Every baseball game has a story. That’s what makes the game so great. Here were some of the narratives working their way through my head as we entered today’s Orioles-White Sox contest:
Will the Orioles get back to .500 and keep pace in the AL East?
Will the offense find itself against a bad Chicago rotation?
Does a post-Tommy John Kyle Bradish still have his ace stuff?
Well, we have some answers for you: Yes. Sort of (Ward and Henderson look pretty amazing). And I think so, but it’s still a work in progress.
Of those queries, the stuff and health of Bradish may be most important. So far, the one-time Top 5 Cy Young Award finisher hasn’t quite been himself, with an 0-2 record, a 6.23 ERA, and a 6.23 BB/9 rate in two starts. Today, he was better, but you can tell he doesn’t feel 100%. Bradish threw five innings on 96 pitches, allowed three runs (two earned), struck out seven, walked three, and also made two errors (totally gratuitous—more on those later).
But this was enough, as the Orioles scored four runs off Chicago starter Sean Burke, added a fifth in the ninth, and a bullpen outfit of Tyler Wells, Grant Wolfram, Anthony Nunez and Rico García held the line. The result gave the Birds their first series sweep of 2026, and pushed them back to the .500 mark, at 6-6. Things feel much better in Birdland right now.
Bradish managed to complete five innings today, which is progress. But he won’t be happy with this one, either. The second inning is becoming a thing for him: he allowed four runs his last time out against Pittsburgh, all in the second, and the Second-Inning Blues continued today, as the White Sox scored two off Bradish on five consecutive hits, and the results really could have been worse.
With one out, Bradish hung a slider to Andrew Benintendi, who tripled into the right-field corner while outfielder Tyler O’Neill tried to fish it out, looking like somebody rummaging around in the toolshed for a screwdriver. Chicago’s five-through-nine hitters made it 2-0 with the bases loaded, and it felt like Bradish was spiraling. But then, the gods smiled on him: Chase Meidroth grounded into a double play, getting us out of the inning and keeping the lead to just two.
This was key, as the O’s immediately tied the game the next inning. As on Tuesday, when Blaze Alexander, Taylor Ward, and Gunnar Henderson led a game-winning rally, it was the Birds’ hottest hitters who got the job done. In the leadoff spot, Gunnar Henderson walked, setting up No. 2 hitter Taylor Ward, who responded with a run-scoring double (the first of three today). A wild pitch moved Ward over, and a productive grounder by Adley Rutschman brought him home.
Bradish left the game furious after giving back a third run in the fifth, one of the strangest runs you’ll see. After walking two batters with two outs, he walked a third, Colson Montgomery, by a hair, to load the bases. A frustrated Bradish turned his back while catcher Adley Rutschman tossed the ball back to him, only to see it roll off his glove, and into the grass. As the runner on third took off for home, Bradish finally realized his mistake, fired way wide of the plate, and now the White Sox had a 3-2 lead. It was stupid. A run-by-tantrum, if you will.
Baseball is weird, though, because while Bradish left the game frustrated, he also left as the winning pitcher, courtesy of a rally the next inning off Chicago’s Sean Burke. Pete Alonso’s one-out hustle double (coupled with a dive into the second base bag) lit the way. “Let go of that anchor and get there, big fella!” said Ben McDonald from the booth, inimitably. Echoed Kevin Brown, “A belly flop for the Polar Bear!” Then Taylor Ward reached on an infield single and Ryan Mountcastle loaded the bases on a walk. The White Sox went to Bryan Hudson, a sidearming lefty, against rookie Dylan Beavers, and it backfired as Hudson fired one that got by the catcher. Alonso scored, showing more hustle. Then Beavers gave the Birds their first lead with a solidly hit sac fly.
Now, it was time for the bullpen to try to make a 4-3 lead stand. This is not something you can take for granted these days, especially with closer Ryan Helsley out of action today. But they made it work.
First came Tyler Wells for the sixth, and it was a really weird inning. He walked Dustin Harris, gave up a stolen base, which the O’s lost their last challenge of the day contesting. Then Wells threw an inside pitch to Chicago catcher Reese McGuire, who tapped his left arm, alleging he’d been hit, and took first base. I didn’t see any contact, and neither did the MASN booth. Would the dugout have challenged this call if they could have? The world will never know, because two flyouts made the question moot, and got us out of the inning.
Grant Wolfram hit a batter and allowed a bunt single in the seventh, but he got a crucial double play to end the inning: Gunnar-to-Blaze-to-Mounty (just like Tinker to Evers to Chance, but with sunglasses, and more facial hair).
After him, Anthony Nunez continued his charmed rookie season with a clean eighth inning, aided by a great pick-and-throw by Gunnar, and a high swinging strikeout.
The Orioles scored a huge insurance run in the ninth with back-to-back doubles from Gunnar and Ward against the Sox’s Tyler Schweitzer, freshly added to the Chicago roster. That Ward-for-Grayson-Rodriguez trade in the offseason starts to look better when your outfielder is hitting .383 and leading the league in doubles (9).
That left only the ninth. In at closer for the first time in his MLB career, Rico Garcia turned in a ridiculous performance—I mean that in the best way possible. He opened the inning with seven straight balls, looking completely lost, then struck out two in a row, walked another guy, then got a groundout to end the game before things got cockeyed. Congrats on your first career save, Rico!
The Orioles offense is still a mysterious thing, the bullpen is weird, and Kyle Bradish’s command is still a work in progress. But you know, the team is back to .500 and working with something like momentum after handling the White Sox this last series.
So who is your Most Birdland Player of the Game? A gritty Bradish, showing improvement? Rico García with his first career save? Taylor Ward, who went 4-for-5 with three doubles? Henderson who scored two and also did it with the glove? Maybe a write-in nod for the Polar Bear, who hit a hustle double and scored on a passed ball?
