BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles made a pitching change in the seventh inning on Sunday, bringing in left-hander Gregory Soto to face left-handed hitter Mike Tauchman.
The designated hitter got the better of the lefty-lefty matchup, homering to right field to bring the Chicago White Sox to within one run at Camden Yards.
But that was the final hit for the Sox in a 3-2 loss in front of 33,037.
The Sox (18-41) were swept in the three-game series in which they only scored five runs.
“We just weren’t able to score runs, really this whole road trip,” manager Will Venable said. “We’re right there in a lot of these games and play well. Just offensively, need to find a way to score some runs.”
The Orioles weren’t much better offensively, scoring a combined nine runs in the three games. But that was still enough as the Sox were swept for the sixth time this season.
Here are three takeaways from Camden Yards.
1. The trend of close losses continued for the Sox.
Three Orioles’ relievers combined to retire the final seven hitters on Sunday as the Sox fell to 3-15 in one-run games.
It was their second one-run loss of the series after a 2-1 defeat on Friday. The Sox lost 4-2 on Saturday and are 2-8 in two-run games.
“We know on the positive side that we’re in these games, we’re doing a lot of things well to be in close games,” Venable said. “At the same time, you’ve got to find ways to score runs.
“And it feels like a lot of these games we walk away saying, ‘We pitched well, we defended well, we just didn’t really score.’ So just got to find ways.”
Tauchman, Chase Meidroth and Andrew Benintendi each had two hits on Sunday. But the Sox went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base.
Luis Robert Jr., dropped to seventh in the order on Sunday, went 0-for-2, reaching on a walk and catcher’s interference. He finished 0-for-10 with seven strikeouts in the series.
The Sox are 0-11 in road games decided by one run this year. Overall, they are 6-26 away from Rate Field.
2. The Sox couldn’t get much going against Charlie Morton.
Adrian Houser did not surrender a run in his first two starts after signing with the Sox on May 20, a stretch of 12 innings.
That streak came to an end in the third inning Sunday on an RBI single by Ramón Urías. The Orioles scored twice in the inning.
They looked to build on the 2-0 lead in the fourth with Heston Kjerstad on third and one out. Sox catcher Edgar Quero caught Kjerstad a little too far off third and threw him out as he tried to return to the base.
“That was huge,” Houser said. “It might have saved one run but on the books it probably saved five. That’s a big out at third base, especially there with (Maverick Handley) up about to flip the lineup back over and I was able to get the nine-hole there (striking out Handley). That was a huge out for me.”
Houser allowed three runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and one walk in 6 1/3 innings.
He kept the club in the game, but the Sox couldn’t get much going against Charlie Morton. The right-hander allowed one run (none earned) on six hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in 6 2/3 innings.
“Morton did a good job mixing it up,” Venable said. “The guy still spins the ball incredibly well and he’s got the good sinker. He made it tough on us.”
3. The relievers showed their speed during Saturday’s brief bench-clearing incident.
While neither offense was explosive throughout the series, there were some brief fireworks of a different variety on Saturday when both benches emptied after Coby Mayo lunged to make contact with Sox second baseman Lenyn Sosa during a rundown.
The fourth-inning dust-up meant a little extra running for relievers making their way from the bullpens beyond the left-center field wall.
“We always have the joke, why don’t the bullpens just fight in the outfield?” Sox reliever Cam Booser told the Tribune with a chuckle on Sunday morning. “Save our breaths and just give them the two shows for the price of one. You’ve got one right out on the warning track and one in the infield.”
Both bullpens are in the same area at Camden Yards, leading to traffic on the way to the field.
“It’s always kind of silly when there’s one door and you’re kind of, ‘After you. After you,’” Booser said. “You all file out and then you’re racing one another to try to get there first. And by the time you get there, it’s usually over.”
Sosa appreciated the support from all his teammates. And Venable noted the team’s tightness.
“These guys are a group that’s connected and have each other’s back,” Venable said Saturday. “And I think more than anything, just want to make sure that everyone stays safe out there and stays out of trouble. So the guys did a good job of handling the situation.”
