The Orioles head into today’s finale in Toronto with the same simple approach they’ve leaned on after every loss: reset and keep moving. With the end of the season getting closer, there’s less room to linger on what already happened. There’s also still work to do in the standings, and this game gives them a shot to leave Rogers Centre with the series before heading to New York for three against the Mets.
Baltimore sits three games back in the race for the last Wild Card spot, unchanged from yesterday morning. The Guardians’ loss in Minnesota gave them a small break, but the gap in front of them is still crowded. The Orioles are chasing Cleveland and trying to climb past the Blue Jays and Rangers as well, with the Twins only 1 1/2 games behind them.
The lineup has a familiar look in some spots and a new one in others. Dylan Beavers stays in the leadoff role, while Coby Mayo remains at cleanup as the designated hitter.
Jackson Holliday has been dropped to seventh, with Leody Taveras and Colton Cowser following him. Cowser has been especially productive against Toronto, picking up a hit in each of his last eight games against the Blue Jays since May 29.
Over that stretch, he’s 11-for-24 with two doubles, three homers, nine RBIs and six runs. The last Oriole to hit safely in nine straight games against Toronto in a single season was Adley Rutschman, who did it 11 times from Aug.
9-Oct. 3, 2022.
Mayo continues to keep the line moving. He has reached base in 16 straight games and is hitting .300 with an .840 slugging percentage when he’s ahead in the count this season.
Samuel Basallo also has a strong history in a tiny sample against today’s opposing starter, going 2-for-2 with two doubles and two RBIs against Dylan Cease. Taveras is 3-for-11 with two doubles and five strikeouts against him, while Pete Alonso is 2-for-11 with a home run and six strikeouts.
Trevor Rogers gets the ball for Baltimore in his 28th start. He’s been sharp this month, allowing three runs in 14 innings with no walks and 17 strikeouts.
He has walked only nine in his last nine games. Rogers saw Toronto on May 29 in Baltimore and gave up four runs in six innings, with Kazuma Okamoto and Charles McAdoo both hitting two-run homers in the seventh.
At Rogers Centre, though, he’s handled the Blue Jays well across two starts, allowing two earned runs and four total over 10 innings. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 4-for-9 with three walks against him in his career, while George Springer is 0-for-10 with four strikeouts.
Cease brings a very different profile on the other side. He’s in Cy Young conversation with a 2.40 ERA, a 1.041 WHIP and 227 strikeouts in 161 1/3 innings, and he’s limiting damage with just 5.6 hits and 0.6 home runs allowed per nine innings. He has a 3.89 ERA in seven career starts against the Orioles and a 2.86 ERA in 16 career starts at Rogers Centre.
Baltimore also has Yaramil Hiraldo on the taxi squad.
The Orioles are getting to more pitches than almost anyone in the league, averaging 3.97 pitches per plate appearance, second in the majors. Toronto is at 3.80, which ranks 27th.
For Baltimore, the order is Beavers in left, Alonso at first, Gunnar Henderson at short, Mayo at DH, Basallo catching, Christian Encarnacion-Strand at third, Holliday at second, Taveras in right and Cowser in center behind Rogers. Toronto counters with Brett Bateman in right, Springer at DH, Guerrero at first, Okamoto at third, McAdoo in left, Ernie Clement at second, Andrés Giménez at short, Brandon Valenzuela catching, Myles Straw in center and Cease on the mound.
Pete Alonso hit his 35 th home run yesterday and the 299 th of his career.
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 🡒]