The Orioles had the kind of night that keeps showing up in a frustrating season: a real chance to make up ground, and no payoff at the end of it.
Friday’s loss to the Brewers, a 6-5 defeat in extra innings, came at a painful moment in the AL wild card race. The fading White Sox lost again, so an Orioles win would have pulled them within two games of the final playoff spot. Instead, the gap stayed where it was, and the O’s are still looking up with only eight games left.
That’s been the story too often. Baltimore has enough talent to hang with just about anybody on a given night, but when the pressure rises, the execution slips.
The biggest example came in the seventh inning, when Samuel Basallo couldn’t get down a bunt that would have moved two runners into scoring position with one out. Basallo likely hasn’t bunted much at all, and probably never against a lefty with DL Hall’s stuff.
The result was predictable: a strikeout. At that point, it might have made just as much sense for him to swing away, or for the Orioles to pinch hit for him given how he has looked since coming off the IL.
There were a few bright spots buried in the loss. Gunnar Henderson and Coby Mayo combined to go 6-for-9 and scored two runs.
Mayo’s three hits all went for doubles, and his season OPS is now .771. Pete Alonso also delivered another big swing, launching a clutch home run that tied the game at 3-3.
With the postseason path looking bleaker by the day, the Orioles’ attention is drifting toward 2027. Henderson, Mayo, and Alonso could wind up being the core of the lineup by then, so any momentum they can carry into the offseason would count as a small win in a year that has offered too few of them.
Baseball Reference gives the Orioles just a 2.9% chance to reach the playoffs.
Game two of the series is set for 4:05, with Trevor Rogers (10-10, 4.22 ERA) going against left-hander Robert Gasser (4-5, 4.30 ERA). Around the league, there are a few other games worth tracking: Tigers at White Sox at 2:10 p.m., Athletics at Guardians at 6:10 p.m., Blue Jays at Rangers at 7:05 p.m., and Braves at Astros at 7:10 p.m.
Elsewhere in Orioles news, Sig Mejdal is changing roles in the front office and will no longer oversee analytics. The move, along with Matt Blood’s departure, looks like a sign that the organization wants to adjust without tearing everything down. Whether ownership feels the same way is still unclear.
Roch Kubatko also noted that “Elias is expected to stay.” If that holds, it points to a winter of continuity rather than a shakeup, and it suggests 2027 may be the real deadline for Mike Elias.
There’s also a Basallo note from Orioles.com about him noticing extra O’s gear lying around and thinking of kids back in the Dominican Republic. It’s a nice detail, and it is easy to imagine those giveaways being used somewhere instead of sitting in a closet. The image of kids in the Dominican Republic with beach towels that have a big “Ocean City, Maryland” advertisement across the bottom is a funny one, too.
On the injury front, there’s a little movement and a lot still up in the air. Félix Bautista might get into a big league game before the season ends.
Ryan Helsley hasn’t pitched in a rehab game in a week, so his situation sounds less certain. Shane Baz is set for his next start, Blaze Alexander may be reactivated before the season is over, Kyle Bradish could need sports hernia surgery, and Jackson Holliday is scheduled to meet with a doctor this weekend about wrist inflammation.
And finally, a few birthdays: DL Hall turns 28, Danny Valencia is 42, Nick Johnson turns 48, Randy Myers is 64, and the late Bob Turley would have been born on this day. Hall, of course, was on the mound last night and got the win against his former club in the series opener after throwing two innings.
A couple of dates from Orioles history round things out: in 1963, the Orioles and Angels played in front of just 476 fans at Chavez Ravine, the smallest recorded attendance at the stadium outside of 2020; and in 2017, Baltimore lost 1-0 to the Red Sox on an 11th-inning wild pitch by Brad Brach that let Jackson Bradley Jr. score from third.
In Other News...
Orioles Just Made Their Offseason Direction A Lot More Clear
The Orioles offseason is already taking shape in a more defined way after Mike Elias said he expects to stay on as president of baseball operations through the winter and into next year. Elias also confirmed that Craig Albernaz will remain manager for the upcoming season, giving Baltimore some continuity at the top even as the organization works through a period of change in the front office.
Baltimore has already made some front office adjustments, and Elias said the club plans to bring in outside voices to its baseball operations as part of the effort to improve the team. For an Orioles group trying to sharpen its direction after a turbulent stretch, keeping the key leadership in place while adding new perspective suggests the offseason work is going to be about refinement as much as overhaul. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Make Another Outfield Tweak With Wild Card Pressure Rising
With Wild Card pressure rising, the Orioles kept tinkering with their outfield mix before facing the Brewers, reinstating Christian Franklin from the 10-day injured list and optioning Heston Kjerstad. Franklin has already appeared in 16 games since arriving at the trade deadline, and his return gives Baltimore another look at a player the club clearly wants available as it tries to keep its lineup steady through a tense stretch.
The move comes with Trevor Rogers lined up to start for Baltimore against Milwaukees Robert Gasser, adding another layer to a game that already carries more weight than a midseason meeting usually would. The Orioles have been trying to balance health, production and roster flexibility all at once, and this latest shuffle underscores how little margin for error remains as they chase a postseason spot. [Read more 🡒]
Former Orioles Prospect Chance Sisco Ends A Career Fans Once Watched Closely
Chance Sisco, once one of the more closely watched catching prospects in the Orioles system, has ended his professional baseball career. The former second-round pick announced his retirement on Instagram, closing the book on a path that included five major league seasons split between Baltimore and the Mets, plus a final stretch in independent minor league ball after his big league days wound down.
For Orioles fans who remember the buzz around his development, Siscos career still carries a few memorable touchpoints, including his stealing home in 2018. His last major league appearance came in 2021, and with his retirement now public, another name from that once-promising Baltimore pipeline has quietly moved on from the game. [Read more 🡒]