And then there were two. The AL Wild Card participants became a bit clearer as the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Toronto Blue Jays (77-81) 4-2 in game 1 of a split doubleheader Wednesday. The loss eliminated Toronto from playoff consideration just a year removed from their World Series run. At present, the Orioles and the Texas Rangers (78-79) are the only teams with a mathematical chance of making the playoffs; Their tragic numbers are 1 and 2, respectively.
The unanimously chosen Louis M. Hatter Most Valuable Oriole for 2026, Pete Alonso (1 for 3, R, 2 RBI, BB), continued his recent hot streak. In the month of September, Alonso is slashing .247/ .364/ .616 over 20 games with 9 homeruns, 19 RBI, 11 runs scored and 12 walks. Today he hit his 41st homerun of the season, a 412 ft. two-run blast to left center field in the fifth inning that put hime a three-way tie with Yordan Alvarez and Junior Caminero for the American League lead.
The Orioles scored a pair of runs in the second inning with the first coming on a Jeremiah Jackson (1 for 3, RBI) RBI-single. Jackson influenced the second run of the inning as well. With Colton Cowser (0 for 3, R, BB) on third after a walk and advancement on Jackson’s single and two outs, Jackson was caught in no man’s land on a steal attempt of second and then remained in a rundown long enough to allow Cowser to score before the final out was recorded.
The starters were a pair of former teammates, Baltimore’s Chris Bassitt (9-5) and Toronto’s Max Scherzer (3-9); the pair were teammates in Toronto in 2025. Bassitt was the better of the two on this day, scattering 7 hits across 5.0 innings, while allowing 2 runs. He walked 1 and struck out 2 to earn the win. Scherzer on the other hand, allowed 4 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks and 7 strike outs over 5.0 innings and took the loss.
Toronto’s runs came in the sixth inning and were scored by the two batters Bassitt faced (Kazuma Okamoto and George Springer) before being relieved by Luis DeLeon after tossing 90 pitches (60 K’s).
Andrew Kittredge allowed a hit and struck out 1 in the ninth inning to earn his 11th save of the season.
The Orioles won despite being limited to 5 hits and going 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position. That’s not exactly a playoff-caliber offense.
2026 Record: 77-81
Next Game: Wed. 9/23 @ 6:35 pm vs. Toronto Blue Jays (Game 2 of the split DH)
