The Orioles have nudged themselves right back into the wild card picture.
After the Guardians and Rangers both lost yesterday and Baltimore hung on to beat the Athletics, the Orioles are now one game behind the third wild card spot. Cleveland is the only team standing between Baltimore and a postseason position, and the head-to-head tiebreaker belongs to the Guardians unless the Orioles sweep them next week. There are 26 games left in the season.
That’s the cleanest part of the day. The messier part came from Samuel Basallo.
Basallo’s frustration was on full display after a hitless stretch in the game, when he reacted to an at-bat by slamming and punching in the dugout afterward. It’s not the kind of scene that’s easy to shrug off, especially on a team that hasn’t shown a ton of that kind of dugout eruption this year. Gunnar Henderson has had some after-at-bat reactions, but nothing on that level.
For me, that puts a spotlight on manager Craig Albernaz as much as anything happening between the lines. It’s the manager’s job to keep the group steady, and the staff needs to know when a player is heading into that kind of spiral. Once Basallo got there, somebody should have stepped in rather than treat it like harmless venting.
There’s also the question of what, exactly, happened to Basallo physically. He inadvertently blocked a pitch with his bare hand later in the game, and trainers checked him out before he stayed in.
But after grounding out in the next inning, he was replaced by Yohel Pozo. On MASN, Ben McDonald speculated that it might have been a benching after Basallo didn’t run out the ground ball.
I can’t say that for sure from here, and I’m hoping it’s not a broken finger.
Basallo probably wouldn’t have been catching a day game after a night game anyway, so the real answer may not come until Monday.
As for today, the three-game set in Sacramento wraps up at 4:05 Eastern. Chris Bassitt is lined up to start for the Orioles, while the Athletics still do not have a starter listed as of this writing.
Around the club, there’s plenty more to catch up on. The Baltimore Sun looked at six players the Orioles could call up when rosters expand.
School of Roch wrote about Encarnacion-Strand, who has gone from an under-the-radar pickup to an unsung hero and already has driven in more runs than more than one player who’s been around longer this season. Orioles On The Verge took a shot at possible Arizona Fall League prospects after MLB announced the Orioles will be among the teams sending players to the Peoria Javelinas, along with prospects from the Cardinals, Padres, Mariners, and Reds.
The AFL starts on October 3, with rosters coming later. Steve Melewski also noted that Caden Hunter, who wasn’t on many radars going into the year, has moved through three levels and has posted decent results in Double-A too, with his velocity ticking up and the strikeouts coming once he’s fully healthy in 2026.
And in Orioles history, today marks the anniversary of the 2013 trade that sent Xavier Avery for Mike Morse, who had -1.0 bWAR in 76 games with the Mariners before the deal and added another -0.5 in just 12 games with Baltimore.
One former Oriole was born today: 2001 reliever Kris Foster, who turns 52.
Happy birthday as well to the day’s other notables, including Mary Shelley, Ernest Rutherford, Kiki Cuyler, Ted Williams, Lewis Black, and Andy Roddick.
In Other News...
Orioles Fans May Hate Where The Grayson Rodriguez Debate Is Heading
Grayson Rodriguezs first run with the Angels looked a lot like the kind of rough transition that can make a trade look better in hindsight for Baltimore. Through his first 10 starts in Los Angeles, he was hit hard, carrying a 7.98 ERA and a 5.81 FIP as the former Orioles right-hander fought through early struggles and injuries after last Novembers deal that sent him to Anaheim for Taylor Ward.
Since an August 4 start against his old club, though, Rodriguez has started to look more like the pitcher the Angels thought they were getting, with his ERA trending down and his strikeout total climbing. That is the part Orioles fans probably wont enjoy hearing, because the trade was always going to be judged not just by Wards production in Baltimore, but by whether Rodriguez eventually settles in as the long-term asset the Angels believe theyve secured through 2030. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles September Push Suddenly Carries Much Bigger Roster Stakes
With four weeks left in the season, Baltimores push for the third American League wild-card spot has become about more than just the scoreboard. The Orioles sit one game behind Cleveland, and the stretch run is giving the front office another look at how certain pieces might fit beyond this year, especially as the organization weighs the performances of infielders Blaze Alexander, Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand with an eye on the 2027 roster.
The late-season evaluation does not stop there. Baltimore is also taking a closer look at catcher Carlos Narvezs offense while anticipating the return of Flix Bautista to the bullpen, a move that could reshape the back end of games as the standings tighten. For a club still very much alive in the race, every decision now carries a little more weight than usual. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Face A September Call-Up Decision That Could Shape The Playoff Push
With the Orioles pushing to stay in the playoff picture, the front office has a familiar late-season question to sort through: whether there is a minor league bat or arm worth bringing up for the stretch run. It has not been a banner year for the farm system to this point, with the Norfolk Tides struggling and not offering much in the way of obvious help, which has left Baltimore leaning more heavily on the roster it already has built in the big leagues.
Even so, there are a few names worth watching as September approaches, including Heston Kjerstad and Kyle Bradish, along with the deeper pitching options sitting at Double-A and Triple-A. The Orioles have enough organizational arms to consider different roster paths over the final month, but the bigger issue is whether any of those call-up choices can meaningfully change the shape of a postseason push rather than simply fill innings and bench spots. [Read more 🡒]