Another pitiful showing from the Orioles offense wasted an impressive Brandon Young start, and likely put the final nail in their 2026 coffin, as the O’s lost 3-0 to the Brewers on Sunday night in Baltimore.
The Orioles bats have now been shut out for 19 consecutive innings. That streak began in the 10th inning of the series opener against the Brewers, and then continued through the entirety of Games Two and Three of this late-season sweep. A truly nauseating experience.
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Across tonight’s nine innings, the O’s managed just four hits, three walks, and three at-bats with a runner in scoring position. Of course, none of those hits overlapped with a runner in scoring position, giving us our final scoreline.
Colton Cowser had two of the hits. Coby Mayo and Carlos Narváez had one each. Mayo, Samuel Basallo, and Chrsitian Encarnacion-Strand worked one walk apiece. That was all they managed. The first three hitters of the lineup, Dylan Beavers, Pete Alonso, and Gunnar Henderson combined to go 0-for-11 with four strikeouts.
The closest the Orioles ever came to scoring was in the sixth inning. After the first two batters were retired, Henderson reached base on a hit by pitch. Brewers reliever Chad Patrick was all over the place. He then uncorked two wild pitches, advancing Henderson to third base. Mayo and Basallo followed with their walks to load the bases with two outs and Jeremiah Jackson at the plate.
So, after seeing this pitcher throw nine consecutive balls, including two that got passed the catcher and one that hit Henderson, what would you think Jackson would do? Maybe see a pitch himself. Force the guy to keep working? Nope, he swung at the opening offer and weakly grounded out to first base to end the threat.
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It was a wrap after that. The O’s got some runners on in the seventh, but it never really felt like they were going to score. And then they went down in order in both the eighth and ninth innings to seal the loss.
What’s worse is that it’s not as if the eventual NL Cy Young winner shut them down all night. Jacob Misiorowski only threw three innings. Milwaukee is saving him for the playoffs, so they used this game as a formal bullpen day instead. Then it was left up to six relievers, who all dominated a Baltimore lineup that sure looks like it is throwing in the towel.
The good news of the game was all on the pitching side of things.
Brandon Young started on the bump, and was quite good. He worked six innings, putting him over the 150-inning threshold on the year. It was another solid effort as he coughed up just two runs on three hits, three walks, and a career-high nine strikeouts. That eclipsed the eight strikeouts he had against the Nationals back on June 27, his previous career-best.
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Those two runs were spread across two different innings. Cooper Pratt singled in Jake Bauers in the second inning. Later, William Contreras launched his 18th home run of the season in the fourth inning. Even including all of that, it was a nice showing for Young, who may make one more start before the season is up. But if this was his last trip to the mound this year, he is ending things on a rather high note and has put himself in position to make the big league rotation out of spring training in 2027.
The most important development of this game—from the Orioles’ perspective anyway—came in the seventh inning, when Félix Bautista emerged from the Camden Yards bullpen for the first time since last July. Officially back from right shoulder surgery, the towering righty reclaimed his spot atop a big league mound. It just felt right.
The on-field results, however, still have room for improvement.
Bautista recorded two outs, both via strikeouts. He got Joey Ortiz to whiff on an 89-mph splitter up in the zone, and punched out Christian Yelich on a 90-mph splitter on the outside edge of the plate. The velocity of the sinker was 96-97, so down a touch from his prime, but still very useable and with a chance to regain a tick following a healthy offseason.
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Bautista also allowed Milwaukee’s third run of the day. Prior to the two strikeouts, Jake Bauers opened the inning with a double. He then came in to score on a two-out single for Pratt. After Pratt swiped a couple of bags on the hefty hurler, and then Garrett Mitchell worked a walk, O’s manager Craig Albernaz decided that 19 pitches was plenty for a return from more than a year on the IL. Bautista was yanked, and Grant Wolfram effectively cleaned up the mess.
Getting Bautista back on the field was an important step. He is likely to get back into another game or two before the season wraps up next weekend. Whatever stats he puts on the page won’t be as important as getting over the mental hurdle of pitching in the big leagues again. He’s already done that. Now he can focus on building towards his role in 2027.
The loss drops the Orioles to 75-81 on the season, five games back of the AL’s final wild card spot with six games to play. Their elimination number is two. It’s not over folks, but it might as well be.
They now welcome a desperate Blue Jays team to town for a three-game series beginning on Monday. Shane Baz (6-15, 4.11 ERA) is set to return from being hit by a comebacker in his last start. He will be opposed by Trey Yesavage (5-5, 3.65 ERA), who will be pitching for the first time since August 4. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35.
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