Baltimore Orioles history: The day the team gave up 30 runs

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the game that the Baltimore Orioles lost to the Texas Rangers by a score of 30-3.

Since this unique piece of Baltimore Orioles history has been featured on MLB Network, it was only appropriate to break it down here, too.

While more runs were scored by teams that existed before the modern day MLB era, this day set a record for the Texas Rangers and the Orioles.

Who pitched?

On that day ten years ago, Daniel Cabrera started for the O’s and Kason Gabbard started for the Rangers. The game started off in the O’s favor as they led the Rangers 3-0 at the end of the third inning. The Rangers scored five runs in the fourth inning, but both teams were held to goose eggs in the fifth.

Then all Hell broke loose and the game turned.

Rangers dominate

In the sixth inning, the Rangers scored nine runs. After seeing one batter in the sixth, Cabrera was pulled and Brian Burres was given the ball. Unfortunately, he did not do very well as he allowed eight hits and runs, a walk, and a strikeout. With one out remaining in that inning, Rob Bell replaced him. He eventually got the out and pitched one more inning, but not until he recorded a line that included five hits and seven earned runs. The last pitcher of the day was Paul Shuey, who had the last two innings. His final line was seven hits and nine earned runs. Ironically, he did record five strikeouts in his two innings.

The Rangers were absolutely on fire. They scored 29 hits, with 9 of them being home runs. There were 11 strikeouts and in any other game that would be a phenomenal number. But nearly all of the Rangers had at least six plate appearances that day.

Players still in the league

Of the Rangers who played ten years ago, three are still playing today. Ian Kinsler plays every day for the Detroit Tigers and Jarrod Saltalamacchia occasionally catches for the Toronto Blue Jays. Nelson Cruz was also on the team. That day, Kinsler went three for seven and earned two RBIs. Salty went four for six with seven RBIs after hitting two home runs, one off of Cabrera and the second off of Shuey. Cruz had the worst day of the trio, going two for seven, scoring two runs. Kinsler crossed home three times and Salty did it five times.

The Rangers’ offense was good that day that two players hit Grand Slams. Marion Byrd hit one in the 10-run sixth inning off of Burres. The second was hit by Travis Metcalf who hit his in the eighth inning. His Grand Slam was a microcosm of the whole day – three runners were on base with zero outs.

At the time of this game, both the Orioles and the Rangers were in the running for last place in their respective divisions.

Orioles’ offense

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The little bit of offense from the Orioles is worth mentioning. Leadoff hitter Brian Roberts went three for five and scored two runs for the team. He had four total bases in the game. The other lone run was scored by Nick Markakis, who is still playing for the Atlanta Braves. He went one for three that day. Corey Patterson, Tike Redmon, Miguel Tejada, Kevin Millar, and Melvin Mora each recorded hits for the O’s. Tejada also earned a RBI when his single scored Markakis. Ironically, there was only one fielding error made by the O’s; it was committed by Tejada. Nelson Cruz had one for the Rangers.

Other than the odds-defying score that the Rangers earned in four innings, the other interesting stat belongs to the pitcher Paul Shuey. He was put in as a pinch hitter for Tejada.

Next: Three Orioles win AL weekly awards with one month

The Orioles’ pitchers combined to throw 251 pitches in this game. The Rangers’ two pitchers threw 132.