Brandon Young didn’t look like a pitcher ready to talk much Tuesday night, and for good reason. He sat with his back to the clubhouse as reporters walked in, not in his usual postgame rhythm, and when he finally turned around, the frustration was written all over him.
“I felt good,” he said. “Pretty pissed off. Didn’t do my job, and there’s no excuse for it.”
Then came the part every club has to live by in September.
“You’ve got to flush it,” he said in the same somber tone. “Go on to the next one.”
The Orioles did exactly that.
One night after the emotional low point, they flipped the script with one explosive inning and beat the Guardians 9-5 to take the series from the team occupying the final Wild Card spot. Baltimore sent 14 hitters to the plate in the third and scored eight runs, enough to turn the night into a very different kind of clubhouse scene.
The music was loud. The lights flashed.
Smoke drifted through the room. Players sang, danced and laughed around the pool table, while others watched from chairs nearby.
At one point, a teammate tossed a couple of rubber darts past Dylan Beavers’ head and stuck them to his locker while he was doing an interview. Beavers barely missed a beat.
That kind of bounce-back has been hard to come by in a season that keeps throwing punches. The Orioles have had one setback after another this month, and the list keeps growing: Christian Franklin was traded for at the deadline and then lost to a hand injury; Luis Robert Jr. was claimed on waivers from the Mets in what the club viewed as a $5 million steal, then went down after three games with a hamstring strain.
Tyler O’Neill still hasn’t made meaningful progress from his rotator cuff strain, which now likely ends his season after an injury-plagued 2025. Samuel Basallo, back after missing a month with right shoulder discomfort, has been trying to play through it and was even clipped by a backswing Tuesday night.
Then came the late innings, which somehow found another way to get messy.
Gunnar Henderson fouled a ball off his left knee in the eighth and limped off looking as discouraged as he has since joining the Orioles. Some in the media thought it was his right foot or his shin, but Henderson set that straight after the game.
“No,” Henderson said, “just left knee.”
He returned to his locker, got dressed and spoke briefly in the same flat tone as Young. The injury wasn’t the most baffling part of the night, though.
That distinction went to Carlos Narváez, who played second base in the top of the ninth despite never doing so as a professional. In the minors, he has only logged time at first base and third base.
The reason Baltimore needed that kind of improvisation was another twist in a game already packed with them. Blaze Alexander, who had just been reinstated from the injured list, left after back spasms following a bunt fielding play in the seventh. Alexander had already missed about six weeks because of a non-displaced fracture in his left hand and then went back on the 10-day injured list Monday with lower-back discomfort.
Even with September roster expansion, the Orioles keep finding themselves short-handed.
The standings pressure is real, too. Tuesday’s win pulled Baltimore back to three games under .500 after the club had been five below when it reached Busch Stadium on the road trip to St.
Louis. The Orioles were four games out of the Wild Card after the loss, but they stopped the slide and ended a stretch that had looked ready to swallow them whole.
Colton Cowser had already brought home a home run ball in Colorado, but that didn’t rescue the Orioles from their funk. They snapped a six-game losing streak Monday, then fell behind 6-0 by the third inning Tuesday before clawing back to within 6-5, only to see three unearned runs in the seventh widen the gap again.
Pete Alonso hit his 34th homer and later made a costly throwing error. Craig Albernaz also had to keep making his way out of the dugout to check on injuries after sharing encouraging pregame news on Ryan Helsley.
There is at least more help on the horizon. Félix Bautista retired all three batters he faced Tuesday at Triple-A Norfolk in his sixth rehab appearance and appears close to returning. Helsley threw live batting practice earlier in the day for the first time and should be nearing a rehab assignment.
That may matter soon. It may even matter a lot. But the Orioles know one or two closers won’t solve everything if the rest of the roster keeps getting chipped away.
For one night, though, they looked like a team that could still answer.
“I think when we play our best,” said Dylan Beavers, “we can beat anybody.”
And after the way this one unfolded, that sounded less like talk and more like proof.
In Other News...
Orioles Fans May Keep Coming Back To Pete Alonsos Costly Mistake
Pete Alonso has been one of the Orioles most productive bats this season, which is why his defense on Sept. 8 in Cleveland stood out so sharply. In a game that mattered in the middle of a tight stretch, a throwing error from Alonso helped open the door for the Guardians to pull ahead in the inning, a mistake that felt especially costly for a Baltimore club trying to find its footing down the stretch.
The Orioles have struggled through September and now find themselves chasing in the Wild Card race, with their playoff path looking increasingly uncertain. For a team that has leaned on Alonsos offense, the margin for error keeps shrinking, and plays like that one can linger because they come at a time when Baltimore can least afford to give anything away. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Suddenly Have A Lineup Concern They Cant Ignore
The Orioles lineup has started to feel a little thinner in a hurry, with Blaze Alexander landing on the 10-day injured list because of low back discomfort and Jeremiah Jackson back on the roster in his place. Alexander has been one of Baltimores steadier pieces this season, hitting .303/.358/.414 across 93 games and giving the club useful flexibility around the infield and outfield.
The concern grows because Gunnar Henderson is also dealing with left knee discomfort and is out of the lineup, forcing more shuffling than the Orioles would prefer at this point in the season. Jackson Holliday and Jeremiah Jackson are adjusting positions as Baltimore tries to keep the order intact, but for a team that has leaned on its depth all year, this is the kind of stretch that can test it fast. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Brought Michael Forret Back For A Reason
Michael Forrets path has already taken a strange turn for a pitcher the Orioles know well. Drafted by Baltimore before being shipped to the Rays in December 2025, he was brought back at the 2026 trade deadline and is now back in the organization at Triple-A Norfolk, where the club has kept a close eye on him as he works through a left hip impingement.
Forret is currently on the injured list, but Orioles president of baseball operations Mike Elias said the right-hander is close to being ready for a major league call-up. For a team that valued him enough to reacquire him, the next step is less about the paperwork and more about getting him healthy enough to make the move count. [Read more 🡒]