The Orioles are still hanging around, at least mathematically, after Wednesday’s doubleheader sweep of the Blue Jays.
Their elimination number stayed at 1, and with a White Sox loss in Kansas City, there’s still a sliver of a path to the third wild card. It would take a clean sweep of the Yankees this weekend, plus the White Sox losing the rest of their games against the Royals and Rockies.
Even then, the Orioles would still need to jump whichever of the Rangers and Astros finishes second in the AL West. So, yes, the math is there.
The reality is another story.
What mattered in Baltimore was that the Orioles handled business at home and didn’t have to absorb elimination in front of their own fans. They played two sharp games to finish out their Camden Yards schedule for 2026, and in the process they officially knocked the defending AL champion Blue Jays out of playoff contention. Mark Brown covered the opener, and Tyler Young handled the nightcap.
The day also offered a glimpse of the kind of season this could have been if things had clicked earlier and more often. Trey Gibson turned in the best outing of his major league career, working 6.2 shutout innings, and the bullpen backed him up with six different relievers throwing scoreless frames. Pete Alonso did what Pete Alonso does, launching his 41st home run and later leading the entire O’s team onto the field to salute the fans before the club headed out of town for the year.
Now the Orioles head to Yankee Stadium with a shot, however slim, to finish at .500 if they can take all three games. If that doesn’t happen, the final stretch is about staying steady, playing competent baseball, and trying to carry something useful into 2027, whenever that season begins. For now, that has to be enough.
Elsewhere on the roster front, the Orioles announced that their two youngest players saw their disappointing 2026 seasons come to an end. Jackson Holliday is set to undergo surgery on his left wrist, and Basallo has been placed on the concussion IL. If the Orioles are going to turn things around next season, players like that are going to have to take a step forward.
There’s also a broader layer hanging over the next year. Kyle Goon wrote about the possibility of a lockout in 2027, and after a home finale that gave Baltimore a little reason for optimism, that threat sits in the background all the same. As for Rogers, the situation is still unresolved; it isn’t over until he signs with another team, and that may not happen for a while if the lockout talk becomes real.
One other note from the front office side: there’s a lingering question about whether an Orioles general manager under Elias would actually have autonomy. The club has gone more than a year without filling the GM job, which makes the answer feel pretty clear.
And on this date in Orioles history, there’s a lot to celebrate. Rafael Palmeiro turns 62 today.
He spent two separate stints with Baltimore and hit 223 of his 569 career home runs as an Oriole. Other Sept. 24 birthdays among former Orioles include Travis Ishikawa, Jesse Garcia, Kevin Millar, and the late Curt Motton.
The date also brings back a classic Mike Mussina performance. On Sept. 24, 2000, he carved up the Red Sox at Fenway with seven scoreless innings, 15 strikeouts, and no walks. Gene Kingsale’s sacrifice fly in the eighth provided the only run the Orioles needed, and Ryan Kohlmeier escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the ninth to preserve a 1-0 win.
For the day’s random throwback, Sept. 24, 1984 produced a doubleheader sweep of the Yankees at Memorial Stadium. Mike Boddicker threw a complete game in the opener, allowing one run on 10 singles in an 8-1 win, and the Orioles’ offense got homers from John Shelby, Gary Roenicke, and Mike Young.
In the nightcap, Baltimore erased a 6-2 deficit with five runs in the bottom of the eighth, sparked by Jay Howell’s error, Roenicke’s RBI single, and Benny Ayala’s three-run homer. Cal Ripken also went deep, and Nate Snell finished off the comeback.
The sweep left both teams at 83-73, though neither was still in the AL East race.
In Other News...
Orioles May Have Their Future Shortstop If One Question Holds Up
Wehiwa Aloy has moved quickly enough to make the Orioles think seriously about what comes next at shortstop. After being taken 31st overall in the 2025 draft, he put together a strong 2026 across High-A and Double-A, posting a .288/.358/.506 line with 25 home runs and earning the Brooks Robinson Minor League Player of the Year award in the organization. For a club that always seems to be balancing the present with the pipeline, that kind of production is the sort that gets attention.
The question now is less about whether Aloy can drive the ball than whether the rest of his game holds up well enough to keep him on a shortstop path. Strikeouts remain part of the evaluation, even as scouting reports point to a player who projects as at least an average defender at the position. If that defensive baseline proves real, the Orioles may have something more than a power-hitting prospect - they may have a long-term answer at one of the games most important spots. [Read more 🡒]
Pete Alonso Just Gave Orioles Fans A Reason To Twist The Knife
Pete Alonso is settling in with Baltimore in a way that would have been hard to imagine not long ago, and hes not shy about saying it. After the Mets decided not to bring him back, the franchises all-time home run leader signed a five-year deal with the Orioles and has been productive for his new club, even as the season has gone sideways for both teams.
Alonso recently said he believes he was always meant to be an Oriole, and he made a point of thanking Baltimore fans for sticking with him through a difficult year. For Orioles supporters, its the kind of comment that feels both flattering and just a little sharp, especially with the sting of missing the postseason still fresh and the sight of Alonso doing well in orange and black now impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Could Be Headed For A Painful Offseason Shakeup
The Orioles are already staring at a winter built around tough calls, with the roster carrying several players whose situations could quickly force the front offices hand. Pending free agents and arbitration-eligible pieces have put the club in a familiar spot for a team trying to balance immediate competitiveness with longer-term flexibility, and the names floating through that conversation underscore how much can change in a single offseason.
Chris Bassitt, Andrew Kittredge, Leody Taveras and Zach Eflin are all among the players viewed as likely to be on the move after the 2026 season, depending on performance, contract status and where Baltimore sees itself going next. None of that is a final verdict from the organization, of course, but it does frame the kind of shakeup that can catch a contender in between eras if the results and the spending dont line up just right. [Read more 🡒]