– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — Though many surrounding the Baltimore Orioles once thought that they would cross the path-to-the-postseason finish line more like Usain Bolt instead of a dehydrated marathoner, the day where they accomplished job No. 1 on the road to playoff redemption did come tonight.
Anthony Santander, Ramón Urías and Colton Cowser each hit solo home runs, lifting Baltimore to a 5-3 victory over the New York Yankees inside Yankee Stadium. The result, coupled with the Minnesota Twins’ defeat at the hands of the Miami Marlins, officially gives the Orioles a playoff spot for a second consecutive year and, for at least one night, prevents the Yankees, whose magic number to win the division is one, from winning the American League East title.
Now clinging onto the title of reigning division champions, the Orioles were 57-33 after the games of July 7 and three games ahead of New York in the standings. But a series of injuries took its toll on Baltimore — from season-ending arm maladies to Kyle Bradish, John Means, Tyler Wells, and Jorge Mateo, to injuries to regulars such as starting pitcher Grayson Rodriguez and infielders Urías, Jordan Westburg and Ryan Mountcastle. A series of moves at the deadline had a modicum of success, with Zach Eflin’s acquisition from Tampa Bay being the best of the bunch, and the Yankees’ return to form over the last month has seen the Orioles’ chances to repeat as division champions slip away.
The relative ease the Orioles had in earning a division crown and a first-round bye in the postseason in 2023 did not lead to any playoff success, getting swept in three games by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers in the Division Series. What the Orioles lost in the number of wins and man games due to injury in 2024, they may make up for it in resilience as they will have the chance again to make their mark in October and have a shot at postseason redemption.
“Well it’s been a tough few months. Every game, every win is like this, it feels like,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said. “It just hasn’t come easy. We’re adversity tested with the injuries we’ve had, with just the bad luck, I feel like, a lot of nights, too. We just haven’t caught a whole lot of breaks this second half. And I feel like it could turn quickly.”
Microcosmic of their season overall, the Orioles appeared to be cruising to a win in the bottom of the seventh, up 4-1, when the final stages proved harrowing. With runners on first and third with two outs, Gleyber Torres hit a ground rule double to shave Baltimore’s lead to two, with Juan Soto coming up and Aaron Judge, who hit a solo home run in the fourth inning, on deck.
Soto singled to right to cut the lead to one, but Torres, the trail runner who was held up at third by base coach Luis Rojas, was eventually caught in a rundown to end the inning while trying to score after Soto advanced to second on the throw home from right field.
The pressure release from not having to face Judge with the tying and go-ahead runs on base was made even bigger when Cowser led off the next half inning with a tape-measure blast off reliever Ian Hamilton to give the Orioles the two-run margin that it enjoyed the rest of the game.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Roberto Carlo. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are six pictures in total.
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