The Orioles know the standings and the upcoming pitching matchups.

They began the latest homestand 2 ½ games out of the last Wild Card and set to face Phillies rookie Andrew Painter, who had lost eight of his nine decisions and dragged a 7.06 ERA and 1.662 WHIP into Camden Yards.

The rest of the series is much more treacherous with Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler on the mound. An advantage on paper tonight had to be executed on the field.

Painter settled down after a rough first inning and exited with a lead, but the Orioles love to dig into a team’s bullpen. Christian Encarnacion-Strand delivered a game-tying, two-run double off Orion Kerkering in the seventh after pinch-hitting for Yohel Pozo, and Gunnar Henderson’s two-run triple off left-hander Tim Mayza gave the Orioles a 6-4 victory before an announced crowd of 31,857.

The Orioles sent nine batters to the plate in the decisive inning and improved to 54-56, the closest they’ve been to .500 since July 19. Yennier Cano, who received a two-year contract extension today with a club option for 2029, retired the side in order in the eighth, and Tyler Wells notched his fourth save with a spotless ninth.

Tonight marked the 26th come-from-behind win and 10th when behind through the sixth, which are tied for third in the majors.

“I could be wrong, but I feel like we showed that we can come back all year,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “Like we’ve had some chances and shots that we’ve scratched and clawed to come back, and I think the game on Wednesday, yeah, that was a big comeback win, but with our guys, we never feel like we’re out of it. We always have a chance.

“I think our ability to draw walks and create traffic, and especially in the late innings is huge. And it sets up the rest of the guys that are going up to hit, put them in good spots.”

“Just the resiliency of the guys,” Henderson said. “We’re hitting some balls hard, but it was right to some guys. But we knew it was just a matter of time before we got some more on, and one split a game finally.”

The Orioles moved to within 1 1/2 games of the Wild Card. They went 15-8 in July, their best month since April and May 2024.

“That was a really big win,” said Brandon Young. “I think we’re keeping the momentum going back from the comeback in Detroit. That was absolutely insane. I think this team is just never giving up. I think we’ve shown that, and I think we’re definitely playing some good ball and riding momentum.”

“I felt like we played good baseball,” Henderson said. “There are obviously a couple games where we kind of shot ourselves in the foot. But overall, I feel like we played better baseball and there’s still, obviously, a lot more room for improvement, but I felt like we started to get back to where we are and trending in the right direction.”

Pete Alonso homered in the first inning and singled in the third, and Painter didn’t allow another hit. He retired 11 of 12 to make it through the sixth on 82 pitches.

Jackson Holliday greeted Kerkering with a single in the seventh, Colton Cowser walked with one out and Encarnacion-Strand lined a sweeper 104.5 mph into left-center field for a 4-4 tie.

The Orioles lead the majors with 25 pinch-hit RBIs. Encarnacion-Strand is 11-for-34 (.324) with two doubles, three homers and 11 RBIs since joining the Orioles.

Alonso was hit by a pitch, which brought Mayza into the game to face Henderson.

Henderson produced his first multi-RBI game since June 19.

“Tough lefty matchup, great at-bat,” Albernaz said. “Put a great swing on a sinker coming in on him. That’s when you can tell a hitter’s in a good spot. Didn’t try to overspin. He just took a nice clean pass at it and smoked it into right-center field.

“It was big for Gunnar, big for us. But big for Gunnar just because, I mean, the standards are high for Gunnar in his eyes and to come through like that for us was huge.”

Henderson dived into third base, rose to his knees, clenched his fist and motioned like he was going to punch the dirt.

“Obviously, for the team that’s what I want to do in that situation, to come through and at least push one across,” he said. “Thankfully, I was able to get two. I was very happy to help the team win there.

“I have a lot of confidence in myself off lefties. I felt like it was more like, ‘Get a pitch in a location I think I can do something with,’ and I was able to do that and finally split a game one time.”

Young was removed with two outs in the sixth after giving up his second home run of the night, on a two-strike slider to J.T. Realmuto. Young surrendered four runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings.

The two homers equaled his total for the month. He’s allowed three runs or more in only three of 18 starts.

Young allowed one run in each of his last two starts but fell behind 2-0 in the first inning. The first three batters reached – Trea Turner on an infield hit, followed by Kyle Schwarber’s walk and Bryce Harper’s RBI single. Schwarber moved up on a fly ball and scored on Brandon Marsh’s groundout.

The lead lasted two batters.

Dylan Beavers lined a double down the right field line off Painter and Alonso belted his 23rd home run, going to right-center field at 109.3 mph.

The opposite-field shot was the 11th for Alonso this season, setting a career high.

The tie lasted until the third inning, when Trea Turner’s leadoff homer gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead. Turner was halfway to the cycle, and so was Alonso after his single in the bottom of the third that followed Beavers’ leadoff walk. They were stranded in scoring position.

Turner added a bloop single in the fifth and was stranded after Coby Mayo snared Schwarber’s line drive and Holliday made a leaping catch of Harper’s 102.9 mph liner.

Henderson made a terrific sliding stop up the middle and throw to deny Turner in the seventh. Anthony Nunez struck out Harper to strand two runners.

The rest is becoming more typical of the Orioles. The rally and the celebration.

“It’s awesome,” Young said. “They picked me up big time. Whenever Alby took me out after the home run, I told them, ‘Pick me up, guys. That’s on me. Pick me up.’ And they sure did.”

Latest on new catcher

Yohel Pozo was in tonight’s lineup, but Jake Rogers will get his turn this weekend. He could start Saturday or do the day game after a night game to close out the series.

The Orioles acquired Rogers from the Tigers yesterday for Double-A pitcher Zane Barnhart.

“Seen him for two years when I was in Cleveland,” said manager Craig Albernaz, “and me being a former catcher and catching coach, you got to see his craft, and I really respected the way he went about it as far as getting the most out of his pitchers, navigating the lineup, his demeanor. He can really catch and throw. There’s a lot there with Jake. The intangibles jump off, like great teammate, everything we’ve heard about him. So he’ll fit in nicely with us.”

Rogers is the sixth player to catch for the Orioles, one short of the club record set last season, after he entered the game in the eighth.

“I’m just excited,” he said. “I hope to do everything I can to help this team win in any possible way. These guys look like they’re having an incredible amount of fun on the other side of the field, so I’m excited to be a part of this group.

“That was my job when I was in Detroit when I played, just help the team win in any way possible, call a good game. So I hope to play a little bit here and see what I can do.”

Down on the farm

Triple-A Norfolk outfielder Jud Fabian was removed from tonight’s game with right shoulder discomfort after colliding with the wall. Reed Trimble hit his third home run. Trey Gibson allowed two runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Double-A Chesapeake left-hander Joseph Dzierwa allowed an unearned run and two hits in five innings in Altoona. He walked one, struck out five and lowered his ERA to 2.28.

High-A Frederick’s Stephen Still struck out 11 and walked only one in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed two runs and two hits. Outfielder RJ Austin was removed from the game with right groin discomfort.

Jaiden Lo Re hit his second home run with Single-A Delmarva.