Good morning Birdland,
All the Orioles needed was a Brandon Young start to get themselves right. For whatever reason, the O’s bats are able to provide run support when Young is on the mound, and they did so again on Tuesday night. Three home runs in the first three innings gave the O’s an early 5-2 lead, and that is exactly where the score would remain for the rest of the game.
Scoring five times in three innings is good! Getting shut out for the final six innings is bad. That is the 2026 Orioles experience
in a nutshell. But on this night, it was good enough for the win. Paired with a Rangers loss to the Angels, and the O’s are back to within two games of the final wild card spot in the American League.
The three players that hit the home runs for the Orioles were Pete Alonso, Gunnar Henderson, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand, the trio we all assumed would carry this team all year, right? They accounted for nine of the team’s 11 hits on the night. This is good news for all of them, but especially Henderson, who entered the game on an 0-for-16 skid.
Young was charged with just one earned run over his six innings of work, and then Josh Walker, Yennier Cano, and Andrew Kittredge combined to blank Minnesota in the final three frames. It was a nice team effort for the Orioles’ pitching staff.
Despite the bad vibes going into yesterday, the Orioles now have a chance to win the series and leap frog over the Twins in the wild card standings with a win today. First pitch is set for 1:40 from Minnesota
Links
With Adley Rutschman Back, Harold Rivas Heads To Orioles | Baseball America
If you recall, there was a player to be named later in the Adley Rutschman deal with the Red Sox. That player has now been revealed as outfielder Harold Rivas. The 18-year-old was given a $950,000 signing bonus back in 2025 and currently ranks as Boston’s 13th-best prospect on MLB Pipeline.
Pozo exits with left index finger pain after being hit by swing against Twins | MLB.com
Just what the Orioles needed was another catcher injury. Fortunately, x-rays on Yohel Pozo’s hand were negative, so he may not need to miss any time. The Orioles have already tied their franchise record from last year by using seven different catchers in a season.
New Orioles reliever Alex Hoppe aims for the middle of the zone. He trusts his stuff to do the rest. | The Baltimore Banner
When you can touch triple digits, I guess all you really need to do is get it near the strike zone. Judging based off of Hoppe’s walk rate at Triple-A this year, that alone has been a tall task.
Things to wonder about before today’s series finale in Minnesota | Roch Kubatko
Some injury conversations with Roch in this one. Basically, there is nothing new to report. Samuel Basallo, Blaze Alexander, and Ryan Helsely expect to be back. The team is bullish on Basallo and Alexander, whereas there is less to say about Helsley.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Chris Owings turns 35 today. The utility man spent just 27 games with the Orioles in 2022, but managed to play five different positions, including pitcher, in that brief time.
- Jhan Mariñez is 38 years old. He pitched in eight games for the Orioles during the 2018 season.
- Lew Ford turns 50. He returned to MLB with the Orioles in 2012 after spending the four previous seasons bouncing around foreign and independent leagues.
- Bobby Bonner is 70 years old. His MLB career spanned 61 games spread across four seasons from 1980 through ‘83, all of which came with the Orioles.
This day in O’s history
1977 – Jim Palmer shuts out the Oakland Athletics, 6-0, allowing just two hits over his nine scoreless frames.
2015 – The Orioles get no-hit by Hisashi Iwakuma of the Mariners. It is the first complete game and shutout of Iwakuma’s career.
2019 – The O’s get swept in a double-header by the Yankees, 8-5 and 11-8. Gleyber Torres hits three home runs on the day, bringing his total on the season against the Orioles to 13, the most by a player against one team in a season since the start of the divisional era.
