The Orioles kicked off a crucial nine-game road trip with a blowout 13-1 win over the hosting Cardinals on Tuesday night. Pete Alonso paced the lineup before he left the game with a flare up of his calf injury. O’s starter Chris Bassitt turned in a solid 6.2 innings before Anthony Nunez over-powered the opposing hitters in the late innings.
This was the Orioles most dominant win of the season by run differential, besting a 12-1 win over the Dodgers on June 21. It also tied their season high in runs
scored, which they originally achieved back on June 5 in a 13-3 victory against the Blue Jays.
The Orioles scored all of those runs between the third and sixth innings of this game. Power got things started, and then the rest of the lineup just peppered the ball all over the park for the remainder of the runs.
Alonso put the O’s up 3-0 in the fourth inning with his 31st home run of the season, a 435-foot bomb to left center field that scored Leody Taveras and Jackson Holliday, who had singled ahead of him. A few batters later Christian Encarnacion-Strand went even deeper, launching a 450-foot solo shot to make it 4-0.
It was in the fifth inning where the Orioles put the game completely out of reach. The Cardinals had to use three different pitchers in that inning alone while the O’s sent 13 batters to the plate and scored the eight runs on seven hits, two walks, and a hit by pitch. Six of those seven hits were singles.
Holliday and Alonso opened the inning with consecutive singles. Gunnar Henderson then walked to load the bases. Coby Mayo knocked in Holliday with a single into left field. That forced Cardinals manager Oli Marmol to yank starter Matthew Liberatore in favor of Pete Strzelecki, an unwise choice since he would fail to fool just baout anyone with his offerings. Encarnacion-Strand welcomed the new pitcher with a two-run single to score Alonso and Henderson. After a Samuel Basallo strikeout, Christian Franklin was hit by a pitch to re-load the bases. Then, Dylan Beavers walked in a run before Taveras singled in two more. Holliday poked one up the middle for another RBI, and then Alonso drove in one more with a double to cap off the inning.
That eight-run effort in the fifth inning was the most productive frame of the 2026 Orioles season, and they managed it without even hitting a home run. It was station to station baseball at its finest.
The Orioles added one more run in the sixth inning when Franklin and Beavers doubled in back-to-back at-bats, inching the scoreline up to a 13-1 advantage.
That was the end of the scoring for the day. The Orioles collected 16 hits and two walks to score those 13 runs in what was a pretty efficient night, all things considered. They went 7-for-16 with runners in scoring position and left six men on base, which was perfectly fine in context. Complaining about the lineup on this night would be nit-picking.
But…
Basallo and Henderson combined to go 0-for-9. Basallo is the bigger concern since he also struck out four times and looked lost against pitchers that the rest of his teammates were teeing off on. The rookie is clearly still knocking the rust off after his recent IL stint.
The thing to truly worry about for the lineup is Alonso’s health. He was, yet again, fantastic in this game, going 4-for-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. But he also reportedly asked to be removed once it was out of the reach in the fifth inning. His calf was still bothering him. Perhaps it was just a precaution, and the veteran knows he needs to take some innings off where possible. The Orioles offense cannot afford to lose him.
On the pitching side of things, the Orioles were just as impressive. Craig Albernaz used three pitchers to get through these nine innings, and he has to be pleased with all of them.
Chris Bassitt delivered his best start since coming off the IL, and tied for his longest outing of the season. Over 6.2 innings he allowed just one run (a solo homer) on six hits, no walks, and five strikeouts. The effort brought his season ERA to 4.74, it’s lowest point all year and the first time it has been under five as an Oriole.
Bassitt had some of his best velocity of the season. He was averaging 1-2 miles per hour faster on just about every offering, though his whiff rate stayed about where it has been (~19%). He paired that with a pounding of the strike zone and avoiding free passes.
Yennier Cano was brought on for the final out of the seventh inning, perhaps an effort by Albernaz to get one of his most important relievers a little bit of confidence after a recent rough patch. Hopefully it worked. He threw five pitches and got the one batter he faced to fly out.
It was Anthony Nunez that could be the pitcher that we end up talking about the most after this game. He threw two shutout innings, struck out five, and had a whiff rate of 70% (!!!). The young righty used four different pitches and got whiffs on all of them. He’s a pitcher that the Orioles clearly have high hopes for. As we have seen this year, his growth won’t always be linear, but the ceiling for him is sky high. We should expect to see plenty of him down the stretch.
This was a fun night of baseball! As long as Alonso is not any more hurt than he was coming into the game, it was basically a perfect night for the Orioles. They scored a bunch of runs, got great efforts from their pitching staff, and saw some of those around them in the wild card standings lose. More days like this are needed for the O’s playoff dreams to come true.
These two teams are back at it on Wednesday night in St. Louis. Kyle Bradish (7-12, 3.70 ERA) will face off with Michael McGreevy (5-9, 3,54 ERA). First pitch is set for 7:45.
Most Birdland Player, August 25, 2026
Who do you think was the Most Birdland Player in this Orioles win? Here are some nominees for your consideration, but feel free to name your own in the comments.
- Pete Alonso (4-for-4, four RBI, home run, double)
- Christian Encarnacion-Strand (2-for-5, massive homer, three RBI)
- Chris Bassitt (win, 6.2 innings, one run, five strikeouts)
- Anthony Nunez (two innings, no runs, five strikeouts)
