October baseball is draped in clichés to explain the unexplainable. This team never quits. Who will be the unlikely hero?

They’ve been here before.

This last banality is used in reference to the veteran team that bests the group of postseason newcomers. And if Tuesday night’s matchup between the Orioles and Dodgers were an installment of the Fall Classic, we’d hear the phrase early and often.

The Dodgers leaned heavily on their 30-somethings in a 10-3 beatdown of the Orioles, earning the series win in Baltimore and pushing the O’s to the brink of being swept for the first time in over a calendar year.

Leading off a five-run second inning for the Dodgers, 35-year-old J.D. Martinez walked, 35-year-old David Peralta singled and 33-year-old Jason Heyward brought them home with a three-run bomb to center field. By the end of the frame, 34-year-old Miguel Rojas had walked, 33-year-old Freddie Freeman had singled and Los Angeles had taken a 5-0 lead on Orioles starter Tyler Wells, who is 28.

Wells lasted just two innings before he was replaced by lefty Cole Irvin, who performed admirably in relief, allowing two earned runs over four-plus innings.

“That’s a veteran club,” Wells said after the game. “They got a veteran lineup and I know that they all know exactly what they’re gonna do.

“I fell behind in the count, that’s on me. I think I walked two guys tonight, and that really hurt me a lot. I think for a little bit there, I wasn’t bothered too much by the walks because they weren’t impacting me. But especially after tonight, I’m really gonna focus on cutting those things down.”

Meanwhile, the Orioles’ youthful lineup — which featured rookies Gunnar Henderson, Colton Cowser and Jordan Westburg — struggled to string together hits off Dodgers pitching. Righty Michael Grove, who entered the night with a 6.89 ERA, spread just five hits over five innings of one-run ball.

Fittingly, 33-year-old Aaron Hicks had the best night of any Oriole, collecting RBIs in the second and eighth innings. O’Hearn drove in the team’s second run of the game on an RBI single in the eighth.

Baltimore’s youth was surprisingly apparent in the field, where a typically sure-handed defensive team committed four errors: one each by Henderson, O’Hearn (though his was initially attributed to Henderson), Adam Frazier and Adley Rutschman. It was the team’s first four-error game since June 15, 2021.

“Uncharacteristic defensively,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Some errors there and some missed plays. Cole [Irvin] could’ve gone further there if we made a couple plays behind him. But we just didn’t play very well tonight.”

The Dodgers are unique in their commitment to older players. They have the oldest roster in the league with an average of 30.8 years, more than a year older than the next closest team, according to Baseball Reference.

The Orioles, whose roster is eighth-youngest with an average of 27.4 years, is rich in burgeoning talent and exciting prospects. But the group still lacks experience. Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias attempted to compensate for the club’s youth by adding proven big leaguers such as Frazier, Kyle Gibson and James McCann in the offseason.

Still, Baltimore is headlined by mid-20s stars like Rutschman, Henderson and Félix Bautista, all in their second big league season. This team will go as far as their youngsters take them.

It’s hard to complain with the results thus far. Tuesday’s loss dropped the O’s to 57-37, plenty good enough for second place in a crowded American League East. And Elias will have more opportunities to add veterans before the August 1 trade deadline.

Maybe experience is overrated. Maybe the Orioles’ youth will keep them fresh in a grueling sprint for the playoffs.

But teams like the Dodgers have been here before.

paul.mancano@thebaltimorebanner.com