The Orioles still have a mathematical path to the postseason, but the margin is disappearing fast.
Yesterday’s 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays did them no favors. Toronto came in with a bullpen game, which gave Baltimore a chance to take advantage, but Kyle Bradish struggled and the offense didn’t do nearly enough against a steady stream of relievers.
The result pushed the Orioles closer to the point where every remaining game starts to feel like a must-win. For a fuller breakdown of the game, Paul Folkemer covered the ugly details.
There was one tiny break elsewhere in the standings: the Guardians also lost. That leaves the Orioles three games behind Cleveland with 13 games left, but because Baltimore holds the tiebreaker disadvantage, it effectively amounts to a four-game hole.
Toronto is also ahead of the Orioles, though Baltimore still has four games left against the Blue Jays, including today’s game, to chip away at that gap. If the Orioles are going to pull this off, they probably need something like 11-2 the rest of the way.
Maybe even 12-1.
That’s the theory, anyway. In practical terms, the question now is simply how long it takes before they’re officially eliminated.
Based on how things are going, September 22 is the guess. They could get there sooner if they keep playing this badly, or they could drag it out to the final series if they catch fire.
Either way, this season ends as a disappointment.
The challenge today is a steep one. The Orioles will face Dylan Cease of the Blue Jays, who has put together a 2.40 ERA and struck out 227 batters this season.
Baltimore will counter with Trevor Rogers, who posted a better ERA last year but is at 4.15 this season. Since June 1, though, Rogers has been much sharper with a 2.88 ERA and 2.78 FIP, so the Orioles need the good version of him - and then some - in the 1:37 series finale.
A few Orioles items worth noting: a Baltimore Baseball piece on the team’s postseason odds was published before yesterday’s loss, which only made the climb steeper; Orioles.com noted that the club needs to “turn the page fast” ahead of a crucial finale; and The Baltimore Sun reported that Bradish was irked by “terrible” results as his innings have climbed. Between the majors and minors last year, Bradish threw 54 innings. After yesterday, he’s up to 155, and it’s fair to wonder whether that workload has something to do with his recent struggles over the last seven games.
Today also brings a few Orioles anniversaries. On this date in 1971, Frank Robinson hit a home run in each game of a doubleheader against the Tigers to join the 500 home run club.
The Orioles won the first game 9-1, then lost the second 10-5, even though Robinson hit his 500th in that one. At the time, he was the 11th player to reach the milestone.
There are now 28, and none are active players. Giancarlo Stanton is the closest active hitter at 468.
Two former Orioles were born on this day: catcher Rick Dempsey, who played for the team from 1976-86 and again in 1992, and pitcher Mike Adamson, who was with Baltimore from 1967-69.
And for birthday trivia beyond Orioles history, today’s list includes Clara Schumann, Milton Hershey, John Pershing, Roald Dahl, Don Bluth, Tyler Perry, Fiona Apple and Niall Horan.
On this day in history, Francis Scott Key wrote about the scene at Fort McHenry in Baltimore after the rockets’ red glare and the bombs bursting in air showed that the flag was still there. And in 1985, the first Super Mario Bros. game was released in Japan. The franchise now has nearly two dozen entries, plus plenty of spinoffs, and a 2023 estimate put total sales at more than 430 million copies.
In Other News...
Orioles Suddenly Have A Kyle Bradish Problem They Can't Ignore
Kyle Bradishs season ended the way the Orioles could least afford it, with another trip to the injured list and another reminder of how unstable their rotation has been. Baltimore placed the right-hander on the 15-day IL because of lower abdominal discomfort, a move that effectively shuts him down after a difficult finish to the year. He went 7-14 with a 4.12 ERA and 142 strikeouts across 29 starts, and his recent outings never really gave the club much reason to expect a late lift.
Yaramil Hiraldo was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to take the roster spot, but the larger issue is what Bradishs absence means for a team that has been trying to hold its pitching together. For an Orioles staff that already needed reliability, losing one of its key starters at this stage leaves another thin layer peeled away, and it comes at a time when Baltimore can least afford more uncertainty on the mound. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Wild Card Hopes Keep Fading After Another Brutal Loss
The Orioles had an early opening at Rogers Centre, loading the bases in the first inning, but the big chance came and went without a run. Baltimore kept chasing from there, and Toronto finally took control in the fifth before rolling to an 8-1 win that left the Orioles at 72-78 and drifting farther behind the Guardians in the Wild Card race.
For a club trying to stay relevant in September, the frustration was less about one bad night than the pattern underneath it. Baltimore could not cash in when it mattered, and the Blue Jays made them pay by turning a tense game into a comfortable one in the middle innings, another reminder that the margin for error keeps shrinking with every loss. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Wild Card Push Is Running Out Of Time
The Orioles needed a steadier night on the mound to keep pace in the Wild Card race, but instead they got another uneven outing in a 7-3 loss to the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre. Kyle Bradish was tagged for five runs in three innings, and Baltimore spent much of the night chasing the game while trying to stay in touch with the teams ahead of it in the standings.
With 13 games left, the margin for error has all but disappeared. Baltimore sits three games behind Cleveland for the final American League Wild Card spot, which leaves little room for losses like this one as the club tries to hang on in a crowded finish. [Read more 🡒]