The O’s finished their 2024 slate on a roll. Next up: the Wild Card Series against the Royals starting tomorrow at Camden Yards.
Good morning, Camden Chatters.
We can officially put a pin in the the Orioles’ 2024 regular season. They finished their 162-game slate yesterday with a 6-2 win to complete a three-game sweep in Minnesota. Albert Suárez delivered another quality start and earned another win to complete his out-of-nowhere comeback season. The O’s offense continued its renaissance, with regulars and bench players both contributing. Check out Stacey’s recap of the well-played victory, which was a nice, stress-free, tune-up for the postseason.
And now: get ready for all that stress to come thundering back with a vengeance. Tomorrow the Orioles begin postseason play for the second straight year, and O’s fans will turn into gelatinous blobs of anxiety. So much will be riding on every inning, on every play, on every pitch, especially in the unforgiving best-of-three format of the Wild Card Series. One bad game and you’re practically eliminated. It’s a cruel, unrelenting existence…and I wouldn’t trade it for the world. October baseball, baby! There’s nothing like it.
Yesterday’s season finales finally provided clarity on the AL postseason seeding, and in a major surprise, it’s the Kansas City Royals — not the Detroit Tigers — who will be the Orioles’ first-round opponents. The Royals ended up winning as many games this weekend against the playoff-battling Braves as the Tigers did against the worst-in-MLB-history White Sox, giving Kansas City the #5 seed and a date with the Orioles. The O’s will host the Royals at 4:08 PM for Game 1 tomorrow, 4:38 PM on Wednesday for Game 2, and 4:08 on Thursday for Game 3 if necessary, though that time could change depending on what happens with other series.
And listen, I know I wrote last week that I’d rather the Orioles face the Royals than the Tigers. That was mainly because I wanted no part of Tarik Skubal and Detroit’s second-half magic. But that doesn’t mean I’m particularly confident about the O’s beating Kansas City, either. The Royals have a stellar starting rotation, with Cole Ragans and Seth Lugo — who both might finish in the top 5 of the AL Cy Young vote — set to start the first two games, and dependable veteran Michael Wacha on tap for Game 3 if needed. The Royals also have do-it-all superstar Bobby Witt Jr. atop their lineup, a player who could single-handedly beat the Orioles with his bat, his legs, or his glove, if they let him. Winning this series will be no easy feat for the Birds.
Still, I’m feeling more confident about their chances than I was just a week ago, in large part because they’ve gotten much healthier. The returns of Jordan Westburg, Ramón Urías, and Ryan Mountcastle to the lineup, and Jacob Webb and Danny Coulombe to the bullpen, have infused new energy into a team that looked lifeless for weeks beforehand. They won five of six games on their season-ending road trip, including two at Yankee Stadium — where the O’s will start the Division Series if they advance past the wild card round — and three in Minnesota, where they notched their first sweep in more than three months. This bears a much closer resemblance to the Orioles team that ran roughshod through opponents during the first half of the season. They’re clicking at the right time.
Who knows if any of that will end up mattering come tomorrow. The playoffs are a brand new season, and anything can happen, for better or for worse. But unlike 18 other major league teams, the Orioles’ 2024 season isn’t over, and that’s an accomplishment in itself.
Links
Orioles finish the season with positive vibes in 6-2 win over the Twins – The Baltimore Banner
It’s been a while since we’ve been able to talk about positive vibes with the Orioles. Here’s to carrying that momentum into the postseason.
Orioles end regular season with 91st win by defeating Twins 6-2, Suárez Wild Card status uncertain (updated) – Blog
With Albert Suárez pitching six innings yesterday, the O’s clearly plan to leave him off the Wild Card Series roster and have him start Game 1 of the ALDS if they get there. I understand the reasoning, but I’ll be bummed if Suárez never gets to pitch in the playoffs after the season he’s had.
5 things to know about the Kansas City Royals, the Orioles’ AL wild-card series opponent – The Baltimore Sun
In a weird scheduling quirk, the Orioles finished their season series with the Royals all the way back in April. Jacob Calvin Meyer discusses what’s been going on with the Kansas City club since then.
Orioles vs. Royals 2024 Wild Card Series preview: Predictions, pitching matchups and more – The Athletic
The Athletic breaks down which team has the edge at which positions and…yeah, this one’s a dead heat. Don’t expect any easy victories in this series for either team.
Orioles birthdays and history
Is today your birthday? Happy birthday! You have five Orioles birthday buddies, including the late right-hander Robin Roberts (b. 1926, d. 2010), who spent four solid seasons with the Birds after a Hall of Fame career with the Phillies. Others include outfielders Seth Smith (42) and Curtis Goodwin (52), and right-hander John DeSilva and lefty Yorkis Pérez (both 57).
On this date in 1989, the postseason hopes of the upstart “Why Not?” Orioles officially came to a heartbreaking end, with an O’s loss in Toronto clinching the AL East for the Blue Jays. The O’s had been the surprise story of baseball that year, rebounding from a 107-loss season the previous year to lead their division until the end of August, but a series of unfortunate events transpired in that season-ending series against the first-place Jays. The Orioles led, 3-1, in the eighth inning before Toronto rallied for three runs to clinch.
In 2000, Hall of Famer Mike Mussina made the final start of his stupendous Orioles career, beating the Yankees, 9-1, in front of 48,129 at Camden Yards. The O’s 1990 first-round pick went 147-81 with a 3.53 ERA in his 10-year career with the club. Of course, the next time he pitched in a major league game, it was for the Yankees, with whom he signed a six-year deal in free agency after talks with the O’s fell through. It was one of the most painful memories of my Orioles fandom, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
And on this day in 2012, the O’s clinched a playoff spot for the first time in 15 years, completing an incredible reversal of fortunes after 14 straight losing seasons. See, now that was one of the most delightful memories of my Orioles fandom, and again, I’m sure I’m not alone. The only negative was that the O’s didn’t get to celebrate their clinch on the field with the fans — as the Rangers blew a lead to the Angels in the first game of a doubleheader — and instead had to wait until they were on the team plane, when the Angels lost the nightcap to officially clinch the Orioles’ spot.