Pete Alonso keeps giving the Orioles exactly what they need and, lately, almost nobody else has been able to match it.
He heads into Saturday’s matchup with the Yankees riding a 13-game hitting streak, and he added two hits, a homer and three RBIs on Friday to help end a four-game losing streak. Over that stretch, Alonso has been absurd: .480/.544/.940 with a 1.489 OPS. That kind of production has made him the engine of an Orioles lineup that has spent much of August sputtering around him.
The current run is elite, but it is not the best 13-game stretch of Alonso’s career. He actually posted a slightly better one as a young player with the Mets in 2019, when his OPS over 13 games reached 1.493. The rest of his top five 13-game stretches by OPS, using Stathead data from baseballreference.com, also include another pair of Mets runs in 2019 and a hot stretch this April.
For the Orioles, though, the bigger story is how much Alonso has had to carry. Samuel Basallo and Blaze Alexander are injured, while once-promising names like Gunnar Henderson and Colton Cowser have fallen to staggering depths. Without Alonso doing “extreme damage” and batting nearly .500 over his last 13 games, the Orioles, now 62-67, would not even be hanging around the edge of the final Wild Card spot.
The power has been especially vital because the rest of the lineup has offered so little. Adley Rutschman gave them almost nothing in terms of slug after the first three weeks of the season before they dealt him.
Henderson and Cowser were expected to provide major homer totals, but both have had lost seasons. Taylor Ward was supposed to hit 30 homers and has barely swung the bat and mostly looked to walk.
Basallo had been one of their top three run producers before he went down, and Alexander was among the team’s top 10 hitters in wRC+ from April 28 through the All-Star break before breaking his hand on a hit by pitch just before that.
Alonso’s overall impact shows up everywhere. He has 3.8 WAR per baseballreference.com, while Henderson is second among the remaining Orioles at 2.0. Alonso also has 10 more home runs and 34 more RBIs than anyone else on the roster.
August has made the gap even clearer. Among Orioles hitters with at least 20 plate appearances this month, Alonso leads the club with a 1.147 OPS, seven home runs and 16 RBIs. Coby Mayo is next at .842, followed by Henderson at .808, Tyler O’Neill at .795 and Dylan Beavers at .769.
Henderson’s August line has been especially thin, with just four RBIs this month. The Orioles are left hoping Basallo and others, with a healthy Jordan Westburg as a possible boost, can form some kind of power core around Alonso. In the meantime, Alonso is still in the lineup and still trying to keep the offense afloat, even after the recent calf issue.
In Other News...
Pete Alonso Just Gave Orioles Fans Another Reason To Embrace Him
Pete Alonso is giving Orioles fans a little extra to smile about during MLB Players Weekend, and it starts with the bat in his hands. Hes using a custom Maryland Eastern Shore-themed design that leans into local pride, with nods to Maryland blue crabs and lighthouses, a fitting touch for a player who has found a way to connect with Baltimore beyond the box score.
The timing helps, too. Alonso recently reached his 30th home run of the season and stretched his hitting streak to 13 games, keeping his bat hot while the Orioles get another reminder of why he has been easy to pull for. For a fan base that appreciates both production and a little personality, this is the kind of detail that tends to land. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Put Samuel Basallo In A Huge Spot And He Delivered
Samuel Basallo was back from the injured list just in time to be handed a high-pressure role, and the Orioles had no hesitation about putting the young hitter in the middle of a tight game. Baltimore needed offense late against Tampa Bay, and Basallo came off the bench in the eighth inning with a chance to change the tone of the night.
He did exactly that, launching his first career pinch-hit homer to tie the game with a two-run swing and give the Orioles the jolt they needed before a 3-2 walk-off win. It was another sharp reminder of how well Baltimore has handled the Rays this season, with the Orioles taking eight of the nine meetings, and another sign that Basallo can matter in a hurry when the game is on the line. [Read more 🡒]
Orioles Pulled Off Another Late Escape Fans Know All Too Well
Baltimore keeps finding ways to make late innings feel like a referendum on its pulse, and Friday night was another reminder of how thin the margins have been. The Orioles edged Tampa Bay 3-2 behind a night that featured strong defense from Tyler ONeill, useful work on the mound from Brandon Young and Josh Walker, and a couple of bench pieces who changed the tone when the game started to slip away.
Samuel Basallo came through as a pinch hitter to square things in the eighth, giving the Orioles a much-needed jolt before the game drifted into extra innings. Then Dylan Beavers delivered the finish the home crowd was waiting for in the 10th, sending Baltimore to 63-67 overall and keeping the clubs success against the Rays rolling at 8-4, a small but familiar bright spot in a season still searching for steadier ground. [Read more 🡒]