NEW YORK- What happened? Last year was a joyride. This year’s ride was far bumpier, but the Orioles are headed into the postseason for the second straight year.
It took a 5-3 win over the New York Yankees before 41,144 at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night combined with the Miami Marlins’ 4-1 win over the Minnesota Twins to secure the wild-card spot.
Anthony Santander, Ramón Urías and Colton Cowser homered. Ryan O’Hearn drove in a run with a single in the fourth, and the fifth run scored on Heston Kjerstad’s infield out in the second.
Dean Kremer allowed Aaron Judge’s 56th home run in five innings. Cionel Pérez allowed two runs in the seventh.
Gregory Soto recorded the final two outs of the eighth and the first of the ninth before Seranthony Domínguez retired Jasson Domínguez on a grounder to second and Alex Verdugo on a fly ball to left.
“Last year, a lot of things went right,” manager Brandon Hyde said in the champagne-soaked clubhouse. “This year has been tough and I’m just proud of the group. They continue to fight. Last year, everything went a lot smoother and this year has been a nightly grind.
“We’ve had a lot of injuries … The games haven’t been easy. To continue to battle and not get down, and now we’re in.”
What was the clubhouse like? The music was loud, players doused each other and onlookers with champagne and beer.
“We know what kind of team we have,” Santander said. “We’re fighting every single day. Finally, we clinched today. We have good momentum in the next couple of games and then go play hard in the playoffs.
“This is special. We’re in the playoffs. We’re in the wild-card right now, and anything can happen. It’s been tough, but we stay positive, and we know what kind of group that we have. We’re ready to go out there and compete.”
At 20, Jackson Holliday isn’t of legal drinking age, but he’d been in clubhouse celebrations with his father, Matt, and now he was enjoying one despite the challenges of his off-and-on initial major league season.
“To know that we’re in the playoffs and settle in for that, just good momentum and hopefully make a long run int the playoffs,” he said.
Cedric Mullins was one of the quieter celebrants. He was a part of three teams that lost more than 100 games, and he’s savoring a return to the postseason.
“Each year is different, and obviously we faced a lot of challenges this year,” he said. “It’s really nice to be on the other side. We’ve got a playoff berth.”
How did they do it? The Orioles clinched after losing five straight series for the first time since August 2021. It’s the first time they’ve qualified for the postseason in consecutive seasons since 1996 and 1997.
“We want to do it next year, too,” executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias said. “It’s a big deal for this franchise. This hasn’t happened in a while … You can’t take this for granted. You have to celebrate it. You have to be proud of it.”
The last few weeks have been difficult, but after Santander’s game-winning home run last Thursday, Elias felt more confident and the return of Urías and Jordan Westburg made things much better.
“We just started to feel like the team was getting back together,” Elias said. “I haven’t had the same level of anxiety since that walk-off home run from Santander.”
It was just the second game back from a sprained right ankle for Urías, whose seventh-inning home run put the Orioles up 4-1.
“Going through all those injuries, all those bad times, to celebrate right now, feels good,” Urías said. “We are ready for the playoffs.”
What comes next? The Orioles have two more games at Yankee Stadium and three at Minnesota before they begin the wild-card series on October 1st. They have a magic number of two to clinch games at home.
It’s likely they’ll play either Detroit or Kansas City next week. They haven’t played the Royals since April and lost two of three to the Tigers over the last two weekends.
“Guys are putting their all into this,” catcher Adley Rutschman said. “Every single guy is 100 percent committed. Guys are putting their hearts on the line every single night. You can see it. Baseball’s a tough game because the results don’t always come, but we know at some point, it’s going to turn around.
”They’re excited. This is a good momentum thing for us. We’re ready to go. This team is really tight.”
Corbin Burnes, who’s scheduled to start Thursday and Zach Eflin, Wednesday’s starter, are the likely starters for the first two games in the best-of-three.
“I think we feel good about the playoff rotation,” Elias said. “The bullpen, I think we have a decent enough mix to go to battle with. I feel pretty good about the pitching staff. Corbin and Eflin, that’s a hell of a start to a playoff rotation. Those are guys that have been there before, too, and so that’s going to be a lot of fun for us to have two horses like that.”
It’s the second straight season in the postseason for Rutschman, who can’t wait to erase the sting of last year’s sweep in the Division Series by Texas.
“This is like a steppingstone for us,” Rutschman said. “Our guys are really happy to take this step, but for us, we’re ready to go. We’re trying to get better. We’re setting ourselves up for a playoff run now. I think our guys are just excited to get going.”
Rutschman’s backup, James McCann, who didn’t play in the Division Series last year, thinks things will be different this year.
“There’s a different mindset this year in understanding what needs to be done,” he said. “That learning process of last year is going to help us this year.”
What does it mean? Now the Orioles can prepare for either the Tigers and Royals, and what happened in the regular season won’t matter next week.
What’s the word? “We wanted to do it a while ago, and it just wasn’t happening.”-Hyde on clinching a playoff spot
What’s the stat of the day? 100. Santander’s home run was his 100th RBI. He’s the first Oriole since Jonathan Schoop, who had 105 in 2017, to do that. He’s the first Orioles’ switch-hitter with 100 RBIs since Bobby Bonilla in 1996.
His 44th home run is the seventh most by an Oriole.
What’s going on in the minor leagues? Double-A Bowie catcher/first baseman Samuel Basallo was named as the Eastern League’s top prospect. … Single-A Delmarva infielder Aron Estrada was named a Carolina League All-Star.
What’s next? Zach Eflin (10-9, 3.53) will face Nestor Cortes (9-10, 3.77) on Wednesday night at 7:05.
Call for questions: Most weekdays, I’ll be answering at least one Orioles question. Please send yours to: Rich@BaltimoreBaseball.com