BALTIMORE–What happened? It was amazing. The Orioles were within an out of being no-hit by Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Six batters later, they walked off the field with a pulsating 4-3 win before a sellout crowd of 42,612 at Camden Yards on Saturday night.
On the night the Orioles celebrated the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken breaking Lou Gehrig’s consecutive game streak, they produced their own magic. Jackson Holliday’s home run with two outs in the ninth against Yamamoto not only broke up the no-hit bid but triggered an astounding rally.
Blake Treinen (1-3) relieved Yamamoto and allowed a double to Jeremiah Jackson, who was replaced by pinch-runner Daniel Johnson. Gunnar Henderson and Ryan Mountcastle walked to load the bases.
Colton Cowser’s bases-loaded walk scored Johnson to pull the Orioles within a run. Emmanuel Rivera’s two-run single up the middle against Tanner Scott scored Henderson and pinch-runner Jorge Mateo to lift the Orioles to their most improbable win of the season.
It was also their second straight walk-off win against the Dodgers and former Oriole Scott, who allowed Samuel Basallo’s two-out, two-strike home run on Friday night that produced a 2-1 win.
On Saturday night, the Orioles didn’t get close to a hit against Yamamoto before Holliday’s 17th home run with two outs in the ninth.
“That’s wild. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything like that with how that thing was going,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said.
Asked if the Orioles were still confident in the ninth despite Yamamoto’s brilliance, Mansoino said: “Confident [is] probably not the right word, but optimistic, resilient [are] probably the right words to use for our group. Being resilient and confident every once in a while pays off.”
Albert Suárez (1-0) pitched the final three innings, allowing a run on two hits.
The Orioles (66-76) have won five straight while Los Angeles (78-64) has dropped five in a row.
Yamamoto, who struck out 10, walked two and threw a wild pitch, had retired 19 straight after Basallo walked in the third.
Basallo was injured in the fifth and left the game with right hand discomfort after the catcher was hit by Ben Rortvedt’s foul ball. Mansolino said that X-rays on Basallo’s hand were negative and that he won’t play on Sunday and should return Tuesday after Monday’s offday.
Oriole starter Trevor Rogers, who was the American League Pitcher of the Month in August, allowed two runs on eight hits. The eight hits equal a season high, and the 5 1/3 innings were his fewest since June 30th.
The Dodgers (79-63) scored on Shohei Ohtani’s infield out in the third, Mookie Betts’ RBI single in the fifth, and an RBI triple by Betts against Suárez.
What was the evening like? The evening began as a celebration for Cal Ripken Jr., and ended joyfully for the Orioles, even though a no-hitter seemed likely in the ninth.
“Even in that situation right there in a packed house on such a big night, I feel like the guys, they stayed positive in the dugout, they stayed loose, they stayed energetic,” Mansolino said. “And fortunately, I think some of Cal’s magic resonated and affected us there in the ninth inning.”
On the 30th anniversary of the night Ripken eclipsed Gehrig’s consecutive games streak, the Iron Man circled the field in a Corvette convertible before thanking the fans and former teammates who gathered to honor him.
Before the Orioles batted in the bottom of the fifth, Ripken, Bobby Bonilla and Rafael Palmeiro reenacted the nudge that encouraged him to take a lap around the stadium.
This time, Ripken ran just a short distance past first base before retreating into the Orioles’ dugout.
What was the reaction to the comeback? Rogers was honored to start on a special night for the organization.
“I literally can’t believe that,” he said. “That’s the best baseball game I’ve ever been a part of, especially the ramifications with the 30-year anniversary of 2,131, and that’s our team.
“We go down fighting to the last out, last pitch. And that’s baseball for you. You’re never out of the fight, and that’s something that everyone in this locker room is going to remember probably forever.”
Before his winning hit, Rivera had grounded back to Yamamoto and flied to right field twice.
“He was having an excellent night, he was doing some great work, and I think we’d been trying to battle from the very first at-bat,” Rivera said through a team translator. “But I think the moment we got that first hit it kind of opened up everything else from there on out.”
Holliday knew his at-bat would be crucial.
“That’s all that was on my mind honestly,” he said. “Going into the eighth inning, that’s what I was thinking about, ‘Oh man, it’s going to come down to me.’ So I was definitely thinking about it and kind of nervous because it’s kind of a big thing. It was fun being able to break it up. He threw the ball really great. He didn’t make very many mistakes and I was lucky to be able to catch one right.”
Injury updates: Outfielder Tyler O’Neill, who’s on the 10-day injured list with right wrist inflammation, will play at Double-A Chesapeake on Sunday and move on to Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday.
Dean Kremer, who left Friday night’s start after three innings with right forearm discomfort, had an MRI, which showed “nothing glaring,” according to Mansolino.
“He’s going to play catch tomorrow, then probably the day after the offday. If he plays catch and it goes well, then we will keep him active, skip his next start and then kind of keep him going for the one following that,” Mansolino said. “If he plays catch tomorrow or I think it’s Tuesday after the offday and there’s an issue with the throwing, then we’ll probably IL him at that point.”
What does it mean? The Orioles delivered their second straight walk-off win. Their five straight wins against two tough NL West teams, the Padres and Dodgers, are impressive.
What’s the stat of the day? The Orioles became the seventh team to win a game with a walk-off after being held hitless for 8 2/3 innings.
What’s the word? “This is, for me personally, the game of the year for us. Just with the failed expectations of this year and we know that, but we keep fighting.”-Rogers on Saturday’s wild game.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Trey Gibson allowed six runs on eight hits in four innings as Triple-A Norfolk lost to Nashville, 7-6.
Jordan Adams and Vimael Machin homered for Norfolk.
Juaron Watts-Brown allowed one hit in 6 2/3 shutout innings, striking out eight as Double-A Chesapeake beat Harrisburg, 4-3. Austin Overn hit a three-run home run.
Anderson De Los Santos had four hits as High-A Aberdeen beat Wilmington, 7-2.
Jordan Sanchez homered twice in Single-A Delmarva’s 5-4 loss to Lynchburg.
What’s next? Tomoyuki Sugano (10-7, 4.41) will face Clayton Kershaw (9-2, 3.28) on Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com