For the last few years, Baltimore’s baseball fans have uttered a common refrain as the franchise’s long-developing rebuild started to bear fruit: ‘The Orioles will be the best team in baseball.’
That sentence no longer belongs in the past tense after the past week, which featured dominant series wins over the teams with the two best records in the MLB.
There’s really no other way to put it: the Baltimore Orioles are the best team in baseball.
They were already making mincemeat of a loaded June schedule before making the trip up to New York where the Yankees awaited. The opportunity to win a series against the AL leaders after taking two of three from the NL-leading Phillies over the weekend beckoned.
But after Game 1 on Tuesday, it seemed the magic of Baltimore’s scorching start to June had started to wear off. Albert Suarez couldn’t find the plate in less than four innings of work, and the Orioles’ bats outhit their opponents 8-6, but could only muster two runs to the Yankees’ four.
Anxiety was already running high on Wednesday with Gerrit Cole returning from injury to face rookie Cade Povich, and the mood only worsened with the somewhat-expected but still-disappointing announcement that Kyle Bradish underwent Tommy John surgery.
But none of those things seemed to matter; Povich battled through four walks to allow just a single run while the Yankees pulled Cole after five innings. Ramon Urias immediately punished Aaron Boone for the pitching change with a two-run shot, and thus commenced a thrilling back-and-forth between the AL East’s best. Another dose of extra-innings baserunning magic from Cedric Mullins gave the Orioles just enough to take Game 2, setting the stage for a competitive rubber match.
At least, that’s what it felt like on Thursday morning with AL ERA leader Luis Gil set to take the mound opposite the unflappable veteran Cole Irvin, who scattered 25 hits for just nine runs over his last three starts.
The Orioles had other plans. A pair of hits from Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn produced a 1st-inning run that served as a mere appetizer for the Costco-sized megapack of cans of whoop-ass the offense would unload on Gil in the second inning.
The third batter making an inning’s third out is usually a bad sign for an offense. But Austin Hays’ strikeout to end the second stopped a six-run outburst from the Orioles in which 12 batters came to the plate, with a Mullins home run and a Ryan Mountcastle bases-clearing double plating five batters.
With both teams’ bullpens already taxed, Gil’s early exit after just 1.2 innings effectively signaled the end of the game. Even an uncharacteristic five runs given up by Irvin couldn’t derail the Orioles offense, which added one in the 3rd before a 5th-inning Earl Weaver Special courtesy of Anthony Santander ripped the doors of Yankee Stadium, as Melanie Newman put it on the radio broadcast.
The Birds weren’t done yet, bringing the score to 16-5 after another O’Hearn RBI single in the 8th, forcing the Evil Empire to fly the white flag, which came in the form of Jose Trevino taking the mound.
Sending out a catcher who just got run all over in back-to-back series to pitch is the ultimate form of surrender in baseball, and even some sportsmanlike baserunning from Baltimore couldn’t keep them from adding another run. When Adley Rutschman is laughing at the plate in the 9th inning with runners in scoring position, something has gone very well for your team.
By the time the infield dirt settled (because the Orioles stopped running), Baltimore had racked up 17 runs on 19 hits and seven walks (and three Yankee errors) for their highest-scoring day since 2021. Hell, the franchise record of 23 was in reach considering the team’s 14 runners left on base.
It was pure and utter dominance, a statement win to cap off a statement stretch by an Orioles team that’s finally starting to stretch their legs into a full sprint.
They’re not there yet, though. Four of the AL’s top teams take up Baltimore’s next two weeks, including another streak of ten consecutive game days from June 21 to June 30. That will end an extremely taxing month for an already-thin pitching staff that has fought valiantly for the last three weeks.
But will that hold all the way through October? If any of the bats fall into another slump, can one of the Orioles’ big leaguers-in-waiting at AAA Norfolk get a chance to come up and contribute before the season’s end?
The answers to those two questions could dictate the chances of a massive November parade in Baltimore. For now, though, the Orioles faithful can enjoy the moment.
The future is now. We’re finally here. The Baltimore Orioles are the best team in baseball.
