Coby Mayo has hit balls in batting practice that he thinks might reach the second deck in left field at Camden Yards. They feel good leaving the lumber. His hopes also soar.

“It doesn’t come close,” he says with a grin.

“It’s far up there and it’s a big left field to begin with. Plus, you know, the second deck is far away.”

Well, not too far.

Mayo came off the bench Wednesday night against the Cubs’ Caleb Thielbar and drove a fastball 420 feet at 113 mph and with a 32-degree launch angle. He had a pretty good idea that he did something special before it reached the crowd.

“When I hit it, I kind of knew there could be a chance, and then I looked up and saw a fan catch it or come close to it,” he said. “I wasn’t surprised that I hit it up there, but seeing the short list of players, it’s crazy that only eight people have done that.”

Mayo found out just how rare a feat it is after his parents passed along the other names: Rex Hudler on June 11, 1995, Mark Reynolds on Aug. 7, 2011, Manny Machado on June 2, 2017, Edwin Encarnacion on June 20, 2017, Pete Alonso on Sept. 2, 2020, Maikel Franco on June 8, 2021, and Austin Hays on June 7, 2022.

“I know Hays was the last guy to do it,” Mayo said. “I know they’ve talked about it before a little bit, and I’ve seen Pete’s video of him doing it off (John) Means a few years ago here, too. But I didn’t know it was such a small list.  I don’t know. It’s wild.

“You’d think after all these years, 81 games a year at home, there would be 20 guys. Definitely one of the better shots I’ve ever hit in my life.”

The ball wasn’t returned to Mayo, but he’s fine with a fan taking it home. Someone else also will have a good story to tell.

“I think it would have been cool,” he said, “but I don’t even know how that stuff works.”

Players take aim at the warehouse in batting practice, but that’s the dream of the left-handed hitters. No one has nailed it on the fly during a game. Ken Griffey Jr. left his mark at the 1993 All-Star Home Run Derby with a shot estimated at 465 feet.

“The warehouse is more of an emphasis for lefties,” Mayo said. “They want to hit it, of course.”

Teammates had the expected response to Mayo’s blast. They recognized that it was a big deal.

“I didn’t think they would, just because we were losing and you want to win the game first before celebrating just a solo homer,” he said. “A lot of guys kind of gave me a look like, ‘Second deck? Geez.’ The pitchers we have here are awesome and they were all like, ‘Didn’t know you had that in you.’ They know that I have it in me, but such a short list that it’s got to take a good one. They all joked to me like, ‘You know you got it? You hit it off the end of the bat.’ But it was a good reaction from the guys.

“I feel like a lot of my homers have been freakin’ 30 out of 30 (ballparks), but that one was a good one, for sure.”

An interesting sidenote: Alonso has been around for three of the second-deck shots, including Franco’s that came against Mets pitcher Robert Gsellman.

*Samuel Basallo hit his 19th career home run last night to break a 3-3 tie. It also was the third against a left-hander.

Manager Craig Albernaz had Mayo, Jeremiah Jackson and Leody Taveras on the bench, but he stuck with Basallo against Royals southpaw reliever Matt Strahm, who yesterday marked 10 years of service time.

Get a cake and give up the go-ahead homer.

“He has that ability (to change the game) now,” Albernaz said of Basallo. “Everyone feels that in the dugout, and with Sammy, he’s so young. Not in age. He is in age, but also in his big league career. This year, what he’s been doing is awesome.

“The way he works, he has a good head on his shoulders. That’s why we’re extremely bullish on Sammy, especially at the position he plays.”

“I played with him in Bowie and Norfolk,” said starter Brandon Young, “but to see him here kind of have a little better approach up there and not trying to necessarily be the hero every time, but like just trying to make good ABs and wait for a mistake, just like he did tonight. So it was huge. He came up and picked me up. He picked up the team.” 

Basallo was the designated hitter for the 26th time this season. He’s made a nice adjustment to the role.

“Not trying to do too many swings in between innings,” he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Not trying to go into the cage and do a million swings in there. I think early on in the season when things maybe weren’t going so well I was going to the cages in between innings and swinging the bat a ton. So really now it’s just been about keeping it simple, really going in with a plan beforehand and understanding that as long as I keep it simple and don’t tire myself out by swinging the bat a ton in between innings, I’ll be able to go out there and be fine.”

Said Albernaz: “This is probably the most that he’s had to DH, probably ever. Early in the year, it was probably a little bit of an adjustment. He’s done a great job of partnering with our hitting coaches and also our strength and conditioning staff of getting a nice routine in between at-bats. We’re kind of see that evolve in front of our eyes.”

*I wrote yesterday that Taylor Ward’s 71 walks were the most by an Orioles player prior to the All-Star break, eclipsing Ken Singleton’s 70 in 1975. Ward added another one last night.

Behind Ward and Singleton are Randy Milligan with 69 in 1990, Bobby Grich with 67 in 1973, and Albert Belle with 66 in 1999.

Ward began yesterday ranking third in walks in the majors and could become the first Oriole to finish in the top three since Mickey Tettleton in 1990.

*I also shared, per STATS, that the Orioles’ streak of 29 consecutive home series without being swept by the Royals is tied for the fourth longest in club history.  

The Orioles went 61 straight home series against the Angels without being swept from April 1968-Aug. 1997. They went 34 in a row against the Athletics from June 1959-Aug. 1970. They went 32 straight against Kansas City from May 1969-July 1984.

The current streak is tied with the Twins from June 1968-Sept. 1982.

The more you know …