The elimination number for the Orioles holds at two.

A pair of home runs from Pete Alonso kept it from shrinking in the cold at Camden Yards.

The Orioles fell behind in the first inning, shut out the Blue Jays the rest of the way and rallied behind their star player for a 4-3 win before an announced crowd of 12,067.

They improved to 76-81, still hoping to avoid back-to-back losing seasons, and are 4 ½ games behind for the last Wild Card with five remaining. The White Sox were idle tonight.

Alonso hit his 39th home run in the first to snap the Orioles’ scoreless streak at 19 innings. The ball reached the row of fans standing along the railing atop the flag court. He stepped to the plate against Tyler Rogers with two outs in the eighth and Christian Franklin on first base and lined a sinker over the left field wall.

Of course he did.

“I don’t take anything for granted, but yeah, tonight, it was awesome to see,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “Tyler Rogers is a really tough matchup, especially for righties, and for him to be able to not only square it up but be able to get it in the air and hit a home run, it was really impressive. And it goes without being said how big of a home run that was.

“I can’t speak enough on just Pete, what he brings to the team, the clubhouse on a day in, day out basis.”

Others have plenty to say about him, as well.

“It’s ridiculous,” starter Shane Baz said after witnessing Alonso’s 28th career multi-homer game, which also ran his RBI total to 108, most in the American League.

“I mean, he’s just one of the most consistent players I’ve ever seen, and I feel like that’s kind of the name of the game in the big leagues is just being as consistent as possible. And you know, kind of the work that you put in, it shows, and he’s a perfect case of that, where he just shows up every day, same attitude, gets his work in no matter what. Both sides of the ball, lik offense, defense. You know, he made some great plays for me tonight, too. He’s just been a lot of fun. Great dude. I can’t really say enough good things about him.”

Franklin came off the bench to draw a leadoff walk against Mason Fluharty. Rogers got the call specifically to face Alonso and paid the price.

Wins mean more to Alonso than milestones. He was able to enjoy both tonight.

“It’s a nice number,” he said. “It feels great. But I’m just really happy I was able to come through right there. You know, I’m just really happy I was able to contribute to a win, and that’s really what it’s all about. I’m just so happy I was able to contribute and come through against a really tough pitcher, one of the best relievers in the league. Former teammate, and again, he’s nasty, and I’m just really happy I was able to come through right there.”

And overjoyed to do it on his son Teddy’s first birthday. Alonso changed his walkup song to Earth, Wind & Fire’s “September” for the occasion.

“Yeah, sick, yeah. One hundred percent, it’s obviously special,” Alonso said. “Hopefully can bookmark this game. I know it doesn’t matter now, because it’s like, he’s not going to understand it for a couple years, but hopefully a couple years down the line I can kind of look back and kind of bookmark this and keep it for the archives, and hopefully he appreciates it one day.”

Alonso has homered in six consecutive series for the second time this season. He’s the fourth player to belt 40 homers in his first career season with the Orioles after Frank Robinson (49), Mark Trumbo (47) and Nelson Cruz (40). He’s also the ninth player in franchise history with 40, including Chris Davis twice.

“He exceeded my expectations,” Albernaz, “just the off the field what he brings, because I didn’t really know him, know him, but now just being around him every single day, that’s been the most impressive thing. Obviously, his baseball card, his
accolades, the track record is there. Hitting 40 home runs and having over 100 RBIs in this league is really impressive and the consistency he does it, that doesn’t happen by accident. Just all the work he puts in behind the scenes.”

The slow start, batting .198 with four homers and a .668 OPS through April, didn’t fool anyone.

“No, just because of the track record and then being around him, just how he never wavers from his prep,” Albernaz said. “He understands his process and what he does, and we talked about that with a lot of our guys. Just the
preparation you do before the game, not get so hung up on the results and sticking with the process, making adjustments, being prepared for the game, and Pete embodies that to a T.”

Baz kept waiting for more offense. His 3.49 run support average before tonight actually climbed to third lowest in the majors, but he’s grown accustomed to scant support.

Gunnar Henderson tripled in the fourth and homered off Chad Dallas with two outs in the sixth, his 24th this season, to cut the lead to 3-2. But the Orioles couldn’t put Baz in position for the win.

Baz allowed three runs and five hits in 6 2/3 innings to leave his ERA at 4.11 with his final start expected Sunday at Yankee Stadium. His 15 losses remain tied for most in the majors.

Baz is the fourth Oriole, after Chris Tillman, Bruce Chen and Pat Rapp, to make a quality start after allowing the first three batters to score.

“You can kind of go one of two ways,” Baz said. “You can either be a, you know what, or you can kind of get territorial and just kind of try and take control of the game and, you know, not let what happened those first four or five at-bats dictate the rest of the game. And I think I did a good job of that.”

Henderson’s triple came against Brendan Celluci with one out in the fourth. Dallas entered, struck out Coby Mayo and retired Christian Encarnacion-Strand on a fly ball. Henderson’s homer was the Orioles’ third hit of the night.

The game started 47 minutes late due to rain. Leadoff hitter Brett Bateman drew a full-count walk on a pitch clock violation. Hardly worth the wait.

Alejandro Kirk also ran the count full and earned his walk on a questionable check swing. Nathan Lukes and George Springer singled, Sean Keys flied to right, and the Blue Jays led 3-0.

Rookie Kazuma Okamoto also singled, but right fielder Rece Hinds made a sliding backhand catch to rob Josh Smith. Baz threw 28 pitches.

The Blue Jays managed only two more hits off Baz before Yennier Cano was summoned with two outs in the seventh. Baz retired 12 in a row after a walk and single put him in a bind to begin the third.

Andrés Giménez ended the streak with a bloop single in the seventh. A ground ball followed and Baz was done after 92 pitches.

Blue Jays center fielder Brett Bateman made a sliding catch to deny Hinds in the second and came out of the game with right hip discomfort. X-rays were negative for a fracture. Starter Trey Yesavage left after two innings because he just came off the IL.

Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo stayed in the game after a foul ball slammed off his mask in the fifth, but he exited in the top of the seventh.

“He’s getting looked at right now,” Albernaz said. “I haven’t seen a foul tip like that square a catcher up in a long time, and he felt fine. The thing is, with that, the concussions, sometimes that happens later on. When he went back out to catch the next inning, he was flinching on some balls, and I didn’t feel comfortable with him staying in there and flinching. So he’s getting looked at now, just to double and triple check, make sure he’s OK.”

His replacement, Carlos Narváez, popped up a bunt to reliever José Rodríguez after Encarnacion-Strand’s leadoff single in the seventh. Hinds grounded into a double play.

Pinch-hitter Jeremiah Jackson took two pitches in the eighth before popping up with Franklin on first base and no outs. Dylan Beavers flied out and Alonso had another big swing in the bag.

It produced a 112.9 mph shot, a fourth 40-homer season and cause for celebration in a clubhouse that’s dying to make some noise.

“I just want to leave it all out there, you know?” he said. “I really love playing the game, and for me, I just want to be all I can be and do whatever I can every single night to win the game, you know? I really take pride in wanting to win and giving it all I have every single night. It’s really, really awesome to be a part of this group, be a part of this team.

“I know where we’re with the standings, but couldn’t be more proud to be an Oriole, and this group, this organization, this city, just beyond appreciative to be a part of it. I’m really excited for not just the remaining few games of the season, but I’m excited for what we have coming down the pipe.”

Minor matters

The Orioles honored their organizational award winners before the game.

Top pitcher Joseph Dzierwa went from second-round pick in 2025 out of Michigan State to sensational first-year pro with a combined 2.27 ERA and 0.901 WHIP in 26 games between High-A Frederick and Double-A Chesapeake. He struck out 149 and surrendered only eight home runs in 131 innings.

Asked what the Orioles introduced to Dzierwa along the way that keyed his success, he replied, “I think a little bit from everything, from the strength/conditioning side, some stuff in the weight room, mentally, just kind of the process and long season, sticking to it. And pitching, I learned a lot from our pitching coaches, coordinators and just kind of what I can tweak here and there.

“And obviously, I needed to add breaking balls and I feel that’s something we did this season. I threw a lot of them, which in college I didn’t really throw too many, so it was pretty cool to see.”

Top position player Wehiwa Aloy, also a member of the 2025 draft class, slashed .288/.358/.506 with 20 doubles, four triples, 25 home runs, 92 RBIs, 52 walks, 84 runs scored and 20 stolen bases in 123 games between Frederick and Chesapeake

“The goal at the beginning of the season was just to win,” he said. “I think we had a pretty good conversation about that when the season first began. And yeah, just going day in and day out, just trying to do whatever it takes to win and the results will take care of itself later.”

Frederick manager Collin Woody, recipient of the player development award, recalled a meeting with president of baseball operations Mike Elias and Orioles manager Craig Albernaz on the first day of spring training. Getting players ready for the majors was a primary goal, but Albernaz emphasized that victories mattered, too, and the Keys set a franchise record with 83 and reached the playoffs for the first time since 2017.

“It was fun going into this year, valuing winning as a major league skill,” Woody said. “That was something we pushed hard in Frederick and it was fun to have that work out.”

Director of player development Anthony Villa had a similar message later in camp. He checked a talented roster and defined the mission for Woody.

Go win the league.

“I talked to the staff about it, we were all really excited about it,” Woody said. “Encouraged the players, set the expectation, like, ‘This is what we’re gonna go do.’ Talented group of individuals. You guys have the ability to go out there and whoop butt every night. That was what we decided to go do, and the guys took it and ran with it and had fun with it.”