After a rough weekend with the Yankees, the Orioles got back to their winning September ways with a 6-0 victory over the visiting Rays on Tuesday night. It was the type of win we hope to see a lot more from the Orioles in 2026.
The offense scored six times on seven hits (including one home run), three walks, and seven strikeouts. Colton Cowser went deep as part of a two-hit day. Gunnar Henderson reached base twice and stole a base. Coby Mayo had a bunch of mature at-bats. It felt something like the
fully realized version of this lineup, minus the lack of production from Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo.
On the mound, the O’s got yet another impressive performance from their starter. This time it was Dean Kremer, who delivered 6.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out four. The miscellaneous cast of relievers had a good day as well. José Castillo, Colin Selby, and Yaramil Hiraldo combined for 2.2 shutout frames of their own.
It’s been a lot of fun to watch the Orioles rotation this month. They own a 2.74 ERA in September, the third-best mark in MLB. Their 4.14 xERA and 3.88 FIP aren’t quite as good, but that is mostly elevated by Cade Povich and Tomoyuki Sugano, two guys that are unlikely to be in a full-strength version of the 2026 starting staff.
As rosy as things seem on the pitching front right now, we know that things can change a lot during the offseason with the Orioles. In each of the last two years the team has seen at least one of their key pitchers get dinged up between the end of the previous season the start of the next one: Kyle Bradish and John Means in ‘24, Grayson Rodriguez in ‘25.
Even if it feels like we should have five solid options going into 2026, it would be wise for Mike Elias to build in another couple of viable starting arms sometime this winter. They don’t both need to be frontline pitchers, but at least one should have “playoff starter” upside.
It’s gonna be a big offseason.
Links
Inside the Dugout: This new O’s billboard speaks volumes | The Baltimore Banner
Is the Rutschman era of the Orioles coming to an end? Based on one billboard, the answer seems to be…eh, maybe? Probably not though. It feels at least one year too soon. The 2026 Orioles will be better with Rutschman as a catching option alongside Basallo.
Orioles’ season filled with surprises; here is a sampling | Roch Kubatko
Surprises. Nightmares. It’s all sort of interchangeable for this team. Of course, there have been good things, especially since late May. But it’s still hard to get the bad taste of the early season out of your mouth.
Mansolino says Sánchez won’t return to Orioles this season | Baltimore Baseball
This makes sense. In order to get Gary Sánchez back on the roster, they would almost certainly have to remove a catcher. There is no reason for the Orioles to do that at this point. Alex Jackson has played well enough to stick around through the offseason and serve as injury insurance.
Orioles fans miffed as giveaway games get hijacked by resellers: ‘It sucks’ | The Baltimore Sun
The way in which tickets for all sorts of live events are purchased these days is a disaster. The prices get absurd and include layers of ridiculous fees. These places are pricing normal people out of everything.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
- Travis Ishikawa turns 42 today. The journeyman first baseman (and sometimes corner outfielder) appeared in six games for the Orioles in 2013.
- Jesse Garcia is 52 years old. Drafted by the Orioles in the 26th round in 1993, the infielder played in 31 games for the big league squad between 1999 and 2000.
- Kevin Millar celebrates his 54th birthday. Best known for his years in Boston, Millar spent three seasons in Baltimore from 2006 through ‘09. He has hosted the popular show Intentional Talk on MLB Network since 2011.
- Rafael Palmeiro is 61 today. One of only seven MLB players with 500+ home runs and 3,000+ hits in their career, the slugging first baseman spent seven years with the Orioles, broken up between two stints (1994-98 and 2004-05). His career ended abruptly in 2005, when he tested positive for steroids while a member of the Orioles. This came just months after he appeared in front of Congress and adamantly stated that he had “never used steroids, period.”
- The late Curt Motton (b. 1940, d. 2010) was born on this day. Almost his entire eight-year career was spent with the Orioles (1967-71, ‘73-74). He even stayed in Maryland after his career, living in Parkton until his death in 2010.
This day in O’s history
1955 – The Orioles beat the Senators twice in one day, 1-0 and 8-5. That gives the Sentators their 99th and 100th loses of the year, the first time the franchise had ever been that futile.
1971 – In game one of a double header, Mike Cuellar wins his 20th games of the season, lifting Baltimore to a 9-2 victory over Cleveland and clinching a division title. Pat Dobson pitches the second game and also earns his 20th win of the year.
1997 – The Orioles clinch the AL East title with a 9-3 win over the Blue Jays, who had fired manager Cito Gaston right before the game. The Orioles become the sixth major league team to hold first place in their division every single day of the season.
