The Orioles’ Double-A club saved its best for last.
Chesapeake closed out its season with a 3-1 win over Richmond, and the finish came the old-school way: a three-run rally in the eighth inning, then enough pitching to lock the door. After Griff O’Ferrall singled and Frederick Bencosme drew a walk with two outs, Wehiwa Aloy delivered the swing that changed everything, driving in all three runs with an Earl Weaver Special. That was the Baysox’s only scoring of the day, but it was plenty.
Patrick Reilly set the tone on the mound. The right-hander, reinstated in late July after Tommy John, worked 5.2 one-run innings and struck out seven, trimming his Double-A season ERA to 3.63 in eight starts. Richard Guasch, Keegan Gillies, Alex Pham and Brock Moore then combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings to finish the job.
O’Ferrall, Estrada and Aloy each finished with two hits for Chesapeake.
At Triple-A, Norfolk dropped a 3-2 decision to Memphis, but there was still one loud moment from the offense. The Tides scratched out both of their runs in the sixth, and it all started with Jud Fabian’s single. Creed Willems followed by jumping on a hanging curveball and sending it out for his eighteenth homer of the season.
Starter Juaron Watts-Brown took the loss after giving up three runs on six hits and two walks over five innings. The right-hander, acquired from the Blue Jays in 2025 in exchange for Seranthony Dominguez, entered with a 5.76 ERA in Double-A and struggled to a 9.26 ERA in Triple-A across six starts. Yaqui Rivera, Albert Suárez and Yosver Zulueta each threw a scoreless inning after him.
Other Norfolk hitters with hits were Christian Franklin, Silas Ardoin and Tavian Josenberger.
In Other News...
Orioles Have One Huge Samuel Basallo Question This Offseason
Samuel Basallo gave the Orioles a glimpse of what their future behind the plate could look like in the first half of the season, but the year did not stay on that track for long. A right shoulder injury sent the young catcher to the injured list starting July 22, interrupting a promising stretch and adding to a season already marked by left knee discomfort and a left shoulder issue.
When Basallo returned on Aug. 19, the results were harder to square with the early progress. His average, slugging and exit velocity all dropped sharply as the Orioles slipped further out of playoff contention, leaving the club to weigh what the next step should look like for one of its most important young players. The talent is still there, but the bigger question now is how Baltimore manages his health and development going into the offseason. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Keep Their Fading Playoff Push Alive With A Late Heroics
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Cedric Mullins, meanwhile, came through with the kind of swing the Orioles have been searching for in these tense September moments, delivering the decisive jolt after the game had settled into a deadlock. Baltimore still has work to do to keep its season alive, but wins like this are the only way forward now, especially with every mistake magnified and every inning starting to feel like a turning point. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Just Reached A Painful Point In Their Season
The Orioles have reached the point in a long, frustrating season where the standings no longer leave much room for denial. Even before the latest trip to Toronto exposed more of the same problems, Baltimores mix of inconsistent offense and shaky defense had pushed the club into a corner, with the math and the tiebreakers both working against any real hope of a postseason push.
Now the focus has to shift toward what comes next. Baltimore can use the final stretch to give younger players more meaningful looks and keep an eye on pitcher health, because the better play is no longer to chase a distant playoff path but to make sure the organization gets something useful out of the months ahead. [Read more 🡒]
