Orioles lose to Brewers, 1-0, despite a masterpiece by Trevor Rogers

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There are no more apt words for the situation than what play-by-play broadcaster Kevin Brown said on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network during the sixth inning, so they will be repeated here: At the time, Trevor Rogers was a pair of Oakleys away from a no-hitter.

The Orioles left-hander wound up allowing a hit to begin the seventh inning, so the unfortunate non-error by Rece Hinds in right field at least didn’t prevent Rogers from achieving history. But the fly ball from Joey Ortiz in the second inning that Hinds lost in the sun proved to be a critical blow.

Ortiz raced around the bases for a triple. Gary Sánchez dribbled a groundout in the next plate appearance, and it scored Ortiz.

That was it. That was all the Milwaukee Brewers managed in their 1-0 win Saturday against the Orioles. And it was enough because there was no offensive support to back Rogers’ tremendous outing.

As Rogers walked off the mound following the eighth inning, the Camden Yards crowd rose to give the 28-year-old a deserved standing ovation. Rogers, a pending free agent, will likely make one more start this season. That will come on the road at Yankee Stadium.

If this was Rogers’ final home start at Camden Yards, it was a masterpiece. He allowed one run on three hits with 10 strikeouts. He retired 14 of his first 15 batters before William Contreras singled to begin the seventh, and Rogers immediately forced a double play to wipe that threat out.

The Orioles, meanwhile, had opportunities to back him up. They missed each chance. Baltimore finished 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, including a two-on, no-out chance in the second and a bases-loaded opportunity in the sixth.

Gunnar Henderson doubled and Hinds walked to set up the second-inning opportunity. Rather than bunting the pair into scoring position, as Baltimore attempted with Samuel Basallo on Friday night, Christian Franklin grounded into a double play.

And in the sixth, left-hander Robert Gasser loaded the bases with one out by hitting one batter and walking two. Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who has been a bright spot since his July promotion, swung at the first pitch from Gasser and grounded into an inning-ending double play.

In the seventh, with Gasser still on the mound, Hinds doubled with one out. Franklin and Samuel Basallo popped up, though, to end that threat. And, after Leody Taveras led off the eighth with a single, a groundout, lineout and strikeout followed.

A breakthrough in any of those situations would have been enough to tie the game, if not win it. Instead, Rogers is saddled with a loss in his final start at Camden Yards this season, and the Orioles’ postseason chances are next to nothing.