The Baltimore Orioles earned a 2-0 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night at Camden Yards, driven by a dominant performance from starting pitcher Charlie Morton and solo home runs from Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano. The game featured two weather delays and was Baltimore’s 20th win in the last 25 meetings between the two clubs.
Morton recorded a season-high 10 strikeouts over five innings, allowing four hits and no runs. The right-hander improved to 3-7 on the season, navigating through early threats and shutting down the Angels’ offense before heavy rain halted play in the fifth inning. After giving up consecutive singles to start the fourth, Morton quickly settled down, striking out LaMonte Wade Jr. and inducing two groundouts to end the inning unscathed. He struck out Zach Neto to begin the fifth before the second weather delay prompted his removal from the game.
The Orioles struck early against Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz, who fell to 3-8 with the loss. O’Hearn hit the first pitch of the second inning over the right field fence for his 10th home run of the season, giving Baltimore a 1-0 lead. In the fifth inning, Laureano added insurance with a solo homer to left, his eighth of the year. The rain returned shortly after Ramón Urías singled with one out in that inning, prompting the game’s second stoppage.
Kochanowicz was charged with two runs on four hits over 4 1/3 innings, striking out one and walking none. Four Angels relievers combined to close out the remaining innings without allowing further damage, but the offense could not respond.
The Orioles’ bullpen preserved the shutout following Morton’s early exit. Yennier Cano, Gregory Soto, and Bryan Baker each delivered a scoreless inning before Félix Bautista pitched the final two innings, striking out three and collecting his 12th save in 13 opportunities. Bautista’s effort sealed the team’s 14th strikeout of the night and continued his consistent form in high-leverage situations.
The Angels had a promising start in the first inning with two runners reaching base. Still, Morton responded with back-to-back strikeouts of Mike Trout and Jorge Soler before fanning Logan O’Hoppe on a foul tip to escape the inning and establish control of the game. Despite several opportunities, Trout finished hitless as the Angels’ lineup could not generate any scoring.
Entering Friday’s matchup, both teams ranked near the bottom of the American League in terms of team earned run average. Baltimore began the day with a staff ERA of 5.00, second-worst in the league behind only the Angels, who came in with a 4.76 ERA.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s contest, the Angels are set to start left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-3, 3.99 ERA), while the Orioles will counter with right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (5-4, 3.23 ERA). According to current betting odds, the Orioles opened as slight -130 favorites, while the Angels were listed as +110 underdogs. The over/under for total runs is set at 8.5.
