BALTIMORE—The Orioles won two games on Wednesday, and the Chicago White Sox lost to the Kansas City Royals, 5-4, keeping the Orioles’ faint chances of a playoff berth alive for at least another day.
The White Sox can eliminate the Orioles from playoff contention if they beat the Royals on Thursday afternoon.
“I know odds are stacked against us, but for me, there is no guarantee of anything and I wish that we could just wholeheartedly say, ‘Yeah, we have postseason baseball. We’ve got October baseball coming back to Camden Yards,” Pete Alonso said.
“That’s the goal of the 162, and once you get into the playoffs, you can start thinking about winning the thing, but you’ve got to get in the dance first. It’s frustrating, you know, because I want that in the worst way for this team and this city.”
After the Orioles won the first game of the doubleheader against the Toronto Blue Jays, 4-2, with Chris Bassitt pitching into the sixth inning and Alonso hitting his 41st home run, Trey Gibson was recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to start the second game of the doubleheader. It was his first major league start since June 30th, and his eighth overall.
Gibson (2-3) entered the game with a 7.36 ERA. The 24-year-old right-hander pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings, allowing just three hits as the Orioles completed a three-game sweep of Toronto, 4-2, before 19,824 in their final home game of the season at Camden Yards on Wednesday night.
In his previous eight starts, Gibson’s longest outing was 5 2/3 innings.
Manager Craig Albernaz said that the Orioles’ pitching department advised Gibson to make changes, and as a result, he’s a candidate for the starting rotation in 2027.
“Go back to the delivery adjustment and the windup, a small change like that, just proved a lot of results for him,” Albernaz said. “Just the ability to attack the strike zone, to get swing miss. He just pushes the pace and the tempo.
“He has the ability to get weak contact with–now he has a few fastball shapes, all in the strike zone. You couple that with the curveball, he has the ingredients for sure. He has the mentality too. He doesn’t get flustered, doesn’t get phased, and, yeah, he has a bright future ahead. BY [Brandon Young] did step up for us big this year. So I think if Trey has that in his bag, that’ll be awesome.”
The Blue Jays were eliminated from postseason consideration in the first game, and there were lots of swings early in the count in the second game. Gibson struck out seven and walked two, and thought he had finished seven innings after Sean Keys grounded out to second. But Toronto asked for a review of second baseman Jeremiah Jackson’s positioning on the third out.
Jackson had a foot on the outfield grass, which is a shift violation, and Keys was awarded first base on Jackson’s error. After Gibson walked Davis Schneider, Yennier Cano walked Charles McAdoo, loading the bases before striking out Myles Straw.
It made for an awkward moment. Gibson assumed he had completed seven innings and a strong start, but after the review, he needed to return to the mound.
“As the third out happened, I wasn’t even looking to see if there was a challenge,” Albernaz said. “No one was. But it was a great job by their replay guy over there to identify that. But, yeah, we were in the midst of having the conversation with Trey.”
Josh Walker pitched a scoreless eighth, his 21st consecutive scoreless outing.
Davis Schneider hit his fifth home run of the season in the ninth, scoring Keys, against Félix Bautista, making his second appearance since returning from the injured list. Bautista recovered to record the final two outs.
The Orioles (78-81) scored three runs in the first against CJ Van Eyk (0-2).
Christian Encarnacion-Strand had a two-run single and Colton Cowser a double that scored Encarnacion-Strand.
Encarnacion-Strand hit his 11th home run leading off the fourth, to give the Orioles a 4-0 lead.
How did Gibson feel about the start? “It’s pretty exciting,” Gibson said. “Just going out there and trying to compete my best really feels good knowing where the team is at. Just try to give them my best.”
Gibson was motivated to pitch his best after the change suggested by pitching coach Drew French.
“When I got sent back down, Frenchy and the pitching department really laid out a really good plan for me to work on while I was down there,” Gibson said. “It was cool to see it come to fruition tonight.”
How was the atmosphere for the last home game? Alonso led the Orioles onto the field to salute the fans after the final out.
“It’s just felt so good because whether it be fans, people here internally, teammates, it’s just a strong connection to the city because people have just made it so enjoyable,” Alonso said. “I’ve got nothing but amazing things to say about the city, the fans. People have welcomed my family and I, the team, fans, coaches. Everyone has rolled out the red carpet, and it’s really felt like — it’s felt special.
“I believe in the baseball gods, and I honestly believe that I’m here for a reason. I was always meant to be a Baltimore Oriole and I think people are very appreciative and receptive to that, and I feel just as lucky and fortunate to be here as other people have told me. So, yeah, it’s special. It’s special. That’s really an understatement.”
What does it mean? The Orioles have three games left with the New York Yankees this weekend, and if they sweep them, they can finish at .500.
“We’re trying to win every game we can. Every game we’re play we’re trying to win, and .500 would be great,” Albernaz said. “We still [don’t] have an E next to our name, so we’re still in the fight. Our guys are well aware of everything, so it was a good two games and we have an offday tomorrow and then we have to go into New York and take one game at a time.”
What’s the stat of the day? 1,829,252. Orioles season attendance rose 25,597 from 2025.
What’s the word? “Regardless of what the record is, I just want to play good baseball, good quality baseball, and whatever we have left in the tank, just empty the tank. Because after 162, that’s it. You’ve got to wait until spring, and then it’s another six months before baseball. So, it’s whatever you have left, just empty the tank and hopefully we win all three that because that’s the goal.”-Alonso on the last three games.
What’s next? After a day off on Thursday, the Orioles will open a three-game series at Yankee Stadium on Friday at 7:05 p.m. Neither team has announced a starter.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: [email protected]