It sure hasn’t been the easiest path to get here. But the Baltimore Orioles are headed to the postseason for the second straight year.
The O’s forged their path to October baseball with a clutch 5-3 win at Yankee Stadium, which, combined with the Minnesota Twins’ loss to the Marlins just minutes later, guaranteed the Birds their first back-to-back postseason appearances since 1996-97.
They did it. By gum, they did it!
It’s true, the Orioles haven’t quite resembled a playoff team for quite some time now. After playing like one of the best teams in baseball for the first three months, the O’s have stumbled to a sub-.500 record since the All-Star break, as a litany of unfortunate injuries piled up, breaks didn’t go their way, and frustration continued to mount. But they’ve hung on, they’ve survived, and now they’ve taken the next step. Come next week, the slate is wiped clean and their second half struggles don’t matter. The Orioles get a fresh start.
And hey, there’s reason to think the O’s could make some noise in the postseason. They’ve gotten a lot healthier in the last few games, welcoming back Ryan Mountcastle from the injured list today, Jordan Westburg and Ramón Urías two days ago, and Danny Coulombe and Jacob Webb before that. For the last few games, they’ve started to look a lot more like the team that steamrolled the competition for the first few months.
Several of those returnees played notable roles in tonight’s clincher. So, too, did a guy who’s angling for the Orioles’ #3 starter spot in the Wild Card Series, Dean Kremer. The right-hander, who was the Orioles’ starting pitcher last year for both their postseason-clinching game and their division-clinching game, clearly had designs on repeating his magic tonight. He stormed out of the gate with three scoreless innings in a tough Yankee Stadium environment, where the Yanks were aiming for a division-clinching victory of their own.
The O’s took the game’s first lead with some quality plate appearances against right-hander Clarke Schmidt in the second. Jordan Westburg sparked the rally with a single, and Ryan O’Hearn roped a ground-rule double down the right-field line. The O’s had runners at second and third with less than two outs — a situation in which they’ve so often failed of late — but this time Heston Kjerstad delivered a POFO (Productive Out for Orioles) with a groundout to second that plated Westburg.
The O’s scratched out another run in the fourth when Anthony Santander drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and scored on O’Hearn’s two-out RBI single to left. Hits with runners in scoring position? Opposite-field knocks? POFOs? Who are these Orioles?! That made it a 2-0 game.
It’s a good thing the O’s got that insurance run, because the Yankees immediately got one back in the form of MLB’s Large Adult Son, Aaron Judge. The man known for hitting ample and prodigious dingers led off the bottom of the fourth with...an ample and prodigious dinger. He walloped a 407-foot blast deep into the left field seats, his 56th of the year. I mean...it happens. Can’t get mad at Kremer for that one. The Yankee Stadium crowd erupted into chants of “M-V-P,” and yeah, I’ll give them that.
Kremer made the Orioles’ lead stand up, even though things got dicey in the fifth. He inexplicably lost the strike zone and issued walks to the Anthonys, Rizzo and Volpe, to start the inning, though the tightening strike zone of home plate ump Ryan Wills didn’t help matters.
A lesser pitcher could have collapsed, but Kremer buckled down and Houdini’d himself out of the jam. Needing a double play, he got exactly that on an Alex Verdugo bouncer right to the perfectly positioned Gunnar Henderson at the second base bag. A step on the base and an easy throw to first later, the O’s had gotten two key outs. Kremer then should have had Gleyber Torres struck out, freezing him on an 0-2 fastball that appeared to be in the heart of the strike zone, but Wills didn’t give him the call. The count eventually ran full before Kremer retired Torres on a fly to left on the ninth pitch of the at-bat.
What a way to finish a solid outing by Kremer, who held the Yanks to just one run and three hits in five innings. Dean threw only 83 pitches but seemed to empty the tank in that eventful fifth inning, so I didn’t disagree with Brandon Hyde’s decision to pull him, even if the prospect of the O’s bullpen trying to hold a slim lead for four innings fills me with dread.
Anthony Santander gave the relief crew some breathing room by doinking a home run off the right-field foul pole in the sixth, giving him his 44th dinger and his 100th RBI. He’s the first Oriole with a 100-RBI season since 2017, when Jonathan Schoop had 105.
doink pic.twitter.com/eYwZqgebcl
— Orioles on MASN (@masnOrioles) September 25, 2024
As Hyde pieced together his bullpen for the remainder of the game, Keegan Akin retired two of the three batters he faced in the sixth but walked Judge — not the worst idea — and Hyde summoned Jacob Webb to face Giancarlo Stanton with two outs. Stanton came within inches of a game-tying homer, with his deep blast to right fading just foul, before Webb unspooled a sweeper way outside and in the dirt that Stanton foolishly swung at for strike three. What a roller coaster of an at-bat.
No inning was more stressful for the O’s bullpen than the seventh, when the Yankees very well could have tied the game or taken the lead if not for some baserunning idiocy. Even with the Orioles holding a three-run lead — after a solo homer by Urías in the top of the inning — it nearly unraveled quickly. Cionel Pérez got two outs but gave up a double and an infield single, and Hyde turned to Yennier Cano.
Cano was not good on this night. Not good at all. Torres greeted him with an opposite-field double that hopped over the right-field fence, scoring one run and putting two in scoring position for Juan Soto. Not ideal. Sure enough, Soto laced a sharp single to right field, which by all accounts should have tied the game.
But, oh, did the Yankees ever screw things up. The lead runner scored easily but third base coach Luis Rojas surprisingly held up Torres at third as Santander’s throw came home. Soto dashed for second and Adley Rutschman fired there, prompting Torres to try to bolt for the plate after all. Gunnar Henderson delivered a strong throw back to Rutschman, who caught Torres in a rundown, where he was eventually tagged out at third base. It was your typical 9-2-6-2-5-2-6 putout, and what a pivotal play that was. Instead of Aaron Judge stepping to the plate, the inning was over with the Orioles still clinging to a one-run lead.
The 'ol 9-2-6-2-5-2-6 putout for the #Orioles: https://t.co/DthWSPkUAS pic.twitter.com/CKlzHJ866b
— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) September 25, 2024
After that close call, Colton Cowser swiftly provided some more breathing room, smashing a leadoff homer in the eighth to extend the O’s lead to 5-3. And that’s where the score would remain as the O’s bullpen held firm. Cano retired Judge on a long flyout to open the eighth before Gregory Soto set down the next two, and while Soto issued a one-out walk in the ninth, Seranthony Dominguez got the final two outs, sealing the Birds’ win.
Just a few moments after the O’s returned to the locker room, the Marlins completed a 4-1 win over the Twins, reducing the Birds’ magic number to zero. And it was time to party.
Let's get it on. pic.twitter.com/KWsVfHtVq8
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) September 25, 2024
I can’t wait to see what happens next week. Postseason baseball, baby!
Poll
Who was the Most Birdland Player for Tuesday, September 24?
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73%
Dean Kremer (5 IP, 1 ER, starts the Orioles’ third straight clincher)
(406 votes)
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6%
Ryan O’Hearn (2-for-2, RBI single)
(36 votes)
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5%
Anthony Santander (44th HR, 100th RBI)
(33 votes)
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14%
Colton Cowser (23rd HR, the life of the party during post-game celebration)
(81 votes)
556 votes total Vote Now