The Baltimore Orioles began their final homestand of the 2026 season Friday night. They were opposed by the team with the best record in MLB, the Milwaukee Brewers (96-58), and were able to match them run for run until the 10th inning, losing by a score of 6-5.
Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio hit a three-run homerun off of Baltimore’s Cade Povich in the second inning. Povich recorded two outs in the inning before allowing a single to Luis Lara and walking Cooper Pratt in front of Chourio.
Povich lasted just 3.2 innings as he was on a pitch count according to Manager Craig Albernaz during his post-game press conference. He threw 71 pitches (41 K’s) in allowing those three runs on 5 hits, while walking 2 and striking out 3.
Where would this team be without Pete Alonso (1 for 4, BB)? The Polar Bear matched Chourio with a three-run homerun of his won in the third inning. Alonso’s 38th homer of the year travelled 353 ft. to right field and hit the railing just above the out of town scoreboard to tie the game at three.
Following the Alonso homerun, Coby Mayo (3 for 4, 3 2B, R) doubled, Samuel Basallo (1 for 4, RBI) singled and Christian Encarnacion-Strand (0 for 3, RBI) was hit by a Dustin May pitch to load the bases and ultimately end May’s outing. The O’s were unable to take advantage of the situation, however.
Neither team was able to score again until the ninth inning. Rico Garcia, Baltimore’s fifth reliever of the night, allowed a pair of runs on two hits. With the Brewers up by two, Gunnar Henderson (3 for 5, R) singled and went to third on Mayo’s third double of the night. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Basallo and CES brought Henderson and Mayo home to send the game to extras.
In the tenth, Garrett Mitchell advanced former Oriole Joey Ortiz to third via a sacrifice bunt. Sal Frelick singled Mitchell home. A three-up, three-down Orioles’ tenth ended the game and tagged Grant Wolfram (6-4) with the loss.
The Orioles had scoring chances in both the fifth and seventh innings but failed to capitalize; Mayo was thrown out at home in the fifth inning. Collectively, the Birds were 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position and left a dozen runners on base. Clutch hitting has been a problem for the Orioles in 2026.
The Orioles remain 3.0 games behind the Chicago White Sox (78-76) for the third Wild Card spot with 8 games remaining.
2026 Record: 75-79
Next Game: Sat.9/19 @ 4:05 pm vs. Milwaukee Brewers
