Peter Schmuck: The Orioles, feeling the heat in more ways than one, prevail and avoid White Sox sweep

The Orioles needed to win on Wednesday, which was not exactly breaking news at this point in a so-far disappointing season, but maybe the unlikely way they did will resonate through the second-half schedule.

It was Canada Day, the great white north version of our July 4th, and their resident Canadian outfielder celebrated it with his most impactful performance since signing a rich three-year contract before the 2025 season.

Tyler O’Neill struggled with injuries last year and has struggled with everything else the past few months, but he made a spectacular diving catch to prevent two runs from scoring early in a strong comeback outing by starting pitcher Dean Kremer, then deposited the first Orioles hit of the game deep in the left-field bleachers to shake loose the habitually slow-starting offense in the fifth inning.

For his trouble, his Oriole teammates serenaded him in the dugout with a few bars of “O Canada,” his home country’s national anthem.

Then the Orioles kept the pedal down at the plate and averted a three-game sweep by the surprising Chicago White Sox with a 6-1 victory on a steamy afternoon that easily could have featured another half-baked effort under the gathering heat dome that sent the temperature on the field to nearly 100 degrees.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if the player who has garnered the most negative fan reaction ends up providing the spark that turns the Orioles back in the right direction, but you’re not going to get any optimistic predictions here. We’ve been down this road before and it hasn’t taken the Orioles long to find the next pothole.

Perhaps they just did, because hard-throwing closer Ryan Helsley had to be shut down while warming up in the bullpen in the ninth inning because of elbow discomfort. That’s just what the Orioles need at a time when a couple of their key set-up guys who filled in for him while he was on the injured list for much of the first half have been undependable of late.

This whole one step forward, two steps back thing is getting particularly tiresome as the Orioles inch closer to the midseason trading period without a clue whether team president of baseball ops Mike Elias will be in a position to acquire more talent for a wild-card run or forced to offload contracts and shift the organizational focus to 2027.

The only thing keeping that decision from becoming obvious is the weird way the race for the third wild-card spot has remained a crawl this deep into the season.

Well, that and the other very positive thing that happened on Wednesday. Kremer, who has been on the 60-day injured list since mid-April with a severe quadriceps strain, needed little time to show that he was ready to return to a rotation that is looking pretty good right now.

He gave everybody a scare when he allowed a long home run to White Sox leadoff hitter Sam Antonacci on his second pitch of the game but shook it off to pitch six strong innings and allow just that one run on four hits for his first victory of the year.

If Kremer is your fifth starter and continues to pitch well, the Orioles could be a bullpen acquisition or two away from getting into a position to turn this disappointing season back in the right direction.

That’s a lot to hope for and until the O’s can deliver a sustained period of solid all-around play and consistently show up at the plate before the fifth inning, the postseason will remain a pipe dream.