It was approaching 1 a.m in Baltimore when Jake McCarthy drove an Andrew Kittredge sinker deep to center field. The ball kept carrying and O’s center fielder Colton Cowser kept running back toward the Coors Field outfield wall.

And then, it seemed like in a blink, Cowser reached the wall, leaped and made an incredible game-ending catch.

The O’s were leading 2-1 with a man on second and two outs.

Instead of the ball carrying out for a Colorado walkoff homer, Cowser made it a game-ending, home run robbery.

It was the difference between the Orioles winning or losing and his catch of the 425-foot blast elevated the Orioles to the .500 mark for the first time since they were 15-15 on April 30.

A loss became a win as Cowser reached well over the wall, caught the ball and came crashing down onto the warning track.

Cowser pumped his fist twice as Kevin Brown exclaimed on the MASN telecast, “He made the catch! He made the catch!”

All around Birdland there must have been some late-night, early-morning screams that woke up some neighbors.

A remarkable, stunning, incredible ending.

“It’s the best play I’ve ever seen in person,” manager Craig Albernaz told reporters after the game, the interview seen via MASN.

Albernaz added: “Obviously game on the line. That’s a walkoff homer. Cowser, that was a great route, great jump and unbelievable catch. Tough to put into words, an unbelievable play.

“The dugout erupted. Lot of shock. The dugout was fired up.”

Cowser discussed the catch in the clubhouse, the interview also airing via MASN.

“Kind of before the play, kind of the whole inning, (thinking) if there is a ball hit kind of deep, get your head down and go. By the grace of God we came down with it,” he said.

Cowser was asked if that was his best catch ever?

“Situation and probably the level of difficulty, yes. But had one, it was in Triple-A in Norfolk on a 10-foot wall I was able to rob. But this was better, for sure,” he added.

Cowser’s incredible catch followed by two innings his driving in the go-ahead run for a 2-1 O’s lead in the top of the seventh.

He batted with one out and bases loaded and hit a grounder to the right side. The Rockies tried to turn a 4-6-3, inning-ending double play and Cowser was initially called out at first. But the O’s challenged the call and on replay it was overturned to a safe call at first. The second run scored and Baltimore had a one-run lead.

One that held up with more solid bullpen work and the final play heroics.

WINNING WITH JUST TWO RUNS

After scoring 43 runs in the first six games of this road trip, the Orioles won this game with just two runs on four hits as they went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.

Colorado, now 52-86 with 10 straight home losses, doubled the O’s in hits, 8 to 4.

Down 1-0 to the O’s fifth, Baltimore got back-to-back doubles by Dylan Beavers and Samuel Basallo for the 1-1 tie. They went ahead in the seventh and have now won their past four games decided by one run and are 6-1 their last seven one-run decisions.

MORE NOTES ON THE WIN

Cowser’s catch made certain the O’s bullpen was not tagged with a loss and, in fact, would pitch scoreless ball on the game over four innings.

That means the O’s ‘pen has now allowed just three earned runs the last 10 gamers over 33 1/3 innings for an ERA of 0.81.

The Birds have now played error-free ball 10 straight games for the first time since May 15-25, 2023.

The win also means the O’s have back-to-back winning months, ending August at 15-13 after their 15-8 July.

Baltimore is now 6-1 on this road trip and is 9-2 its last 11 road games. The O’s are 17-9 on the road since the All-Star break.

One more win in this series, and the Orioles will have four consecutive series victories.

So now the O’s are 69-69 for the year, going 34-34 at home and 35-35 on the road.

The Orioles are now 4-14 when they score exactly two runs.

With the win, coming as Cleveland was idle, the O’s moved to within a 1/2 game back of Cleveland for the third AL wild-card with Texas and Toronto now 1.5 games back.

The game was halted for an hour and 38 minutes by a rain delay at the end of the fifth with the score 1-1.

GREAT VIBES RIGHT NOW

The vibes in Birdland are rolling now with four straight wins and eight in the last 10 games.

“Vibes are definitely high. I think we’ve been playing some good baseball but I think a lot of guys in this room think our best baseball is ahead of us,” Cowser told reporters.

Click here to see Cowser’s catch. And here to see another shot at just how far he got over the wall to rob the homer. Click here to hear Brett Hollander’s call of the catch on the O’s Radio Network. Click here to see the Albernaz postgame interview from MASN.

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After the Orioles went 2-1 at St. Louis and 3-0 versus the Athletics in Sacramento, they head to Denver and Coors Field to face Colorado in the final series of the road trip.

Baltimore (68-69) begins play Monday night with a chance to reach the .500 mark and get closer to the third AL wild-card spot. Cleveland (69-68), which is off tonight, leads for that spot by a game over the Orioles, by 1.5 games over Toronto and by two games over Texas.

Beginning Tuesday night Cleveland opens a three-game series hosting Toronto. A week from today, the Guardians will open a three-game series at Baltimore’s Camden Yards.

Gunnar Henderson produced his fourth career two-homer game Sunday and Coby Mayo added a three-run shot as the O’s beat the Athletics 8-5 to complete a three-game sweep.

The Orioles have won three in a row and seven of their last nine games.

They were last one game under the .500 mark on April 30 and they were last at .500 on the same day. On that date, the O’s won game one of a doubleheader to get to 15-15 and were 15-16 after losing Game 2.

The Birds are now playing so much better on the road. They are 5-1 on this road trip, 8-2 in their last 10 road games and 16-9 on the road since the All-Star break.

The O’s bullpen is on a roll heading into this series. They’ve allowed just three earned runs in 19 2/3 innings on this trip and just three earned runs their past nine games over 29 1/3 innings. That produces an ERA of 0.92 in that span.

Colorado (52-85, .380) is tied with the Los Angeles Angels for the worst record in MLB. The Rockies have lost four in a row and were swept over the weekend in three close games by Atlanta. They lost by scores of 6-4, 2-1 and 3-2 in 10 innings yesterday.

The Rockies have lost nine straight home games. That is the longest home losing streak in MLB this year. The last team to lose 10 straight at home was Kansas City from April 4-May 2, 2023.

This is tied for the longest home losing streak in team history with a nine-game streak in the team’s inaugural season (July 25–Aug. 18, 1993) when the team played at the old Mile High Stadium.

The Rockies have lost 11 of their past 13 overall and are 7-18 the last 25 games. Colorado is 27-38 at home, 13-26 in the second-half and 9-18 this month.

While their offense ranks seventh in the majors, scoring 4.70 runs per game, their team ERA is 30th and last at 5.49.

The Orioles are 5-4 all-time at Coors Field.

The Orioles were 42-51 on July 8 this season, and now they sit just one game out of a playoff spot. The only MLB teams ever to make the postseason after being 9+ games under .500 at least 90 games into a season are the 1973 Mets (13 under, 53-66) and the 1984 Royals (11 under, 40-51).

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After hitting just three homers since the All-Star break and none over his last 14 games, O’s shorstop Gunnar Henderson broke out big time today.

He mashed two homers and produced a career-high 12 total bases as the Orioles rallied to beat the Athletics 8-5 and complete an important three-game sweep.

For the first time since April 30, the Orioles (68-69) moved to within one game of the .500 mark. And with Cleveland also winning they needed this victory to stay a game behind the Guardians for the third AL wild-card spot.

So Cleveland (69-68) still holds that spot now by one game over the Orioles, by 1.5 games over Toronto and by two over the Texas Rangers.

The Orioles have won three in a row and seven of their past nine games.

As the day began, Henderson seemed an unlikly candidate to produce a two-homer game. Yes he finished fourth for the 2024 AL MVP Award, but his batting average was .217 and his OPS .690 as today’s game began. With an OPS+ of 96, he was not quite a league average player with his 2026 stats.

Beyond that, Gunnar had no homers and just one RBI over his past 14 games and had not homered since Aug. 14.

He had hit just two homers his last 31 games and had just three over 39 games in the second half.

Today he connected twice off Athletics lefty Jeffrey Springs, who began today having allowed 30 homers this year to lead the AL and had allowed 2.3 homers per every nine innings.

Henderson’s first of the day provided a 1-0 lead in the first. He launched a 1-0 slider 413 feet to center.

The Orioles would fall behind 5-1 in the third before Coby Mayo got them back in it with a three-run shot to make it a 5-4 A’s lead in the O’s fourth. That was No. 19 for Mayo and his 15th off lefty pitching.

An inning later, Springs faced Henderson with two on and holding a 5-4 lead. Henderson then hit his second blast of the day off a 2-2 slider. This one went 413 feet as well for his 22nd of the year and eighth off a lefty. He hit just three homers off southpaws last year. Henderson’s second blast provided a 7-5 lead.

Henderson actually began today with a better slugging percentage off lefties than right-handers, .409 to .379.

Today was Henderson’s fourth career two-homer game. He hit two on July 6, 2023 at the New York Yankees, on June 21, 2024 at Houston and earlier this year, May 27 versus Tampa Bay. He also played outstanding defense today at short.

He added to his day with an RBI triple for an 8-5 lead in the Baltimore eighth. The ball scooted under the glove of left fielder Carlos Cortes, but was still scored a three-base hit.

So Henderson finished 4-for-4 with three runs, two homers, a triple and five RBIs. He’s now batting .223 with a .715 OPS.

There was a scary moment for O’s fans in that eighth inning when right-hander Kade Morris drilled Pete Alonso in the helmet with a 94.6 mph fastball. Jackson Holliday pinch-ran for him but Alonso, easy for me to say, seemed to be okay afterward in the Baltimore dugout. The O’s hope that remains so tomorrow. Today Alonso played in his 553rd straight game.

O’s skipper Craig Albernaz had a good update postgame on Alonso when he talked with O’s media.

“Pete was fine, came out fine. He was typical Pete in the dugout, so he’ll be fine,” he said.

O’s starter Chris Bassitt struggled early as he fell behind 5-1 in the third. But he settled down a bit after that and gave up five runs and eighth hits over 5 2/3 innings.

The O’s bullpen was very good again with 3 1/3 scoreless. Over the past nine games, the O’s ‘pen has an ERA of 0.68, allowing three earned runs in 29 1/3 frames.

Baltimore is now 5-1 on this road trip. The Orioles are 8-2 their past 10 games away from home and they are 16-9 on the road since the All-Star break.

The O’s played error-free ball again today. That is nine games in a row without an error for the first time since July 19-28, 2023.

Cleveland will be off Monday while the O’s road trip now heads to Colorado and the series with the Rockies begins Monday night.

Picture for this story is courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles

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The Orioles picked up a very, very important win and won a game started by right-hander Shane Baz.

That has been a rarity in 2026.

Heading into Saturday night, the Orioles were 0-7 in the past seven Baz starts, despite his 3.63 ERA in those games. They were 1-11 in Baz’s past 12 starts since June 18.

But he was the winning pitcher in their 5-3 win over the Athletics that moved the Orioles to within one game of Cleveland for the third AL wild-card spot.

The club had been 6-20 this year when Baz got the start and he got just 15 runs of support as they went 1-11 in the last 12.

He was rolling on Saturday night, until he was not.

A shutout on 63 pitches through five and a 2-0 lead. He took a 4-0 lead to the last of the sixth but struggled and was replaced. For his night he allows two runs over 5 1/3 innings.

This was the O’s first win in a Baz start since July 12 and his first win since June 12.

The O’s bullpen got big outs late in this game.

Rico Garcia got into a bases-loaded jam with one out in the seventh. Yennier Cano came on and fanned two batters on outstanding splits to preserve a two-run lead.

Cam Sanders gave up a run in the eighth, but with a 4-3 lead, he got Jonah Heim to hit into a 5-6-3 double play started by Christian Encarnacion-Strand and with an 86 mph throw to first by Gunnar Henderson in the middle of it.

Leading 5-3 in the last of the ninth against Andrew Kittredge, the Athletics pulled off a double steal with two outs, putting runners at second and third. But CES made a nice play and strong throw from deep third base to get the final out and preserve a drama-filled win.

The Orioles (67-69) have won six of their past eight games and now, for the first time in 2026, have won three straight series. They are 13-11 since the trade deadline and 21-18 in the second-half.

Over the last eight games, the Baltimore bullpen has an ERA of 1.04, allowing just three earned runs in 26 innings.

The O’s offense went just 2-for-14 with runners in scoring positon, but the two hits were huge doubles by right fielder Leody Taveras.

His double in the third provided a 1-0 lead. Colton Cowser’s homer in the fifth made it 2-0 and the lead grew to 4-0 on a Taveras, two-out, two-run double in the sixth.

The pitching made it stand up late and the Orioles played solid defense, outstanding defense at times, on a night with no Baltimore errors while the Athletics made three.

The Orioles are 4-1 on this road trip, going 3-1 in the four games decided by two runs or less.

Three games out for the third wild-card when they left St. Louis on Thursday, now the O’s have gained two games in two days thanks in part to Kansas City’s wins over Cleveland. Today they look for their fifth three-game sweep of the season.

If they get it, the Orioles will be just one game under the .500 mark for the first time since they were 15-16 on April 30.

SATURDAY IN THE MINORS

Double-A Chesapeake won a wild one Saturday night on the O’s farm, beating Harrisburg 9-8. The Senators were down 9-3 to the last of the ninth and scored five runs.

The Baysox had 10 hits but four were home runs. Victor Figueroa went 3-for-4 with a 2-run shot, his fourth in 26 Double-A games and his organization-leading 26^th for the season. Wehiwa Aloy hit a two-run shot, his fourth, that went 433 feet. Catcher Dom Keegan hit his sixth and outfielder Thomas Sosa hit No. 14 and now has an OPS of .896 in 20 games this month.

Triple-A Norfolk got shut out 4-0 at Durham to fall to 48-80. The Tides were held to four singles, three by Heston Kjerstad. After his 3-for-4 game, he’s batting .289 with a .799 OPS. Starting pitcher Michael Forret took the loss, allowing three runs (two earned) over five innings.

In Frederick, the Keys beat Asheville 8-7. At 76-44, Frederick has the second-best record in the South Atlantic League and qualified for the playoffs earlier by winning the first half. Enddy Azocar went 2-for-3 with an RBI. In 21 games with the Keys since he was traded from Boston to the Orioles, he’s hit .353/.398/.588/.986 with three homers and 19 RBIs. Starting pitcher Boston Bateman pitched four scoreless to lower his season ERA to 3.46 in 23 games. He has thrown 15 scoreless over five outings this month.

At Low-A Demarva, the Shorebirds won 7-6 over Fredericksburg as they had 13 hits and four different players drove in runs. O’s 2026 top draft pick Eric Booth Jr. went 1-for-4 with a walk. Over his first 11 pro games, he’s batting .184 with a .511 OPS.

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BOWIE, Md. - On many minor league pitching rotations, lefty Caden Hunter would be the standout hurler. On the current Double-A Chesapeake Baysox he is one of three hurlers currently ranked in the MLBPipeline.com top 100.

No other minor league club can boast of that.

Righty Anthony Eyanson is No. 49, lefty Joseph Dzierwa is No. 89 and Hunter comes in at No. 97.

Hunter has had a fantastic year that began at Low-A Delmarva, moved to High-A Frederick and is now wrapping up with the Double-A Baysox.

Among pitchers that have thrown 80 or more innings on the Baltimore farm this year he ranks first in ERA, strikeout percentage and strikeouts per nine innings.

At 22, Hunter is now fully healthy, throwing harder than he did last year at USC where he was Friday night starter and holding his own with any pitcher on an O’s farm loaded with pitching prospects.

Over 21 games in 2026, Hunter is 5-3 with a 2.01 ERA. Over 94 innings, he’s allowed just 57 hits and has a 1.06 WHIP, a .173 average against and .527 OPS allowed. He has walked 4.1 per nine with 13.2 strikeouts.

He pitched to a 1.17 ERA in 23 Delmarva innings, was 2-1 with a 1.60 ERA over 45 Frederick innings and is 2-2 with a 3.46 ERA in five starts for Chesapeake. He’s fanned 12.46 battters per nine in Double-A, where he gave up a seaon-high six runs on Aug. 11, then rebounded to allow two runs in 10 innings his past two games.

Check out where the three Baysox aces rank among all minor league pitchers in ERA this year (min 80 IP)

1.06 - Kade Anderson, Seattle
1.51 - Anthony Eyanson, O’s
1.62 - Jacob Kisting, TB
2.01 - Caden Hunter, O’s
2.21 - Joseph Dzierwa, O’s

BETTER STATS THAN AT USC

The Orioles drafted Hunter in round six last summer, No. 184 overall out of USC, where he posted a 5.50 ERA and 25 percent K rate in 2025.

But what many didn’t know was that Hunter suffered a left knee injury and he pitched through it all last season with the Trojans.

His fastball then was often sitting 91, 92 mph and now he’s seeing 94 and 95 often and touching 97 and 98. He adds a changeup, slider and curveball.

The velocity gain, to hear Hunter explain it, has a lot to do with being healthier since his college season ended in 2025 and putting in the winter work.

“I think just getting stronger and getting healthy,” he explained at Prince George’s Stadium. “Not being healthy definitely didn’t help last year. But I’m a competitor and tried to play through it and do what is best for my team. I didn’t really look out for myself as much. But just getting healthy, getting stronger and really dialing in on the offseason.

“I’ve had the same mechanics I feel like, since sixth grade. So this was about getting bigger and stronger.”

His fastball, as I have heard and seen all year, gets a lot of in-zone swings and misses. A combo of the movment, good ride up in the zone and some deception have this guy throwing that pitch by hitters all year.

Hunter sounds less impressed with his swing-and-miss heater than anyone however.

“I kind of just do my thing and I guess it just happens,” he said simply in our recent interview in Bowie.

He really attacks hitters, going right at them with that pitch.

“Yes, of course. Kind of like mano-a-mano. Just, I’m going to try and beat you with my best stuff. If you hit it good for you.”

And if they do hit it good, it won’t deter him from throwing it the next pitch to the next hitter.

“No, of course not. He put a good swing on the ball it happens. He’s trying to do his job, I’m trying to do my job, which is strike him out,” Hunter said.

The added velo means a better whiff rate.

“I definitely think it’s helped a lot. Any extra ticks you can get it there, it will probably play at a higher level. Definitely helped this year,” he said.

But being one of the best strikeout pitchers in the Orioles’ farm system and ranking fourth in K percentage among all farm pitchers at all levels nationally doesn’t impress this young man.

“I don’t care that much. I think we have a lot of strikeout pitchers in this org. Lot of good arms here. Seeing three levels this year, there are a lot of good arms here. Strikeouts don’t get to me this much. If it happens, I’ll take it,” he said simply.

Pictures courtesy of Bryce Mosmen and the Chesapeake Baysox

ANOTHER KEY TO HIS FASTBALL SUCCESS

After pitching two years in junior college, when Hunter got to USC, the coaches had a suggestion that helped him then and continues to be significant this season.

They suggested he add a four-seam fastball to his two-seamer. He did and eventually found he wanted to throw all four seamers and scrap the two-seam sinker.

Extension, deception, added velo and the hop on the four-seamer suited him very, very well.

“I was all two-seam throughout high school, throughout junior college and then got to USC and added it (the four seam). Kind of did that because I have a bit of a higher arm slot. And then with some extension, I kind of get over the ball and got that ride.

“So, I’ve got the four-seam and the changeup. That’s kind of my bread and butter and then have now added in the two breaking balls.”

Hunter is now a more complete pitcher. Last year at USC he was almost solely four-seam and changeup, occasionally working in a slurvy-type pitch.

Now he has two distinct breaking balls and is a four-pitch guy.

“My changeup has been really good. More competitive this year than last year and I think it plays more in the zone now as kind of a low-spin pitch. Able to get under barrels and get some weak contact.

“The slider and curveball, just really started throwing them this year. Both new to me. In college I didn’t throw the two breaking balls and this is my first season actually using them and I think they have come along pretty well. Especially the slider. The curve sprinkles in there, still working on that. The slider is around 86, 87, the curve around 82. That and two different shapes will play a lot better.

“I now feel pretty confident with all four pitches in all counts. I think I get more swing and miss on the change, slider and fastball, but I will throw my curveball plenty too.”

Now we can see how this kid, in less than a year, is a very different and better pitcher. Healthier, throws harder, switched to a four-seamer and now has two distinct breaking balls.

It might seem like he has come out of nowhere, but that is not so. He was a sixth-rounder and a certain level talent that now healthy, and is maximizing his strengths.

From a 5.50 ERA in college last year to a top 100 prospects list.

Quite an achievement for this 22-year-old lefty from Sacramento, Calif.

Thanks to Caden for a great interview!

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After taking two of three in St. Louis to start this road trip, the O’s now play in Sacramento with three games versus the Athletics.

Their next six games are against two of the MLB’s biggest losing clubs in the Athletics and Rockies as the O’s try to roll off some wins and gain in the wild-card race.

Baltimore (65-69) begins the weekend three games back of Cleveland (68-66) for the third AL wild-card spot with Texas two games behind.

The Orioles get infielder/outfielder Blaze Alexander back tonight. He’s batting leadoff and giving Gunnar Henderson, at least at the start, the night off at shortstop.

Alexander has been out since July 12 with a left hand fracture. For the year he’s batting .312/.368/.439/.807. In his last 10 games before getting hurt he hit .389 and produced an OPS of .964.

In St. Louis, Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 8-for-14 with three doubles, a homer and five RBIs. He’s recorded multiple RBIs in four of his last 10 games (12 total RBIs). And CES is batting .500 (7-for-14) on the first pitch of an at-bat with two doubles and two homers.

Pete Alonso enters play today with 91 RBIs, tied for the AL lead with Houston’s Yordan Alvarez. Alonso looks to become the eighth player in franchise history to lead the AL in RBIs, joining Chris Davis (138, 2013), Miguel Tejada (150, 2004), Eddie Murray (78, 1981), Lee May (109, 1976), Frank Robinson (122, 1966), Brooks Robinson (118, 1964), and Jim Gentile (141, 1961).

Through 24 games in August, Alonso is batting .374/.430/.703/1.133 (34-for-91) with three doubles, nine home runs, 22 RBIs.

Since the All-Star break, the O's are averaging 5.55 runs per game on the road, the second-highest figure in the majors behind the Cubs (6.42). They are 13-9 on the road since the break.

The Athletics (53-81) have a terrible record but have won four of their last five against Houston and Minnesota.

The A’s were actually at .500 at 38-38 on June 19, but are 15-43 (.259) since.

They are 24-41 at home, 8-16 in August and 12-26 since the break.

From May 8-10, the Athletics took two of three from the Orioles in Baltimore and they ended that series with a 21-19 record.

They are scoring 4.37 runs per game to rank ninth in the AL but have a team ERA of 5.46 that is last in the league.

TREY’s DAY

The Orioles and Trey Mancini today announced he will sign a one-day contract with Baltimore and retire as an Oriole on Saturday, Sept. 19, when the club hosts Milwaukee at 4:05 p.m. ET. Fans are invited to Oriole Park at Camden Yards to enjoy this momentous occasion as Mancini is honored in a slate of pregame celebrations.

As an homage to his courageous battle and comeback from colon cancer, fans can purchase a special ticket package for the Sept. 19 game that includes a game ticket and a limited-edition hat with the iconic “F16HT” logo.

A portion of the proceeds will be donated to The Trey Mancini Foundation, which works to support those who are facing food insecurity, illness, and hardships. A limited number of special ticket packages start at $33, excluding fees, and can be purchased at Orioles.com/Mancini. Regular tickets to the game can be purchased at Orioles.com/Mancini.

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Meet me in St. Louie, but you can’t sweep me in St. Louie.

The last time before this trip, the Orioles played at St. Louis they got swept three in a row in May of 2024. That ended their run of 106 straight series of two games or more without being swept.

Given a chance today to return the favor, the Orioles lost 7-5 to the Cardinals.

They fall to 65-69 as the chase to get to .500 seems like a hill the O’s just can’t climb.

With Cleveland, which is on a seven-game win streak off today, the Orioles fall three games behind the Guardians for the third AL wild-card spot.

Now the pressure is on big time to roll off wins as they play three at the Athletics and three at Colorado to end this road trip. It’s almost like 4-2 won’t be good enough.

Time is running out now with 28 games left in the regular season.

Before this loss the O’s were 5-1 in their past six road games and 13-8 on the road since the All-Star break.

After scoring 21 runs on 29 hits with four homers in winning the first two games at Busch Stadium, today they trailed 6-1 going to the seventh.

But they put on a late rally as Coby Mayo blasted a three-run homer to close the gap to 6-4 in the seventh. He hit the ball 446 feet for his 18th of the season and 14th off lefty pitching. He began today slugging .723 with an OPS of 1.084 off southpaws.

Gunnar Henderson’s RBI double made it a 6-5 deficit in the eighth but St. Louis added a huge insurance run off Anthony Nunez in the home half.

O’s lefty Trevor Rogers, who entered this game 7-2 with a 2.57 ERA his past 14 starts, was not good today.

He gave up six runs and seven hits over five innings as his ERA jumped to 4.38. He allowed a three-run homer in the last of the second to Blaze Jordan and a two-run shot in the fourth to former Oriole Ramon Urias which gave St. Louis the early 5-0 lead.

His outing followed the poor game last night by righty Kyle Bradish, who allowed seven runs over 4 1/3 innings and now has an ERA of 6.07 his past six starts.

The Orioles were looking for their fifth three-game sweep of the year after earlier doing so at the Chicago White Sox (April 6-8), vs. Tampa Bay (May 25-27), versus Kansas City (July 10-12) and at Houston (July 17-19).

The Birds are now 31-35 on the road and 11-13 overall this month after going 15-8 in July.

Mayo’s homer means the O’s have now hit at least one longball in 15 straight games. It’s their longest streak since a run of 16 in a row from Aug. 4-21, 2024.

The run Nunez allowed in the eighth ended a string of five straight scoreless for the Baltimore bullpen. They threw 16 2/3 innings in those games.

Pete Alonso, who was 5-for-8 in the first two games of this series with two homers and six RBIs, today went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts. This snapped his 11-game road hitting streak. Alonso began today with a wRC+ of 147 which would be a career-high.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 2-for-4 with a double to cap a strong series. Over the three games he was 8-for-14 with three doubles, a homer and five RBIs. He has driven in 14 runs his past 12 games.

Now the O’s play the team with the second-worst record in the AL for three games, at the Athletics (53-81, .396) starting tomorow night, followed by three at Colorado (52-82, .388) which has the worst record in the NL.

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The Orioles have won two games in St. Louis to start this very important road trip. For me the 8-7 win last night was more impressive than the 13-1 romp of Tuesday evening.

If the Orioles lose this game they fall 3 1/2 games back of Cleveland for the third wild-card with 29 to play.

As it is, they are 2 1/2 back but right now losing ground is a terrible option and the Orioles didn’t last night.

At the start, following up their blowout win to open the series, they appeared headed for another blowout.

They led 5-0 in the first inning and 7-0 in the second. With Kyle Bradish pitching. The rout was on. Until it was not.

The concern level about Bradish went up last night as he allowed seven runs over 4 1/3 innings. He went to the last of the fifth leading 7-1 and never even qualified for a win.

Bradish’s seven earned runs allowed was a season-worst and tied his career-high for the third time. He last allowed seven earned runs on April 25, 2023 versus Boston. Only twice this year have O’s starters allowed more earned runs as Trey Gibson and Dean Kremer each had games where they gave up eight.

Bradish now has an ERA of 6.07 his last six games, throwing less than six innings four times in this span.

He threw 32 MLB innings last year and 54 overall counting the minors. Now he is at 143 and the O’s have to be worried.

BULLPEN TO THE RESCUE

Kind of quietly the O’s bullpen has been on a roll in recent days and that continued last night. It needed to. Alex Hoppe, Josh Walker, Rico Garcia, Grant Wolfram and Andrew Kittredge combined for 4 2/3 scoreless.

After St. Louis went from 0-7 down to a 7-7 tie off Bradish, they never scored again.

The ‘pen got big outs all night and kept the game in order until the O’s finally scored in the ninth with what turned into the game-winning run.

Over the last five games, the O’s bullpen has thrown 16 2/3 scoreless allowing eight hits.

CES GETS IT DONE AGAIN

Christian Encarnacion-Strand set an O’s team record with nine RBIs in his first six games with the club. He hasn’t slowed down much since. He now has 27 RBIs in 31 games as an Oriole.

His RBI double in the ninth last night scored pinch-runner Luis Vazquez to break the 7-7 tie.

CES went 4-for-5 with a run and two RBIs.

For his season with Baltimore, he’s batting .264/.301/.519/.820 with seven homers. He had an OPS of .513 and .611 the past two years with Cincinnati.

FINAL NOTES

The Orioles, who went 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position Tuesday night, went 3-for-3 in the first inning last night with three clutch, two-out hits to lead 5-0. First, CES singled in a run and so did Dylan Beavers before Leody Taveras blasted a three-run homer.

When Pete Alonso hit a two-run shot to right in the second, the O’s led 7-0.

That was Alonso’s 32nd homer. He’s hit two in two games, six in 11 and nine over his past 16 games. He has nine homers in 22 career games in St. Louis.

Alonso is on a pace to finish with 39 homers. He previously hit 53 in his 2019 rookie season, had 46 in 2023 and 40 in 2022.

In August, over 23 games, he’s batting .391/.448/.736/.1.184 with nine homers and 22 RBIs.

Wednesday he played in his 549th straight game.

Garcia has now thrown 7 1/3 scoreless his last seven games and has thrown scoreless outings in 11 of his past 12 games.

Jackson Holliday’s diving stop with one out in the ninth saved the tie run from scoring.

In the six games preceeding this series, the O’s scored 14 runs and went 2-for-29 with RISP. In this series they’ve scored 21 runs, going 11-for-29 with RISP.

The O’s have homered in 14 consecutive games, their longest streak since 16 in a row in August of 2024.

After going 3-for-3 in the first last night with RISP, the Orioles then went 0-for-6 until the CES double in the ninth gave them their fourth RISP hit of the game.

Baltimore (65-68) has won four of its last five.

Cleveland (68-66) leads the third wild-card spot by two games over Texas, 2.5 over Baltimore, three over Toronto and four over Seattle and Minnesota.

Cleveland is now on a seven-game win streak versus the Giants, Rockies and Angels.

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The last time, before last night, that the Orioles played in St. Louis, they were swept three in a row by the Cardinals.

That was big news when it happened back in May of 2024. The O’s had gone 106 straight series of two games or more without being swept. That amazing run ended at Busch Stadium in that series.

The O’s return there went much better on Tuesday night.

The O’s tied their season-high for runs in a game this year and routed the Cardinals 13-1 in the battle of birds.

It was their biggest blowout win of the year, topping their 12-1 victory on June 21 at Dodger Stadium.

On a night of big offense for the Orioles and a night when they started off a nine-game road trip in fine fashion, it was Pete Alonso getting the party started.

This is not surprising at all to any Orioles fan who has been watching this guy lead the club on the field and in the clubhouse throughout this year.

In the first inning last night, the O’s put runners on first and third with no outs as Jackson Holliday walked and Alonso singled. But they didn’t score.

A rally in the third had very different results. Thanks to Alonso.

That inning they put two on with none out for Alonso. He mashed a Matthew Liberatore 3-2 changeup for a Weaver – a three-run blast that went 435 feet. It was No. 31 and a 3-0 O’s lead.

Great start to the road trip. The game would turn into a rout.

The runs were plentiful from that point on.

By the fifth inning, Alonso was 4-for-4 with four RBIs and the Orioles, who scored four in the third and eighth runs in the fifth, led 12-1.

The Orioles (64-68) had lost seven of their last eight games versus St. Louis since 2023.

When this series began the Birds had lost three straight series against NL clubs, going 3-9. They were 15-21 versus the NL on the year.

Returning to the city where he grew up while watching his dad play for the Cardinals, Holliday went 3-for-6 with two runs and an RBI.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a 450-foot homer and drove in three runs.

The O’s eight-run inning was their biggest inning of the season.

Baltimore had 16 hits and went 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position. In the previous six games against Tampa and New York, the O’s had scored 14 total runs going 2-for-29 with RISP.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt had a good night on the mound, allowing one run over a season-best 6 2/3 innings. He improved to 5-4 with a 4.74 ERA.

Bassitt has an ERA of 3.06 over three O’s starts since returning from the injured list.

Reliever Anthony Nunez pitched the final two innings without allowing a run and he fanned five on 27 pitches. Nunez, remarkably, had 14 whiffs on 20 swings in that span. They whiffed on five-of-six of his changeups and five-of-seven of his sweepers.

CONCERN FOR ALONSO?

After he recorded his fourth hit of the night in that big fifth inning to improve his batting average to .276 and his OPS to .876 on the year, Alonso left the game ahead of the last of the fifth.

On Aug. 15 at Tropicana Field against the Rays, Alonso suffered a right calf cramp that hampered him late in that game. He served as the DH for the next four games but remained in the lineup.

So O’s fans had to be concerned, even in a blowout, when he left early last night.

Is he okay, manager Craig Albernaz was asked by reporters after the win?

“Yeah, precautionary,” he said as seen on the MASN telecast. “Get him off his feet. Obviously he was dealing with the calf, so no point to push him there. And we had the guys to go mix and match with Sammy (Basallo) going to first and (Carlos) Narvaez going behind the plate.”

Heading into this game, Alonso had these numbers in 20 career games at Busch Stadium - .333/.442/.708/1.150 with seven homers and 14 RBIs. That OPS is the highest by any player with 75 or more plate appearances since the park opened in 2006.

His homer was his third in six games and his eighth in the last 15 games. He has now homered in his past six series.

Alonso also now has a 10-game road batting streak during which he is 22-for-38 (.579) with six homers and 14 RBIs.

He’s showing the way for O’s hitters right now and a big problem for any opposing hurler.

The Orioles have now homered in 13 straight games - the longest current run in the majors. It is their longest run since a 16-game streak in August of 2024.

FARM NOTES

The trio of Double-A Chesapeake pitching aces are at it again. Last night lefty Caden Hunter allowed one run over five innings as the Baysox won at Harrisburg 2-1.

Hunter gave up five hits with two walks and eight strikeouts. He now has a 3.46 ERA with Chesapeake. On the year, between Low-A Delmarva, High-A Frederick and the Baysox, he is 5-3 with a 2.01 ERA over 94 innings.

Hunter is ranked as the O’s No. 4 prospect by both Baseball America MLBPipeline.com.

The Baysox are the only minor league team with three top 100 pitchers in their rotation per MLBPipeline with Anthony Eyanson at No. 49, Joseph Dzierwa No. 90 and Hunter at No. 98.

Triple-A Norfolk won 3-1 at Durham. Lefty Cade Povich went 5 2/3 scoreless on two hits with one walk to 11 strikeouts. Blaze Alexander began an injury-rehab assignment and went 0-for-3 with a walk and strikeout.

Frederick won 6-3 at home over Asheville. In his first game since moving up from Low-A Delmarva, second baseman Jaiden Lo Re homered and drove in four runs.

Lo Re, age 19, was the club’s fifth-round pick out of an Arizona high school in 2025. He hit a three-run homer in the first inning in his first High-A at-bat.

Lo Re is playing at his third level of this year with 20 games in the Florida Complex League followed by 56 with Delmarva.

Now over 77 games on his season, he’s batting .332/.433/.458/.891 with 23 steals, four homers and 55 RBIs. He has walked 50 times to just 29 strikeouts. Lo Re is ranked as the O’s No. 12 prospect via Baseball America and No. 19 via MLBPipeline.

In Low-A Delmarva’s loss, O’s 2026 second-round pick, outfielder Ty Head of NC State, went 3-for-5 and scored twice. In his first 10 pro games he is batting .385 with an OPS of 1.045.

The Alonso pic in this story is courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles

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After completing a 2-4 homestand and having gone 5-5 the last 10 games against Tampa Bay and the New York Yankees, the Orioles (63-68) hit the road tonight.

They play three games each at St. Louis (66-66), the Athletics (51-81) and Colorado (50-81). With six of nine games against the two teams with the worst records in the majors, it’s a chance to make up some ground in the wild card race.

Baltimore begins this trip 2.5 games back of Cleveland and trailing four teams for the third AL wild-card playoff spot and No. 6 seed.

In their last game Sunday, the Orioles were held to just two hits in a 3-1 loss to Tampa Bay. The Orioles went 5-2 in two series against the Rays and 0-3 versus the Yankees in this last 10-game stretch.

The Orioles, who went 15-8 in July, are 9-12 in August.

St. Louis just got swept three straight by the Phillies, losing 6-4 Sunday when they blew a 4-0 lead in the ninth inning. St. Louis went 5-6 on a long, three-team road trip. The Cardinals are five games out for the third NL wild-card spot.

St. Louis is 32-34 at home, 16-21 in the second-half and 20-22 against AL teams. They have been good in close games, with a record of 37-32 in games decided by one and two runs.

COMPARING THESE TEAMS (With MLB rankings)

Runs per game: O’s 4.45 (16), SL 4.43 (18)

Batting average: O’s .235 (26), SL .241 (20)

Team OPS: O’s .713 (20), SL .699 (24)

Team ERA: O’s 4.19 (19), SL 4.14 (15)

Rotation ERA: O’s 4.30 (16), SL 3.95 (10)

Bullpen ERA: O’s 4.04 (14) SL 4.43 (24)

Defensive Runs Saved: O’s 8 (18), SL 21 (15)

FEW FINAL NOTES

The Orioles are 11-8 on the road since the All-Star break, scoring 5.05 runs per game in that span to rank fifth in the majors. The Orioles are batting .287 in those 19 games with runners in scoring position, to rank third in the majors in this stretch. In their last road series, the Orioles went 3-1 against Tampa Bay scoring 26 runs and they were 11-for-33 batting with RISP.

St. Louis has turned the most double plays in MLB this season with 131. The Giants come next with 119 followed by the Diamondbacks with 116.

Pete Alonso has a career OPS of 1.150 in 20 career road games against the Cardinals. That’s the highest OPS of any player at Busch Stadium since the venue opened in 2006 (min. 75 PA).

Baltimore has hit at least one home run in 12 straight games, five games longer than any other MLB team’s current streak. It’s the Orioles’ longest homer streak since a 16-game run in August of 2024.

Opponents have a stolen-base percentage of just 69.7% against the Orioles this season. That would be the best mark by any AL team in a single season over the last five seasons.

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BOWIE, Md – On the 2025 LSU Tigers baseball team, a club that would win the national championship, they were a pair of aces to top the weekend rotation.

Lefty Kade Anderson would go on Friday nights in the SEC and right-hander Anthony Eyanson would pitch Saturday.

Eyanson said he joked with Anderson that the lefty would make the majors this year. And he just did for the Seattle Mariners, making his debut on Saturday, allowing three runs over 5 2/3 innings against the Cubs. He was MLB’s top pitching prospect when promoted to the bigs.

Eyanson, also in his first pro season, awaits his big league chance.

But the pitcher who was the headliner in the O’s trade of Adley Rutschman to Boston is sure doing all he can during an outstanding 2026 season.

A top 100 pitching prospect himself, he’s put up spectacular numbers and has now made three starts for Double-A Chesapeake and his new O’s organization.

He started the year in High-A Greenville for Boston throwing 20 innings and quickly moved to Double-A Portland May 10. He remains in the Eastern League with the Orioles and Chesapeake.

Over 19 games in 2026, Eyanson, age 21, is 6-1 with a 1.58 ERA. Over 85 2/3 innings, he has allowed just 48 hits. He has an 0.92 WHIP, yielding a .164 batting average and .504 OPS with 3.26 walks per nine innings and 12.4 strikeouts.

He gets out left (.158 average) and righty (.170) batters and has been so remarkably consistent, allowing two runs or less in 18 of 19 games and three runs in the other. Nine times he’s thrown scoreless starts. That is 47 percent of his games.

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Right-hander Shane Baz continues to not get much run support – none today – and the Orioles offense is still inconsistent.

With today’s 3-1 home loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Orioles failed to sweep this series and ended a 10-game run playing the Rays, Yankees and Rays going 5-5.

They held their own versus the two clubs with the best records in the Amer…

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BOWIE, Md. – When the Orioles promoted Aron Estrada at age 20 late last July to Double-A from then High-A Aberdeen, the kid from Venezuela did what he’s always done – he hit.

From the Dominican Summer League to the Florida Complex League and the lower minors, he showed a solid bat with low strikeout rates. He flashed some speed and the power was starting…

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The Orioles came home riding high. They scored 26 runs in taking three of four on the road against Tampa Bay. What that series began the Rays had won nine in a row, were a season-best 28 games over the .500 mark and were 41-18 at home.

Yet the O’s came close to completing a four-game sweep last Monday.

They returned to Baltimore this week and were promptl…

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BALTIMORE – The Orioles have not had an abundance of lefty relievers this year. And, as they hope to be chasing a playoff spot in the season’s final weeks, they could be adding one from their farm. A pitcher that, until this week, has been a starter.

This week the club moved farm lefty Luis De Leon, age 23 from the Dominican Republic, to the bullpen at T…

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BALTIMORE – It’s been an interesting year for new O’s righty reliever Alex Hoppe. A sixth-round draft pick in 2022 by the Boston Red Sox, this was the season he made his MLB debut and that was with Seattle.

He has gone up and down a couple of times from the minors this year between Seattle and Triple-A Tacoma. On July 26 he got his latest call to the majors.

A week later he was traded.

As Seattle acquired O’s outfielder Taylor Ward, Hoppe and two minor league right-handers came to Baltimore.

Hoppe, who has one of the best velocity fastballs in the game, has pitched better in Baltimore than Seattle. With the Mariners he posted an ERA of 5.79 over 28 innings with 11 walks and 34 strikeouts.

With the Orioles, after a scoreless ninth inning last night, he’s been in six games throwing 5 1/3 scoreless with two walks and five strikeouts.

“The Orioles have made this an easy transition,” he said of joining his new club. “Just a great group of guys and I am happy to be here. From the start, my new teammates and staff said, ‘We want to make this as easy as possible for you. Whatever you need. Whatever you were doing there, let’s do it here so you hit the ground running.

“The first thing when I got here, I sat down with the pitching coaches and we had a meeting. They wanted to hear from me, what my process was, what my thoughts were on what I do well and some things I want to work on. We were all on the same page right from step one.”

Hoppe played five seasons in college at UNC-Greensboro and was a senior draft pick in 2022 when he was the Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year, going 8-2 with a 2.97 ERA.

He had modest stats in three seasons on the Red Sox farm, posting an ERA of 4.76 from 2023 through 2025. He was traded to Seattle last November and this season he had an ERA of 2.65 for Seattle’s Triple-A club in 15 games. He made his MLB debut on April 27 at Minnesota.

MEETING THE NEW COACHES

It’s easy to see what the O’s like about him. A fastball that averages 98 mph, in the top six percent of the majors. A 40 percent whiff rate on his slider, a 48.4 percent groundball rate and he now also throws a two-seamer. MLB batters hit .241 or worse this year off all three pitches.

I asked him if his new coaches in Baltimore had any new thoughts about his pitching?

“I am sure they have some thoughts. We talked a little bit,” he said. “But they were of the mindset of, ‘we don’t have to make any drastic changes.’ We have the stuff and we had success with Seattle.

“I am sure there will be things we tinker with in the offseason. Just how any pitcher would. You try to get better every year. Otherwise guys will pass you up and the league will pass you by. I’m sure we’ll have those conversations at some point.

“But right now we are in the middle of a playoff push. Let’s try not to change too many things when things are working. Let’s go to my strengths and go out there and win.”

Dating back to his time with Seattle, eight of Hoppe’s last nine games since July 27 have been scoreless outings.

He fanned two in the ninth last night, getting the Yankees’ Ben Rice and Luis Garcia Jr. He threw 15 pitches and nine were at 99 mph or more with four at 100 mph or more.

He said he started to gain some fastball velocity in college and now he can bring it with the best of them. He reached the upper 90s after weight room work in college and touched 100 mph for the first time in his first pro season.

How has that pitch evolved for him over the years?

“Minor changes with some grips to get some movement patterns,” he said of his heater. “The velo has been there since I’ve been in pro ball. We added a two-seam fastball, Seattle helped me add that, and that is a new pitch this year. Gives me two different fastballs to play off the slider. Been good. I try to not think too much on the mound. Just attack hitters and be aggressive.”

THE SLIDE PIECE HAS BEEN A REAL SOLID PITCH

The slider is actually his most used pitch as he throws that 43.5 percent, using his four-seam 37.0 and his two-seam sinker 18.4. He has a changeup but has thrown it just six times all season.

The slider can be a real putaway pitch, but it’s not used solely for that purpose.

“Sometimes I use it early in the count. It all depends on the hitters and what their tendencies are and I trust the catchers and their eyes. What they are seeing with their eyes may be different than what the reports say. I’m going to trust their eyes in the middle of the game more than the reports.

“I have told the coaches here that I will throw any of my three pitches in any count to any batter. Because I feel I can get those guys out in any count.”

MLB hitters can hit 98 if the movement is not there, so Hoppe has worked hard over the years to have the velo and the movement too.

“That is one reason I added the two-seamer,” he explained. “To have two fastballs with different movement profiles in the upper 90s. These hitters are the best. You can throw it 105 but they can hit it. That is the benefit of having two different fastballs.”

He continues to enjoy his new club. Both his bullpen cohorts and the pitching coaches he works with.

“I love that we are such a young group of guys and we are all pulling for each other. There are times you are in leverage situations but they are not going to let you get overexposed. You are not going to have to throw two innings every single time. Maybe there are two righties coming up and hey you get those two and let’s go from there.

“We are all pulling for each other. We are all working as a unit, passing the baton. That is what can make a bullpen elite,” added Hoppe.

Pictures for this story are courtesy of the Baltimore Orioles

ANOTHER CLOSE LOSS

The Orioles are once again on a downward trend. This has happened before. They lost 5-3 to the Yankees last night and have scored four runs in this series.

They are 61-66 for the year, losing the last three by five combined runs.

When Pete Alonso drove one deep toward the left-field foul pole in the last of the seventh it looked like his second homer of the game and it would provide the O’s a late 4-3 lead. The ball was ruled foul and upheld by a replay review.

The O’s and their fans were hopping mad.

Made only worse when righty Cam Sanders handed New York a game-winning rally in the eighth by issuing a walk and hitting two batters.

The Orioles, who scored 51 runs their previous eight games as this series began, are 0-for-12 with runners in scoring position this series.

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BALTIMORE – To hear Orioles’ shortstop Gunnar Henderson tell it, the recent uptick in his batting stats is somewhat about a few tweaks he made. But it has much more to do with several talks he had.

Chats with mental skills coaches, one that travels with the team and is there every day around the club, and at least one person Henderson has reached out to …

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After taking three of four on the road against Tampa Bay, the Orioles begin a six-game homestand tonight with three each versus the New York Yankees and then a rematch with Tampa Bay.

The Orioles (61-64) are in a three-way tie with Texas and Detroit for the third AL wild-card playoff spot. Minnesota and Toronto are just 1/2 game behind that trio and Clev…

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In an effort to complete a stunning four-game sweep at Tropicana Field, the Orioles took the lead three times over the Tampa Bay Rays Monday night.

Three times, that lead got away.

The O’s led 1-0 in the second, 3-1 in the fourth and 6-4 at the end of the top of the fifth. But the Rays got three off Yennier Cano in the seventh and beat the Orioles 7-6.

Bal…

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FREDERICK, Md. – When this story was published here a few days ago, O’s fans could read about Mike Shildt, his background as a big league manager and what led him to join the Orioles organization.

Less than two weeks after he resigned last October as manager of the San Diego Padres he agreed to join the O’s and help on the farm and with player developmen…

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