The Orioles got exactly the kind of night that makes a ballpark feel easy. Kyle Bradish carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, the offense piled up four home runs, and Baltimore rolled past the Royals 6-1 on Saturday night.
Bradish was sharp enough to keep Kansas City guessing, even if he didn’t have everything working. His velocity was a tick down, and the whiff and strikeout numbers weren’t eye-popping - a 20% whiff rate and five strikeouts over 6.2 innings.
Still, the Royals had a hard time squaring him up. That’s what a strong outing can look like when the stuff isn’t at its peak: not flashy, just effective.
There were only a couple of moments that threatened to get messy. In the third, Jackson Holliday’s error and a Carter Jensen walk put two runners on before Bobby Witt Jr. stepped in, only to pop up the first pitch.
Then came the seventh, when Jac Caglianone broke up the no-hit bid with Kansas City’s first hit of the night. He moved to second on a ground out, reached third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sac fly.
Even with that hiccup, Bradish finished with one of his better starts of the season. His ERA dropped to 3.61, which is the lowest it’s been since May 31.
The Orioles’ offense did its damage in the way this lineup was built to do it. They had one hit with a runner in scoring position, and the other five runs came on home runs. It was a classic “three true outcomes” night, with very little in between.
Samuel Basallo delivered the club’s lone hit with a runner in scoring position in the second inning, singling in Pete Alonso after Alonso doubled. Those were the only two Orioles hits that didn’t leave the yard.
Alonso joined the power parade in the fourth with his 21st homer of the season, a two-run shot that scored Taylor Ward.
Coby Mayo kept barreling the ball all night. He lined out in the second on a ball hit 112.8 miles per hour, then crushed a 440-foot homer at 110.4 miles per hour in the fifth for his 12th of the year. He seems to enjoy seeing left-handed pitching.
Ward added his sixth homer of the season, and it was his first since June 22. That’s another long dry spell for a player who was expected to be near the top of the team’s home run list.
Gunnar Henderson put the finishing touch on the power display with a 417-foot blast to right-center in the eighth, his 17th homer of the year.
The night fit the blueprint the Orioles had in mind when they put this roster together. The power hasn’t shown up as often as the front office probably hoped, but on nights like this, the plan is easy to see.
Baltimore’s bullpen handled the rest without much drama. Grant Wolfram took over to finish the seventh for Bradish and added two more outs. Yennier Cano struck out the only batter he faced in the eighth, and Tyler Wells closed it out with a scoreless ninth.
For an Orioles team that has spent plenty of the season on edge, this one felt different. They stayed in control from start to finish and never really looked in danger of losing it.
The win also gave Baltimore a full game in the wild card race, leaving the club two games out of a playoff spot. It was the Orioles’ third straight win, though they still haven’t put together a four-game streak this season. If they can do that on the final day before the all-star break, it would change the mood quite a bit with trade season approaching.
The Orioles and Royals finish the unofficial first half on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards. Shane Baz (4-9, 4.21 ERA) is scheduled to face Seth Lugo (3-6, 4.56 ERA), with first pitch set for 1:35.
In Other News...
Orioles Make Troubling Pitching Move As Keegan Akin Situation Deepens
The Orioles added another arm to the organization on Monday, acquiring right-hander Cam Sanders from the Pirates for cash considerations and sending him to Triple-A Norfolk. Sanders had been designated for assignment by Pittsburgh, and Baltimore is giving itself a little extra depth in the system at a time when the pitching staff is getting stretched.
The more pressing issue is Keegan Akin, who was moved to the 60-day injured list because of an elbow injury. He is scheduled for a medical evaluation that will help determine the next step, and for an Orioles club already trying to manage its pitching depth, the situation adds another layer of uncertainty to a bullpen that could use some stability. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Writer Just Put A Stunning Timeline On Samuel Basallo
Samuel Basallo has given the Orioles plenty to dream on already, and the appeal is obvious every time the 21-year-old catcher gets into one of his power swings. He has 16 home runs in 301 plate appearances, and his advanced power numbers back up what the eye test says: when he connects, the ball leaves in a hurry. Basallo has also talked openly about wanting to become an All-Star someday, which fits the way the organization has started to view him as more than just a promising bat.
The next step is less about raw talent than about the everyday grind that comes with becoming a lineup fixture. Basallo is still working through pitch selection and the defensive side of the position, but the trust around him is growing as he keeps showing he can handle bigger moments. Baltimore does not need to decide his ceiling right now, only whether his recent surge is the start of something much larger, and that is where the intrigue really begins. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Fans Have Seen This Mike Elias Pattern Far Too Often
For Orioles fans, the frustration is starting to feel familiar in a way that is hard to ignore. Since Mike Elias took over in 2019, Baltimore has too often been stuck in the same place at the same point on the calendar, rarely above .500 by the 95-game mark and usually hanging near the bottom of the AL East while the rest of the division pulls away.
The larger concern is not just where this season sits now, but how closely it fits the pattern that has followed Elias from the start. Baltimore has not finished a year with more than 78 wins under his watch, and even with the organization trying to build around a young core, the margin for error keeps shrinking as injuries pile up and the standings tighten. [Read more 🡒]