Peter Schmuck: Bradish flirts with no-hitter, and Orioles are flirting again with their first 4-game winning streak

Long before the Orioles did almost everything right in a 6-1 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday night, manager Craig Albernaz sensed that there was magic in the air.

It started with the national anthem, which was sung with gusto by 103-year-old World War II corporal Wilbur J. “Jack” Myers, who literally danced away from the microphone to a huge ovation from the crowd of 28,958 that came for the free condiment caps and stayed to see one of the best games the O’s have played all season.

Let me count the ways.

Right-hander Kyle Bradish took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before giving up a run on two hits to register his sixth victory and serve notice that he’s officially all the way back from Tommy John surgery.

The Orioles hit four home runs, including a 440-foot shot by third baseman Coby Mayo that slammed into the facing of the second deck above left field, nearly making him the first player ever to deposit a baseball on that level twice – and do both in the same week.

Samuel Basallo started the scoring with an RBI single that brought home Pete Alonso in the second inning, and Alonso brought home the next two runs with his 21st home run of the season in the fourth. Taylor Ward launched in the sixth and struggling Gunnar Henderson made the feel-good offensive performance complete with a 417-foot shot in the eighth that broke a personal 18-game home drought.

And Grant Wolfram, Yennier Cano and Tyler Wells combined to throw 2 ⅓ innings of perfect relief to save the crowd from any of the late-inning suspense that has become so common around here.

Albernaz, who isn’t normally a fountain of superlatives, allowed himself to be prodded into admitting that the O’s may have just played their most complete game of the season.

“We did have one error tonight, but it was a really well-played game,” he said. “The energy in the ballpark was outstanding. Felt it from the anthem. Me and [bench coach Donnie Ecker] were talking about it. We were trying to figure out the last time we felt that juice in here, since Opening Day. The guy singing the national anthem was 103 years old and he’s out there dancing. You felt it from the crowd, and our boys felt it.”

Bradish was certainly feeling it. He retired the first eight Royals before second baseman Jackson Holliday bobbled a bouncer up the middle for the only blemish on a very impressive display of team defense that featured sparkling plays by every member of the infield.

“Yeah, absolutely,’’ he said. “I mean, probably one of the biggest crowds we’ve had here all year. Definitely feed off that energy.”

So, the only question now is this: Can the Orioles finally win a fourth straight game after failing to extend a three-game winning streak on seven previous occasions.

Mayo thinks they might be getting ready to go on a run, though that’s certainly been said a number of times before.

“I think this team has not played anywhere close to the best baseball we can, and this is the type of team that can go on a run, especially with the players we have, the camaraderie we’ve got in this clubhouse,’’ Mayo said.. “We’ve got a really good group. Pitchers are awesome. Position players are awesome. And when you’ve got a good group of coaches, too, you can do really good things.”