Bassitt keeps Orioles’ hopes alive as he outpitches Scherzer in 4-2 win over Blue Jays

BALTIMORE—For the moment, the Orioles remain alive in the wild-card race, but just barely. Entering the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader, the Orioles would have had to win their last five games while the Chicago White Sox lost their last five.

The Orioles managed a 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays before 10,562  at Camden Yards in a makeup of Tuesday night’s rainout.

The win eliminated the Blue Jays (77-81) from playoff consideration, and the Orioles (77-81) would be eliminated if Toronto wins Wednesday night’s game.

Chris Bassitt (9-5) allowed two runs on seven hits in five-plus innings, walking one and striking out two.

“It was definitely a gritty outing,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Just a veteran presence, knowing how to navigate that, making pitches when he had to. He had more in the tank, but he did his job today.”

Pete Alonso hit his 41^st home run, a two-run shot against Max Scherzer (3-9), the future Hall of Famer making his 500^th appearance. The home run came in the bottom of the fifth and gave the Orioles a 4-0 lead.

“He’s No. 1 in my book as the most respect I’ve ever had on someone in the game,” Bassitt said about Scherzer.

The two were teammates with the New York Mets in 2022 and Toronto last year.

“Any time I can face him, it’s always going to be a lot more fun than just, I’d say, the normal game,” Bassitt said. “Obviously, I think both teams are wishing that we would have better standings.”

Jeremiah Jackson’s RBI single scored Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the second inning. With Jackson at first and Colton Cowser at third, the Orioles tried for a double steal. While Jackson was caught in a rundown, Cowser came home, and the Orioles led, 2-0.

The Blue Jays scored two runs in the sixth. George Springer scored on a throwing error by Jeremiah Jackson, and Brandon Valenzuela had a run-scoring single.

Luis De León relieved Bassitt with two on and none out, allowed two hits and recorded two outs.

Anthony Nunez, Rico Garcia and Andrew Kittredge combined to record the final 10 outs. Kittredge earned his 11^th save.

The Blue Jays were 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

Trey Gibson was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to start Game 2. De León was optioned to the spring training complex in Sarasota.

De León finishes his first major league season with a 1.93 ERA in eight appearances.

Will Bassitt continue to pitch? Bassitt, who’ll be 38 when next season begins, said he wants to continue pitching. He indicated that he’ll pitch in relief on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.

“My future is, the last game of the season, I’ll be throwing,” Bassitt said. “That’s my future right now. As for everything else, man, I’ve got a 7-year-old at home, I’ve got a 3-year-old at home and a wife that wants me to be home. So, yeah, we’ll cross that bridge when we do.

“Overall, I still have a lot of fire in me to definitely do something. I’m gonna have to win the wife over, I’ll tell you that. But, yeah, there’s a lot of fire still in me. I know I still can play this game at a really high level.”

What does Bassitt think of Alonso? Bassitt and Alonso played together with the New York Mets in 2022.

“Listen, I love Pete,” Bassitt said. “I know I’m a Baltimore Oriole, but Pete deserves MVP votes, and he deserves them every single year. That’s just the reality. He’s one of the most underappreciated players in our game. He’s easily a top-3 hitter every single year. He’s doing it now in the AL when everyone says that the NL, AL, always the battle between those two. So it’s like, now what?

“He’s not having a crazy historical year for his standards. It’s just Pete being Pete, and people are like, ‘Dang, this is really, really special.’ But he’s been doing that for years. So, yeah, Pete just held the standard of what he’s done for years, and I think people are now realizing, ‘This guy’s really good.’ But he’s always been really, really good. So, yeah, it’s Pete being Pete.”

What does it mean? The Orioles are fortunate that Bassitt is finishing strongly. He sets a good example for the younger starters.

What’s the stat of the day? 9. With his 41 home runs, Alonso is in ninth place for most home runs in an Orioles season. He was tied with Nelson Cruz entering the game. Rafael Palmeiro, who had 43, is in eighth place.   

What’s the word? “It’s been pretty bloody, a little bit, for the season where just we took our shots. It hasn’t been pretty a lot. I’ll be honest with you, it sucks for me in the aspect like I need to freaking win right now, because I don’t have much runway left. But these young guys, the way that they have handled this year, a lot of struggles, some obviously good moments, but just the way that they have approached every day, I know it’s setting up for something a lot more special in the future. It’s just I’m not part of the future.”-Bassitt on the 2026 Orioles.

What’s next? Trey Gibson (1-3, 7.36) will start against CJ Van Eyk (0-1, 4.05). The second game will begin at 6:35.

Orioles-Blue Jays-2^nd game lineups

Orioles

Dylan Beavers-RF

Pete Alonso-1B

Gunner Henderson-SS

Coby Mayo-3B

Christian Encarnacion-Strand-DH

Colton Cowser-CF

Jeremiah Jackson-2B

Christian Franklin-LF

Yohel Pozo-C

Trey Gibson-RHP

Blue Jays

Nathan Lukes-RF

Josh Smith-2B

Alejandro Kirk-C

Kazuma Okamoto-DH

Sean Keys-1B

Davis Schneider-LF

Charles McAdoo-3B

Myles Straw-CF

Ernie Clement-SS

CJ Van Eyk-RHP

Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com