CLEVELAND – The Guardians played a prank on manager Craig Albernez as a humorous welcome back to Cleveland.

Then they got mean.

Left-hander Parker Messick almost became the eighth pitcher to no-hit the Orioles since the franchise relocated to Baltimore, coming within three outs in the Guardians’ 4-2 win before an announced 14,748 at Progressive Field.

Leody Taveras saw one pitch leading off the ninth, grounded it into right field at 103.5 mph and tossed his bat halfway up the line – more relief than celebration. The ball eluded second baseman Juan Brito’s glove. Messick was at 107 pitches but stayed in the game, and Blaze Alexander singled into center.

Messick left to a rousing ovation after 112 pitches.

“Trying to go to the plate with the same approach, find a way to get a good pitch and hit it through the middle,” Taveras said. “That’s my approach and nothing different, honestly.

“I’m one of those people, I believe if something’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. I believe that everything is right now. Today wasn’t the day for a no-hitter. I don’t think anything is different.”

The Orioles loaded the bases with no outs and avoided a shutout when Gunnar Henderson flied to deep right field against Cade Smith. They kept going, with Pete Alonso’s double off the right field wall scoring Alexander. Orioles fans had their turn to get loud.

Pinch-hitter Colton Cowser flied to shallow left-center and Brito robbed Samuel Basallo with a lunging stop and throw. Basallo passed first base, got down in a crouch and ripped off his helmet in frustration.

“The boys were into it the whole game,” Albernaz said. “They were fighting like it’s the same. That’s what I love about our group. There’s no quit, there’s no rolling over. And once Leody got that hit, I comp it to like a sniper in the NBA where you just need one shot to go in and then it just goes off. So we just needed one hit to go through and then kind of just, you saw a trickle-down effect.”

The Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma is the last pitcher to make history against the Orioles on Aug. 12, 2015 in Seattle.

Messick walked leadoff hitter Taylor Ward in the first inning and retired the next 15 batters before walking Taveras to begin the sixth.

Ward flied to the center field fence at 395 feet to end the third. José Ramírez backhanded Coby Mayo’s grounder deep behind third base and threw him out to end the fifth inning. Messick was cruising at 59 pitches.

Ward grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to close out the sixth. Messick was at 72 pitches.

Still dominant.

“I think just the way he gathers in his legs, he really kind of gets low,” Ward said. “It’s a little funky. You don’t normally see that kind of body movement. I just think that he was just a little funky.”

Jeremiah Jackson was Messick’s ninth strikeout victim in the eighth inning to tie a career high. Mayo battled Messick for nine pitches with two outs and grounded to short. First baseman Kyle Mazardo dug out the throw. Was this really going to happen?

Messick began the night with a 0.51 ERA in three starts, allowing one run in 17 2/3 innings. The Orioles didn’t face a lefty in their first 17 games before the Diamondbacks’ Eduardo Rodriguez yesterday and Messick tonight.

The most recent no-hitter in the majors was a combined effort by the Cubs’ Shota Imanaga, Nate Pearson and Porter Hodge on Sept. 4, 2024 against the Pirates.

The Orioles had a few other close calls in recent years. The Tigers were working on a combined no-hitter for 8 2/3 innings on Sept. 13, 2024 in Detroit before Henderson tripled. The Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto no-hit the Orioles for 8 2/3 on Sept. 6, 2025 at Camden Yards before Jackson Holliday homered.

No one stepped up tonight until Taveras, who’s batting .375 with a .956 OPS.

The Orioles are the third team in the expansion era to break up a no-hit bid in the ninth inning or later in three-plus consecutive seasons, per MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.

Johnathan Rodríguez lined out to left field to end the seventh and bring the crowd to its feet again before the stretch. There weren’t many close calls.  

“What was going through my mind was Messick was on,” Albernaz said. “He had all his pitches dialed in the strike zone. He did a great job of changing speeds in all counts. Weak contact. Wardy squared up a ball to center field and (Steven) Kwan made a great catch. But yeah, he was on tonight.

“When I took out Cam (Foster) to bring in Wells, I was talking to the infield group and just saying there’s a reason why there’s 27 outs. There’s no time limit. They’re probably gonna get someone up behind him, maybe, but other than that, there’s 27 outs and let’s see what we can do.”

Foster made his major league debut in the bottom of the seventh and tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Shane Baz was charged with four runs and six hits in six innings, with three walks and six strikeouts. His ERA is 4.91.

Baz surrendered a home run in the first, issued a five-pitch walk and drew a crowd.

Head athletic trainer Scott Barringer, Albernaz and pitching coach Drew French came out of the dugout to check on their starter. The Orioles are tied with the Astros for most players on the injured list with 13. The scene unfolding at Progressive Field could best be described as alarming.

Baz stayed in the game and the Orioles lost it, slipping below .500 again at 9-10 with their third defeat in a row.

“Yeah, that was interesting for us being in the dugout,” Albernaz said. “He heard ‘curveball’ on PitchCom and then as he was going through his motion, he had a fastball grip. Then as he was about to throw it, he realized it was a curveball, so he just threw it. That was kind of, like, the mix up, yeah. That’s why we went out there for obvious reasons. We wanted to make sure that Baz was good, but thank God that everything was fine.”

“I know. I already apologized for scaring ‘em,” Baz said.

“It was my fault. It was kind of a miscommunication on my part and obviously not wanting to put Basallo in any danger back there. I’ll always wear it for stuff like that and not jeopardize somebody else.”

Baz walked Chase DeLauter with one out in the first and Ramírez homered to right field on a first-pitch 95.7 mph fastball. Manzardo walked to bring about the mound meeting, and Baz proved his good health by retiring nine in a row. George Valera’s pop up that fell in right field in the fourth inning interrupted the streak.

The Guardians led 3-0 in the fifth when Brayan Rocchio doubled with two outs on a ground ball that deflected off Jackson’s glove as he tried to make a sliding stop, and Kwan lined a single into right field. Rodríguez’s throw to the plate arrived first, but Rocchio slid around Basallo’s tag.

The defense kept bailing out Baz. Jackson made his latest diving stop and throw, this time robbing Valera in the first. Alonso snagged a liner to end the first and began the second with a lunging stop and flip to rob Brito. Valera reached on his bloop single with one out in the fourth and Mayo dived to his left to field Angel Martínez’s grounder and start a 5-6-3 double play.

Ramírez drew a 10-pitch walk leading off the sixth, moved to third base on Manzardo’s single and scored on Valera’s single. Baz limited the damage with two strikeouts and a grounder.

“Baz was great tonight,” Albernaz said. “He got us through six, kept us in the game. I think the only pitch he would want back is the first pitch to Josey Ramírez. But other than that, I thought he looked great. Fastball had great life, curveball, cutter, got the changeup going a little bit. But no, he gave us six strong and kept us in the game.”

“The first inning, it was one bad pitch, really,” Baz said. “It was my fault just getting to that pitch in that spot. I’ve got to know better than that. I’ve pitched too much to not think that through a little more. Just made a bad pitch. I felt like I wasn’t throwing the ball bad, so it was kind of easy just to settle in and start attacking hitters.”

Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt came up with the idea of having Albernaz’s desks and chairs in his office replaced by miniature furniture. He arranged to have a Spider-Man shower curtain and mat and Bluey decorations placed in the bathroom.

Just having a little fun with his close friend and former coach.

The laughs stopped after Messick was handed the ball.

“It almost seems like we do it every time we’re down, so we’ve just got to flip the script, honestly, and be ahead,” Ward said. “I think that’s just our next step, getting out to a quick and early lead and maintaining it and adding on after that. Love to see the fight in the team, it’s great, but I just think we’ve got to flip it.”