Bullpen struggles after Zach Eflin leaves early in 8-5 loss to Rangers

The Orioles were forced to turn to their bullpen early Tuesday night, which ended in disaster as the Rangers scored seven runs against the pen to down the O’s 8-5.

After starter Zach Eflin left with two outs in the 4th, the Orioles’ pen began a rollercoaster ride that had way more downs than ups. Lefty Grant Wolfram kicked off the 5th by allowing an opposite-field single to Brandon Nimmo. Outfielder Wyatt Langford then turned on a sinker left over the plate, lacing it into the left-center gap. After the ball wedged under the outfield wall padding, Langford ended up on third and Nimmo raced home to score, giving Texas a 2-1 lead.

In a left-on-left matchup against Corey Seager, the two-time World Series MVP slashed a Wolfram sinker into center, with the single just evading the sliding catch attempt of Colton Cowser, allowing Langford to scamper home. The left-handed reliever would avoid any other damage that inning, but his efforts set the unfortunate tone for the bullpen.

The Baltimore bats did their best to try to keep the Orioles in the game. Trailing 1-0 in the 4th, Pete Alonso launched his first home run as an Oriole, turning on the fastball of former teammate Jacob deGrom and depositing the baseball in the Orioles’ bullpen.

Down 3-1 in the 5th, the offense again came through, using a two-out rally to tie the game at three. Blaze Alexander kicked off the rally by flipping a deGrom slider into right field for a single. Taylor Ward then extended the inning by hitting a high chop to deep shortstop for an infield.

After homering on Monday night, Gunnar Henderson came through with another big hit to tie the game. The star shortstop attacked a fastball up and away, sending a towering fly over the head of Langford in left, ricocheting off the wall for a two-run double that tied things at three.

Those efforts proved futile as the relievers couldn’t keep the Rangers off the scoreboard. With the game tied 3-3, Yennier Cano entered in the 6th. The former All-Star gave up a one-out double to Evan Carter, who then moved to third on a groundout. Cano looked to end the threat unscathed against Nimmo, but the Texas leadoff man smacked a broken-bat single into center field to give the Rangers a 4-3 lead.

Things only got worse when Yaramil Hiraldo entered in the 7th. The already much-maligned Hiraldo didn’t help his popularity in Birdland when he gave up a leadoff walk to Seager and a flair single to Jake Burger. His popularity cratered three batters later when he gave up a two-out, three-run homer to Texas catcher Danny Jansen. The longball finally crushed the Orioles’ hopes Tuesday, putting them down 7-3.

Popular rookie Anthony Nunes pitched the last two innings, picking up two strikeouts but allowing his first run in the majors on a solo HR off the bat of Seager. Across four relievers, the bullpen combined line of 5.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB and 4 K.

A desperate, 9th-inning comeback attempt fell short but made the scoreline look more acceptable. Against the oldest active MLB reliever, Chris Martin, Tyler O’Neill started the inning with an HBP and moved to second on a Colton Cowser Single. After two quick outs from Jeremiah Jackson and Alexander, Ward doubled into the left-center gap to clear the bases and give the O’s some consolation runs. With the tying run on deck in the form of Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson grounded out to second to seal the loss.

Adding injury to insult was the injury to the O’s No.5 starter, Eflin. Making his first start of 2026, the 31-year-old right-hander looked really sharp early in the game. After giving up a flyout to the warning track to lead off the 1st, Eflin punched out Wyatt Langford on a sinker at the knees and struck out Corey Seager on an excellent changeup away.

Normally known as a control guy who pitches to contact, Eflin had swing-and-miss stuff throughout the first three innings. He started out the 2nd by striking out Jake Burger on a changeup down and away before getting the second out on a perfectly thrown back-foot sweeper.

After working out of a two-on, two-out jam in the 2nd, Eflin gave up his only run of the evening in the 3rd. Against Rangers No.9 Ezequiel Durán, an 0-1 sweeper caught too much of the plate, and the Texas infielder launched the ball over the left field wall for a solo HR. The blemish didn’t bother Eflin, however, as he bounced back by punching out Brandon Nimmo on a sinker on the inside corner. He then punctuated the 3rd with a backwards K of Burger, dropping a CB right over the outside corner.

The veteran right-hander started off the 4th with his seventh punchout of the night, getting Joc Pederson to swing through a 3-2 changeup away. From there, things started to go downhill for Eflin. With two outs, Jansen hooked a ground ball down the left field line for a double. Eflin then walked Carter to give the Rangers a two-on, two-out opportunity.

The Orioles righty threw one pitch to Duran, a curveball that didn’t come close to the zone, and then signaled for the trainer to take him out of the game. After Grant Wolfram came in and finished the inning, Eflin’s line closed at 3.2 IP on 74 pitches, with 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB and 7 K. Later in Tuesday night’s broadcast, Kevin Brown reported that Eflin left with “right elbow discomfort.”

Despite the frustration that comes with the loss, it was a great day at the plate for some of the newest Orioles. Alonso had the home run and a single off fellow former Met deGrom. The ninth-inning double from Ward was his fourth base knock of the game, giving him the first four-hit game of his MLB career.

Ace Trevor Rogers will return to the mound tomorrow to try and salvage the final game of the series against the Rangers. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35pm ET.