The Orioles are out of the Wild Card race, and they didn’t even have to wait for a game to finish to learn it. While they were scattered around New York on an off-day, the White Sox handled the Royals, ending Baltimore’s playoff hopes before the club ever took the field at Yankee Stadium.
That awkward little twist fits a season that’s been anything but tidy. Rain has already complicated the schedule, and the Orioles’ series in New York now carries mostly personal meaning.
The teams are set for a single-admission doubleheader today at 4:05 p.m., and if Sunday gets wiped out, Baltimore would finish with 161 games. That would also wipe out any chance of a .500 record.
The season’s damage was built in division play. After sweeping the Blue Jays, the Orioles sat at 21-28 against the American League East.
They went 19-12 against the Central and 17-14 against the West. Manager Craig Albernaz pointed to those divisional struggles as a reason the club fell short of expectations.
A few ugly stretches loom large in that picture. Baltimore was 15-16 on May 1 when it arrived in the Bronx for a four-game set, then got swept while being outscored 39-10. Later, the Orioles took two of three at Camden Yards, and then were swept again in August in a series that dropped them to 61-67.
There’s still some baseball left to sort through, but the October door is shut. That leaves the organization shifting toward evaluation mode, with “accountability” already being mentioned as a point of emphasis. It also means sorting out which players stumbled and which ones gave a glimpse of something better.
One of the more intriguing names is Trey Gibson. He had nearly faded from the conversation before getting the ball in Game 2, but the rookie delivered a huge response.
He worked 6 2/3 scoreless innings and was one Jeremiah Jackson shift violation error away from getting through seven. Gibson had already been congratulated in the dugout when the Blue Jays asked for the challenge.
Albernaz said the team had been alert to that kind of rule detail.
“We talk about it,” manager Craig Albernaz said of the rule. “We talked about it in our dugout.
We were on it, as well. Going into the series, we identify the infielders that are close to the edge of the grass, or even the shortstops or second basemen, where they’re playing.
J.J., his left foot just got caught, but he was about to go into his pre-pitch, and his left heel was just there. But that’s something that our players know they’re aware of.
“J.J. knew it, too. When he looked up and saw it, he just got caught in his pre-pitch. That’s something we talked about with our guys, but it’s also something that we look for in the game, as well.”
Baltimore also made a mechanical adjustment with Gibson after sending him down again, cutting out the drop step in his windup to make his delivery easier to repeat. He flashed the payoff Wednesday, with his fastball reaching 98.2 mph. Gibson said the outing reinforced a simple message.
“Driving home the fact that it’s the same game I’ve played my whole life,” he said. “and to go out there and just compete like a kid, just being relaxed and letting myself do what I want to do.”
The Orioles have seen a similar arc from Brandon Young, another pitching prospect who had some rough patches in 2025 before getting another shot and finishing with the lowest ERA among Orioles starters at 3.62. Albernaz said Gibson could follow that path, too.
“And tonight was indicative of that,” Albernaz said.
“He has the ingredients, for sure. He has the mentality too.
He doesn’t get flustered, doesn’t get phased, and yeah, he has a bright future ahead. B.Y. did step up for us big this year.
So I think if Trey has that in his bag, that’ll be awesome.”
Baltimore still has offseason rotation work ahead whenever teams are allowed to do business again, but Gibson’s outing gave the club another arm to think about as that picture comes into focus.
And Wednesday ended with a small piece of team history, too. The Orioles’ 4-2 wins made it the eighth time in franchise history they’ve posted identical scores in a doubleheader, and the first such instance since Aug. 24, 1988 against the Mariners.
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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 🡒]