card spot, with Seattle, Texas and Minnesota among the teams packed in between. Going 11-5 over the last 16 games has turned the Orioles from an obvious seller into something more complicated, which is exactly the situation president of baseball operations Mike Elias described in late June when he told reporters, per CBS Sports, "we're going for it. I'll let you know if that changes."

Injuries and Roster Moves: The Catching Crisis Is Real

The week's biggest problem wasn't a loss; it was the injury report. Baltimore is now without both of its catchers.

• Adley Rutschman went on the injured list Monday with left wrist inflammation, his third IL stint of the season. He's eligible to return July 29 but told reporters he doesn't know the exact timeline.
• Samuel Basallo followed him Wednesday, hitting the 10-day IL with right shoulder inflammation after leaving Sunday's game. Johnathan Rodriguez was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk in the corresponding move.
• Sam Huff and Chadwick Tromp split the doubleheader behind the plate and will carry the position for now.
• The longer-term IL group still includes Felix Bautista (shoulder), Jordan Westburg (elbow), Zach Eflin (elbow), Ryan Helsley (elbow) and Chris Bassitt (back), who has been vocal about wanting to return this season.

On the deadline front, The Baltimore Banner has reported that industry sources expect a mix of buying and selling rather than an all-in push, with expiring contracts like Ward, Rogers and Andrew Kittredge the most discussed names. Treat all of that as reporting, not fact, but the math is simple: how Baltimore plays over the next 10 days decides which way Elias leans by 6 p.m. on August 3.

What's Next: Braves, Tigers and a Deadline Clock

The schedule now brings the Orioles home for the first time since the break.

• July 24-26: vs. Atlanta Braves at Camden Yards, a three-game interleague set opening the homestand.
• July 27-29: at Detroit Tigers, three games at Comerica Park.
• July 31: the Philadelphia Phillies arrive in Baltimore to open the next home series, with the trade deadline following on August 3.

Watch three things: whether Huff and Tromp can keep the pitching staff on track without Rutschman and Basallo, whether Rogers keeps dealing as his market heats up, and how the front office reads a soft-ish stretch of schedule against two beatable opponents.

Nobody should book October plans around a team three games under .500. But the Baltimore Orioles just swept a series, extended their best starter, and personally ended the longest winning streak in Red Sox history, all in one week. If the next 10 days look anything like the last 10, the deadline in Baltimore gets very interesting, and this week will be remembered as the one where the season stopped feeling over.