The Orioles keep stumbling, and the margin for error is disappearing with every ugly night.
After back-to-back losses to the Rockies, Baltimore finds itself in a tight race for the third American League wild card spot. The Orioles are 1.5 games behind the Cleveland Guardians, while sitting tied with the Rangers and Blue Jays in that playoff position.
There are still three games left against Cleveland, and Baltimore has to sweep that set to lock up the head-to-head tiebreaker. Six games also remain against Toronto.
The math, at this point, points toward something like a 14-8 finish over the final 22 games, maybe even 15-7.
That’s the kind of number that sounds almost absurd after what just happened in Colorado. The offense sputtered in Coors Field, the baserunning got messy, the defense got shaky, and the bullpen helped turn a winnable series into a wasted one.
The Orioles didn’t have room to burn that trip. They burned it anyway.
And yet they’re still in the picture. The expanded postseason field keeps them alive, and the general weakness of the American League contenders has left the door cracked open.
If there were only two wild cards, Baltimore would be six games back and effectively done. Instead, the Orioles are still hanging around, even if the odds are long.
The problem is simple enough to say and hard enough to solve: they have to play better, and they have to do it for more than a night or two. There are no games left to casually toss away.
If the offense keeps scuffling, they won’t win enough. If the relievers keep trading disasters and Craig Albernaz keeps making the wrong calls, they won’t win enough.
If the defense and baserunning keep giving away outs and runs, they won’t win enough. And if the rotation keeps getting stretched, that can break things too, especially with several starters already near or at career-high innings totals.
That includes Brandon Young, who is set to start tonight against the Red Sox on Fox. The game will air nationally, begin at 7:15, and there will be no MASN broadcast.
Young has thrown 147 innings combined between Norfolk and Baltimore, which puts him past his previous career high of 111 innings in 2024. Jake Bennett is scheduled to start for Boston.
Kyle Bradish is another name to watch in that same conversation about workload. He’s at 148 innings, with a pre-surgery high of 168.2.
If Baltimore gives him three more starts, he probably stays under that mark. If he gets four, he likely goes past it.
How the Orioles handle that will depend on how they view their place in the race.
A few other Orioles notes worth keeping on the radar:
Craig Albernaz said, “We know what’s ahead of us” when discussing the schedule, though the Rockies series didn’t offer much evidence that the Orioles are doing much with that awareness.
Luis De León’s promotion came after his fastball focus helped rescue his season, but his first outing in the majors didn’t exactly change the skepticism that came with his uneven Triple-A numbers.
And on the prospect front, lefties Boston Bateman and Caden Hunter have both drawn attention, with Hunter standing out in particular as he’s worked through three levels this year. The one thing to keep an eye on there is the walk rate, which sits at 4.1 BB/9 and is a little higher than you’d like.
There’s also a bit of Orioles history attached to this date. On September 3, 1999, Cal Ripken Jr. hit his 400th home run in an 11-6 win over the then-Devil Rays.
At the time, he was only the 20th player ever to reach that number. Now the list has grown to 59, with former Oriole Manny Machado sitting at 393 and possibly next in line.
Former Orioles born on this date include Troy Patton, Rene Gonzales, Morrie Martin, and Sandy Consuegra.
And elsewhere in the day’s baseball-adjacent trivia: San Marino was founded in 301, the Mongols suffered a major defeat at Ain Jalut in 1260, Frederick Douglass escaped slavery in 1838, France and the United Kingdom declared war on Germany in 1939, and the United Nations adopted the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women in 1981.
In Other News...
Orioles Fans Are Mourning A Voice Camden Chat Knew For Years
The Orioles community has been hit with sad news off the field, as longtime Camden Chat commenter Jakubazookas died last month in an apparent act of random violence while walking to work. For years, he was one of the more familiar voices in the sites comment section, the kind of engaged fan whose presence helped make game-day conversation feel like a true community, and he was also known among friends and fellow readers for his love of baking.
Jakubazookas death has left a hole for people who came to know him through Orioles talk as well as through his everyday interests beyond baseball. His family has set up a GoFundMe to help his wife with expenses, a small but tangible way for the community to rally around one of its own while still trying to absorb the shock of how suddenly he was taken. [Read more 🡒]
Playoff Power Bat Slipped Away For One Reason Padres Could Not Control
The Orioles have added another intriguing name to the mix, claiming outfielder Luis Robert Jr. off waivers after the Mets made him available. Baltimore beat out the Padres for the claim, a reminder that waiver priority can decide just as much as need does when contenders are hunting for help late in the season. Robert is still eligible to keep playing for New York during the waiver process, so this move does not bring an immediate change to the roster picture.
Still, it gives Baltimore a chance to grab a player who could matter down the stretch if the transaction is completed. The Orioles have been looking for ways to deepen their lineup, and Roberts availability put them in position to act quickly when the opening presented itself. For now, the only real certainty is that Baltimore got in front of San Diego on the waiver wire, and that alone could end up being important if the move holds. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Roster Churn Just Cost Them More Pitching Depth
Roster movement kept nudging the Orioles into another bit of thinning depth, as right-hander Cameron Weston was claimed off waivers by the Mets after Baltimore made him available. New York immediately optioned Weston to Triple-A Syracuse, a reminder that even a waiver claim can be less about the big leagues right away and more about stashing a pitcher with some future value.
For Baltimore, the loss matters because every arm on the margins counts when teams are trying to preserve enough pitching depth to survive the grind. The Mets had to clear a 40-man spot to make the move, designating catcher Shawn Ross for assignment in the process, and Ross now goes through waivers himself with the possibility of landing elsewhere or staying in the organization if he clears. [Read more 🡒]