Craig Albernaz will not be accused of pulling Trey Gibson too early for the second time in a week.
Last Wednesday, Gibson sat at 66 pitches at the end of the fourth inning. He’d settled in after allowing two early runs. Yet Albernaz turned the ball over to his bullpen, who surrendered a two-run lead in an extra-innings loss.
Gibson threw 12 more pitches Tuesday night against the White Sox, but one fewer strike. The rookie struggled to find the strike zone, doling out six walks. He exited two outs into the third inning, having surrendered eight runs, all earned.
Baltimore (39-48) went on to lose 9-3. The Orioles are a season-worst nine games below .500.
The night got off to a rocky start when Gibson labored through a 24-pitch first inning. He allowed an RBI double by Andrew Benintendi, but stranded the bases loaded and got through a scoreless second inning.
The wheels came off in the third, however. Seven straight batters reached before an out was recorded. Two of those batters – Colson Montgomery and nine-hole hitter Jacob Gonzalez – crushed long, loud home runs. Montgomery’s 440-foot blast will receive a plaque on Eutaw Street.
Gibson’s ERA ballooned to 7.36.
Albernaz spoke Monday night and again Tuesday afternoon about his team dealing with outside noise. But at times during both games, the noise was coming from inside the stadium, as boos rained down from a restless Oriole Park crowd.
With Dean Kremer’s return appearing imminent – Wednesday’s starter has yet to be announced, but Kremer was at the ballpark Tuesday – Gibson’s next start could come back in Triple-A Norfolk.
If nothing else, the Orioles can take solace in the fact that Gunnar Henderson’s restoration at the top of the lineup continued to yield positive results. After reaching base three times in the series opener, Henderson collected two hits in the middle game, including a double.
He singled and came around to score in the first on a Samuel Basallo base hit. He scored again in the fifth thanks to a Dylan Beavers double, his first hit since returning from the injured list Sunday.
Pete Alonso drove in the third Orioles run one batter later on an RBI single off right-hander Erick Fedde.
Albernaz pieced the rest of the game together with four relievers after yanking Gibson. Josh Walker, Andrew Kittredge, Albert Suárez and Rico Garcia mopped up the final 6 1/3 innings.
A massive heat wave is expected to descend on Baltimore as the Orioles face the White Sox in the series finale Wednesday. But the heat has been turned up for a while on this Orioles team.