The Orioles could’ve taken care of this at home.
With a win on Saturday, the Sunday series finale against the Detroit Tigers — Baltimore’s final regular-season game of the year at Camden Yards — could’ve been a festival. The crowd of over 44,000 was ready.
But on consecutive days the Orioles didn’t do what they needed to do. They now must secure a postseason berth on the road, with a series against the New York Yankees starting Tuesday. With an offensive display that flashed promise before dropping into the second-half abyss once more, the Orioles failed to hit with runners in scoring position and lost to the Tigers, 4-3.
“Just didn’t seem like we could catch many breaks today,” manager Brandon Hyde said.
Their magic number rests at 3. They can clinch Tuesday if the Minnesota Twins lose later today and Tuesday and the Orioles beat the Yankees — who in turn could win the American League East by beating Baltimore.
The return of Ramón Urías and Jordan Westburg gave a jolt to the lineup, but Baltimore finished 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position. The Orioles left runners on base in the sixth and seventh innings despite them reaching to lead off the frames, and for all the scoreboard watching of what the Seattle Mariners might have done, it was the Orioles’ own scoreboard that mattered at the end of the day.
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With this defeat, the Orioles can’t clinch a spot in the postseason until Tuesday at the earliest. Had Baltimore won Saturday rather than blowing a golden opportunity with a man on third in the ninth with no outs, the team could’ve controlled its destiny Sunday. As it is, the Orioles needed a win Sunday and a Mariners loss against the Texas Rangers to clinch at Camden Yards.
The Rangers held their end of the bargain by walking off the Mariners. But it didn’t matter because Baltimore lost and now it must wait a little longer for the perceived inevitable playoff berth.
There is reason for optimism, of course, and it revolves around the returns of Urías and Westburg. The pair came through immediately in the fifth inning. Urías, activated Sunday after suffering a sprained ankle in late August, led off with a single — putting him on base for Cedric Mullins, who promptly homered.
And, after Gunnar Henderson singled, it was Westburg’s turn to contribute. Westburg, recovered from a broken hand, lashed an RBI double into the left-center gap to level the game at 3.
“Thrown right into the fire, right? It felt good. Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Westburg said. “I’m just super thankful to be back on the field.”
After Westburg left the lineup due to injury Aug. 1, the Orioles had a .230 average, which was the fifth worst in the majors over that time. To expect an instant return to their best from Westburg and Urías would be to discredit how much timing has a role in hitting, and as such, how absence can leave a player’s timing off. But Urías and Westburg each homered in rehab outings this week and helped Baltimore mount a comeback in their first game back.
The Orioles had a chance to do even more in the fifth inning, had Colton Cowser’s potential homer traveled another few feet. Instead, Detroit center fielder Parker Meadows leaped at the wall to rob a two-run shot to keep the score tied.
It was another reminder of how good fortune hasn’t fallen the Orioles’ way of late. Had Meadows’ leap came up just short, Cowser would’ve propelled Baltimore to a win.
“You can hit a ball 50 mph off the bat and get a hit, or you can hit it whatever I hit it today and it gets caught,” Cowser said. “It’s just one of those things. I look at today as kind of a positive. I hit two balls hard and had a walk. That’s a productive day.”
That defensive gem from Meadows helped the Tigers grab the lead right back.
For as well as Albert Suárez has pitched this year — he entered with a 3.60 ERA and has helped Baltimore weather the absence of three starting pitchers — Suárez was susceptible to the long ball against the Tigers.
Kerry Carpenter opened the sixth inning with a solo homer to right field, handing Detroit a one-run lead again. Carpenter had already blasted one homer Sunday, a solo shot in the third, and Spencer Torkelson lifted a homer of his own as part of a two-out second-inning flurry from the Tigers.
“He put a pretty good swing,” Suárez said of Carpenter. “He’s aggressive. Every time I tried to get him out, it didn’t work out the way I wanted. It was tough.”
After a walk, Suárez’s outing was done without recording an out in the sixth. He kept Baltimore in the game, even when tying his season high with three homers against him. And the bullpen held it there; left-hander Keegan Akin stranded the inherited runner in the sixth, and left-handers Danny Coulombe and Cionel Pérez pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth. Right-hander Yennier Cano rebounded from a difficult outing Saturday to pitch a scoreless ninth.
“I thought our bullpen pitched great today,” Hyde said. “I thought it was two really competitive games. Definitely had a great chance to win last night, didn’t get it done. Had a chance today, also. I thought we just had some unfortunate breaks today.”
Still, there was life in the bottom of the sixth and seventh, but the Orioles failed to score both times.
Adley Rutschman became just the fifth catcher in major league history to record 20 or more doubles in each of his first three seasons when he notched a leadoff two-bagger in the sixth. He was left on third after Urías’ grounder bounced off the pitcher and led to an out rather than trickling through the middle. And Henderson walked to begin the seventh, reached second with one out and was stranded there.
This weekend could’ve been different at Camden Yards, with a celebration — whether muted compared to the champagne supernova of last year or not — to revive the spirits of Baltimore’s faithful.
Instead, the Orioles head to a pivotal series in New York with their primary task still at hand: clinching their place in the postseason.
“I’m just trying to get there,” Hyde said of the playoffs. “We [would have] loved to do it at home and disappointed we lost the last couple games.”
