The surreal five-run rally Saturday afternoon against the Blue Jays gets stranger when considering that the last eight Orioles batters reached with one out in the walk-off win.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles became the first team whose final eight batters of a game reached base via hit, walk or hit-by-pitch since the Twins did it against them on Sept. 11, 1966.

We know what happened that season.

The Twins accomplished the feat in the bottom of the eighth, which isn’t quite the same as a walk-off. They scored nine runs and the Orioles answered with two in the top of the ninth. There’s less drama. And the beat writers had more time to rewrite their game stories. Don’t even come at me with that.

Stu Miller and Dick Hall combined to give up the nine runs after Dave McNally allowed one earned in six innings. The box score on Baseball-Reference.com doesn’t provide pitch counts, so I’m left to wonder why McNally was removed after facing one batter in the seventh. That’s a quick hook in 1966.

This is back in the days of complete games and bullpens being an afterthought.

(Let’s see whether Hall of Famer Jim Palmer reads this and offers an explanation.)

What might be long forgotten is that Saturday’s rally began with Blue Jays reliever Jeff Hoffman hitting Coby Mayo with a 95.3 mph sinker. It didn’t seem intentional or important with Toronto leading 5-1.

“It got me on the top of the guard, like in the right triceps,” Mayo said. “I probably have gotten hit on that guard maybe once or twice ever and I’ve been wearing it for four or five years. But that’s why you wear it, just in case that one time.

“I’ve been standing closer to the plate, so I could see him trying to run a sinker in on my hands. I feel like I’ve been swinging a good bat recently and maybe just trying to run something in, get some weak contact, and kind of got away from him. It was a big moving sinker, so just got away from him.”

But did anyone really think the game would get away from the Blue Jays?

“I mean, I think anytime you get a baserunner on, a couple hits, you’re back in it. I think it’s just always next-man mentality. Like, get it to the next guy, see what he can do. Leody’s been swinging it really good. And then, you know, momentum, you have your fans behind you. That was awesome.”

Mayo wasn’t in Sunday’s lineup but will return to it in Boston. He seems to be getting more comfortable at third base, and especially making plays charging the ball. Plus, he’s 11-for-38 (.289) with two home runs since May 13. He’s hitting .295/.354/.659 against left-handers. But it’s always about defense and whether he can get more starts if trusted in the field.

“I just think it’s the more you’re at it consistently, the more you’re doing some reps over there during practice,” he said. “You’re trying to just be relaxed and play with some joy and having good self-talk over there, wanting the ball. Just good thoughts helps a lot. You want to picture the ball coming to you before it happens just so you’re ready and I think it’s been helping me a little bit.”

There’s something else, and it seems unusual on the surface.

Assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer has worked with Mayo on his throwing mechanics. That’s an odd crossover in departments, but it actually makes sense.

“I think it was just identifying a couple of things that might help him just find some rhythm,” Plassmeyer said. “I think when guys are going through any kind of struggle with how their body’s moving, it’s just trying to find something that makes sense to them and clicks. On the pitching side, guys go through a lot of different drills, a lot of different rhythm kind of patterns and stuff like that. So for me it was just kind of identifying maybe a couple things that might get something to click in his head and it seems to be going pretty well for him right now.

“I just think he’s trying to be more athletic and find that timing trigger of when he catches the ball, does his tap, where’s that takeaway to get the hand up quick and then be able to just kind of let the body take over and rotate like he normally does.”

Throwing errors earlier in the season, including the walk-off loss in Miami, prompted the sessions.

“Just trying to clean up the arm path, trying to get it a little shorter, teach the arm in the brain to not go so long,” Mayo said. “Something I’ve been doing my whole life, and I think it just caused a little bit of inconsistencies with throws. But I like where I’m at now. Not sure what it looks like, but definitely feels good where I’m at, and we’ll maintenance it when we need to.”

*Rico Garcia shaved his goatee during the homestand, a risky move in a sport where superstitions run rampant.

Garcia has posted a 0.71 ERA in 27 appearances, with only two runs and seven hits allowed over 25 1/3 innings. He’s struck out 28 batters, and opponents are batting .086.

So why the facial fix?

“It was an accident,” he said, smiling.

It didn’t seem to impact his pitching. Garcia avoided a hairy situation Sunday by retiring the side in order in the ninth inning.

“He’s just so consistent,” said assistant pitching coach Mitch Plassmeyer. “If you watch him, just like the work ethic, he’s constantly putting in great work every single day. I think just his ability to kind of slow the game down and identify how guys are gonna attack him has been really, really impressive. He’s just so consistent out there attacking hitters first and foremost by filling up the strike zone, but he’s able to do it in a variety of ways.

‘See outings where he’ll go really changeup heavy or add the curveball in and take some changeups away, or just go right at guys with the heater. So I think he’s done a great job kind of keeping guys off balance, mixing up some usage. And just attacking the zone and really trusting the stuff through the box.”

Garcia has transitioned from journeyman reliever to possible All-Star in his sixth major league season. He didn’t pitch in 2021 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and spent 2024 with Triple-A Rochester in the Nationals system.

“I think it’s just confidence in himself,” Plassmeyer said. “The way he approaches the game and the way he kind of analyzes what people are doing to him over the years. He’s just had a lot of different experiences and he’s really put those all together and tried to really simplify it, and I think just that simple approach he has of attacking guys through the box and trusting that his stuff is good enough to just go right at guys has been one of the more impressive things.”

*Not to start up another analytics debate here, but …

The top five Orioles in bWAR are led by reliever Rico Garcia at 1.7. After him are catcher Samuel Basallo at 1.6, catcher Adley Rutschman at 1.3, outfielder Taylor Ward at 1.2 and first baseman Pete Alonso at 1.0.

The top five Orioles in fWAR are led by Rutschman at 1.7. After him are shortstop Gunnar Henderson at 1.3, Basallo and Alonso at 1.1, and Ward, outfielder Leody Taveras and starter Shane Baz at 0.9.

Garcia and starter Kyle Bradish are next at 0.8.

So Garcia is first in one calculation and behind seven teammates in another. But we’ll lean on it like a banister.

Guess you just choose a side and work it into as many stories and conversations as you can.

*Infielder/outfielder Jaiden Lo Re, a fifth-round pick in the 2025 draft, is moving up from the Florida Complex League to Class A Delmarva.

Lo Re was batting .354/.421/.462 in 20 games in his first professional season. He had two doubles, one triple, one home run, nine walks, six strikeouts and seven stolen bases.

He went 3-for-3 yesterday in his final FCL game.