BOSTON — Back where it all started, Trevor Rogers ventured where no Baltimore Orioles starter has ever gone before.

The left-hander completed seven innings of one-run baseball in their 6-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Monday to lower his ERA to 1.41, the best by any Orioles pitcher through his first 12 starts to begin a season in the franchise’s 71 years. It’s a figure matched by only 24 starters in the live ball era (1920 to present), most recently by Jacob deGrom and Kevin Gausman in 2021.

Jim Palmer. Mike Mussina. Dave McNally. Mike Flanagan. Hoyt Wilhelm. Hall of Famers and Cy Young Award winners alike have donned Orioles uniforms but never enjoyed a stretch quite like the one Rogers has put together since making his season debut against Boston in May.

After being written off for his disastrous first four outings with the club last year and subsequent offseason knee injury, Rogers has orchestrated a stunning turnaround and become the Orioles’ biggest positive development amid a disappointing year.

He cruised through the first six innings before getting into his only real jam of the evening in the seventh. But a lone run scored on a sacrifice fly by left fielder Jarren Duran wasn’t nearly enough to spoil the performance for Rogers, who responded by striking out center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela swinging on his 98th pitch to finish off the frame.

The Orioles (58-67) improved to 9-3 in games Rogers has started this year and they stand at 42-34 since he returned to the majors — an 89.5-win pace for a full season. He finished the night with just the one run on four hits, one walk and seven strikeouts.

Gunnar Henderson launched a solo shot for his 15th homer of the year and drove in another run on an RBI triple to help pace the offense. Ryan Mountcastle chipped in with three hits and Samuel Basallo, making his first MLB start at catcher, went 2 for 5 with a double off the Green Monster and a two-run single in the ninth.

Dylan Beavers, who was called up to the majors a day before Basallo over the weekend, and Jeremiah Jackson both enjoyed multi-hit performances as well.

Not everything broke the Orioles’ way. Jordan Westburg left the game in the first inning with right ankle discomfort after stumbling around the second base bag. The infielder was rounding second on a single by Mountcastle when he fell to the dirt and scampered back to the bag. Luis Vázquez pinch ran for him and replaced him at third base for the rest of the game.

Despite the Orioles extending their lead to five runs in the ninth on Basallo’s clutch piece of hitting, Dietrich Enns had a chance to get the save after entering the game with a three-run lead in the eighth and returning for the ninth. However, he allowed a leadoff single to right fielder Roman Anthony. Yennier Cano replaced him and surrendered a two-run double to Duran, but was able to finish off the contest.

Instant analysis

Jackson is only 14 games into his MLB career, but the infielder is quickly proving to be quite the product for the Orioles’ player development system after the club signed him as a career minor leaguer last winter. The 25-year-old has shown impressive contact skills with three straight multi-hit games, improving his batting average to .349.

While his defense in the outfield might still need some work — understandable for a player who had only seen the infield before reaching the majors — Jackson does have a chance to earn his way onto the Orioles’ roster in 2026 as a utility man if he can keep this up. The Orioles traded Ramón Urías at the deadline and the team holds a $5.5 million option for Jorge Mateo next season.

Considering Jackson will only be owed the league minimum, he presents Baltimore with a cheap option to fill at least one of the roles held by Urías and Mateo the past few years.

On deck

The Orioles’ stay in Boston will be a short one. They’ll aim to wrap up their two-game series with a sweep Tuesday night as Tomoyuki Sugano faces off against Walker Buehler.

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