Perhaps the finest accomplishment that Jackson Holliday can reflect upon after the season is staying away from the injured list, but only if he makes it through the last three weeks unharmed. He’s in rare company. He’s a left-handed hitting unicorn.

Holliday sat yesterday after breaking up Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s no-hit bid Saturday with a two-out home run in the ninth inning. His 134^th game arrives after the off-day, second only to Gunnar Henderson, who will play in his 136^th.

Holliday is first on the team in at-bats with 525 and home runs with 17. His .710 OPS, 130 hits, 20 doubles, three triples, 53 RBIs, 47 walks, 65 runs and 15 stolen bases are second behind Henderson.

The free passes are coming in bunches now. Holliday had two more Friday and closed August with six in San Francisco. He’s drawn 23 in his last 25 games. He also has 12 hits in his last nine games.

The 47 walks are the fourth-highest among Orioles 21 or younger after Curt Blefary’s 88 in 1965, Boog Powell’s 49 in 1963 and Eddie Murray’s 48 in 1977, according to STATS. Cal Ripken Jr. had 46 in 1982.

The Orioles ran out of magic today.

They were no-hit for 3 2/3 innings. Another player left with an injury. There’s only so much adversity that a team can scale in one weekend.

Tomoyuki Sugano limped off the mound in the top of the fourth inning after Hyesong Kim’s 96 mph one-hopper struck his right foot, and the Orioles followed one of the most thrilling wins in franchise history with a 5-2 loss to the Dodgers before an announced crowd of 27,874 at Camden Yards.

Shohei Ohtani hit solo home runs in the first and third innings, giving him 24 career multis and 12 this season to tie the club record set by Mookie Betts in 2023. Ohtani and Betts went back-to-back in the third, and the Orioles (66-77) lost for the first time in their last six games.

They tried to rally, scoring twice in the sixth and forcing the Dodgers to remove future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw and trust a bullpen that’s imploded over the weekend. They widened the margin for mayhem against Rico Garcia in the top of the ninth on Betts’ RBI single off the left field wall, and left-hander Jack Dreyer recorded the save. 

Orioles rookie catcher Samuel Basallo has avoided a serious injury after taking a bunted ball off his right hand last night and exiting the game.

Basallo is out of today’s lineup, but he would have been on the bench anyway against Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw.

“It feels good, feeling much better today,” he said via interpreter Brandon Quinones.

“I got a bit scared, I think a few of us were scared. But thankfully nothing came out bad, so thank God I’m pretty healthy.”

Basallo was a spectator for the remarkable comeback, when the Orioles were no-hit for 8 2/3 innings and won 4-3 on Emmanuel Rivera’s two-run, walk-off single.

The Orioles will try to make it six wins in a row and back-to-back sweeps with a unique lineup this afternoon.

Jeremiah Jackson is leading off and playing right field, Jorge Mateo is in center field and Luis Vázquez is at second base.

Ryan Mountcastle moves up to second in the order.

Alex Jackson is catching. The Orioles will have an update later on Samuel Basallo’s right hand.

Jackson Holliday, Colton Cowser and Dylan Beavers also are on the bench.

When a game stalled at Camden Yards on Sept. 6, 1995, the curtain calls for Cal Ripken Jr. failing to quiet fans, the only way to get it moving again was to push him.

Teammates Rafael Palmeiro and Bobby Bonilla took Ripken by the arms and led him from the bench to the front of the dugout. Palmeiro smiled and gave Ripken a gentle shove in the back, and the Iron Man headed up the first base line to begin his iconic lap around the warning track as Whitney Houston’s “One Moment in Time” provided the soundtrack over the public address system.

Nothing was scripted at that point. The Orioles were winging it.

“The thing was, he’d come out and he would tip his hat to the fans and then he would get back in the dugout,” Palmeiro recalled yesterday in a phone call after flying into Baltimore as one of the many guests for the 30^th anniversary celebration.

 “I remember him saying, ‘Let’s get the game going again, let’s get the game going again,’ but the fans kept asking him to come back out. I don’t know, it seemed like it took forever. And then, we were just kind of sitting there and if I remember correctly, I think I said, ‘You’ve got to do something because we’re gonna be here all night.’ And so, I don’t know what led to that, I don’t know if he got up or we pulled him up, but I don’t think it was a planned thing. We just kind of pushed him and it just happened. And he just went down the first base line.”

The Orioles filled the dugout this evening, a much larger turnout than normal about an hour before first pitch. Legends who preceded their arrivals in Baltimore came out of the tunnel one by one and walked onto the field, including some Hall of Famers. Cal Ripken Jr. was introduced and circled the warning track in a red Corvette convertible, spinning wheels allowing him to skip the jog from 30 years earlier.

The numbers 2131 hung from the warehouse again. The 1995 Orioles finished in third place in their division and missed the playoffs again. The 2025 team is in last place and also headed home after the final game. Past and present got to mingle tonight, the younger crowd captivated by the history lesson.

Little did they know that they’d almost end up on the wrong side of history and ignite their own celebration with an absolutely wild finish.

Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto tossed a no-hitter for 8 2/3 innings before Jackson Holliday homered to right field. The Orioles loaded the bases, drew a walk and won 4-3 on Emmanuel Rivera's two-run single into center field off Tanner Scott before an announced sellout crowd of 42,612. 

Yamamoto threw 112 pitches, the last a 2-1 cutter that bounced back onto the field. Jackson sped up, thinking double, and was signaled home. Yamamoto left the game to a standing ovation from Dodgers fans. He was sensational, walking two batters in the third inning and retiring 19 in a row. He got two easy outs in the ninth on a strikeout and fly ball. 

The Orioles sent Dean Kremer for an MRI on his right elbow/forearm at 1:20 p.m. and could have an update on his condition following tonight’s game. Otherwise, the club will provide more information Sunday morning.

Kremer was removed last night after three scoreless and hitless innings due to forearm discomfort. Afterward, interim manager Tony Mansolino said Kremer described it as “mild” and that the club’s level of concern was “pretty low.”

Chayce McDermott is on the 24-hour medical taxi squad in case Kremer is forced onto the injured list for the first time this season. Kremer would be the 29^th different player to occupy it.

McDermott switched to a short relief role with Triple-A Norfolk and allowed one run in his last 11 appearances. He worked more than one inning in only one of those games.

Prior to that stretch, McDermott was scored upon in 10 consecutive appearances after the Orioles optioned him. He allowed 37 earned runs and walked 33 batters in 35 2/3 innings.

The Orioles have brought pitcher Chayce McDermott to Baltimore and put him on the 24-hour medical taxi squad.

McDermott is here in case Dean Kremer’s forearm soreness necessitates a stay on the injured list.

Samuel Basallo is catching again tonight after his walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning – which also was his first homer at Camden Yards.

Jeremiah Jackson stays in right field, Emmanuel Rivera remains at third base and Coby Mayo stays at first base. Dylan Beavers is the left fielder.

Trevor Rogers has a 1.39 ERA, the lowest by any Orioles starter in his first 14 games. He’s allowed one run in seven innings in each of his last four outings, and one run in each of his last six.

Davey Johnson never lacked confidence or brought into question who was in charge during his tenure as a major league manager.

Asked one day in Baltimore to predict an outcome involving his team, Johnson grinned and said, “I always bet on me.” It became one of his most famous quotes.

Johnson informed the media in 1996 of his plans to shift future Hall of Famer and baseball Iron Man Cal Ripken Jr. from shortstop to third base. Ripken found out about it after reporters gathered at his locker.

The move lasted six games. Manny Alexander failed his audition, Ripken went back to short – unhappy with the way Johnson handled it but never complaining about it publicly – and the Orioles made the playoffs.

They signed shortstop Mike Bordick as a free agent over the winter, Ripken returned to third and the Orioles went wire-to-wire to win the division.

A record that the baseball world viewed as unbreakable almost stayed intact because of a brawl on June 6, 1993 at Camden Yards – two years and three months before Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,131^st consecutive game to pass Lou Gehrig.

The delay lasted 20 minutes after benches and bullpens emptied. Orioles starter Mike Mussina hit Bill Haselman after the Mariners catcher homered earlier in the day, but the trouble really began when Seattle starter Chris Bosio threw behind Mark McLemore and Harold Reynolds. Plate umpire Durwood Merrill didn’t issue any warnings.

Tempers already were getting hot when Mussina drilled Haselman on the shoulder. Catcher Jeff Tackett chased Haselman, trying to get to him before he reached the mound. Tackett was credited with the tackle, which created a dogpile. Bosio fractured his collarbone for a second time. Bullpen coach Elrod Hendricks squared off against Tino Martinez. It was bedlam.

Seven players were ejected and suspended: Haselman, Bosio, Norm Charlton and Mackey Sasser from the Mariners, and Alan Mills, David Segui and Rick Sutcliffe from the Orioles. Mussina was spared, which led to Seattle manager Lou Piniella being tossed.

Tackett suffered a black eye and required stitches to close a gash on his cheek. Reliever Mark Williamson had a swollen, bloody nose after being slammed to the ground.

“Leading off for the Dodgers, pitcher Shohei Ohtani.”

That's where the oddities began. The Orioles prepped for the wrong Dodgers starter. Their starter left with an injury. Their rookie catcher came within a strike of sending the game to extra innings before hitting a walk-off home run that spun the night into something worth celebrating.

And boy, did they celebrate. 

Samuel Basallo went left-on-left against Tanner Scott and cleared the fence in center to give the Orioles a 2-1 win over the Dodgers before an announced crowd of 25,481 at Camden Yards. The count was 1-2 when Basallo barreled a 98.7 mph fastball and drove it 433 feet at 109.3 mph. Teammates mobbed him at home plate.

"He’s gonna be a big-time hitter," said interim manager Tony Mansolino.

Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino was heading back indoors around 3:30 p.m. when he found out that the Dodgers weren’t starting Tyler Glasnow tonight at Camden Yards.

“My watch just buzzed me when I was walking in from early BP,” he said.

“I thought somebody was messing with me, but apparently not.”

No, it was true. The Dodgers scratched Glasnow with back tightness and are pushing him to early next week.

Mansolino kept the same lineup as the Orioles suddenly had to prepare for Shohei Ohtani. He was scheduled for Monday at home against the Rockies after working a season-high five innings on Aug. 27.

The Orioles went from missing Shohei Ohtani to facing him tonight to begin a three-game series against the Dodgers at Camden Yards.

Tyler Glasnow was scratched and Ohtani will make tonight’s start. He was scheduled for Monday.

Ohtani has a 4.18 ERA in 11 starts this season. He’s struck out 44 batters in 32 1/3 innings and surrendered only three home runs.

There's nothing wrong with the bat. Ohtani is hitting .279/.387/.606 with 20 doubles, eight triples, 46 home runs and 87 RBIs in 137 games.

The Orioles have faced Ohtani twice, during his time with the Angels, and scored nine runs over 12 innings.

Mike Bielecki was a local guy who needed a favor.

Bielecki grew up in Dundalk and attended Loyola College. He rooted for the Orioles as a kid and a young adult. And right there in front of him, on Sept. 6, 1995, was the chance to throw a pitch in an historic game at Camden Yards.

Cal Ripken Jr. was about to break Lou Gehrig’s consecutive games record, with the milestone becoming official after the top of the fifth inning – known simply as 2,131. The digits do all the explaining.

Bielecki was on the California Angels’ roster, two years before the team changed its name to Anaheim. They were in town to play the Orioles, and Bielecki requested that manager Marcel Lachemann use him in relief behind starter Shawn Boskie. It didn't have to be for long. 

“I had pitched a few days before that,” said Bielecki, who owns a home in Lutherville with his wife and step-daughters, and two others in Ocean City and Bradenton. “That night was supposed to be my side day for a starter, and I asked my manager if there was any way possible he could let me get in the game just for one hitter. I didn’t care. Just let me throw to one hitter so I can get my name in the box score.

SAN DIEGO – The Orioles are home this weekend for a three-game series against the Dodgers that would generate a lot of buzz if standing alone. However, there’s much more happening Saturday with the club celebrating the 30^th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr. breaking Lou Gehrig’s supposedly indestructible consecutive games record.

Ripken played his 2,131^st in a row Sept. 6, 1995 against the Angels at Camden Yards. In typical Ripken fashion, he homered on the nights that he tied and surpassed Gehrig.

He always rose to the occasion, an Iron Man filled with helium.

Ben McDonald made his major league debut during the “Why Not?” season in 1989, the same year that the Orioles drafted him first overall out of LSU. He appeared in 14 games in 1995, his final season with the club before signing with the Brewers as a free agent.

As an analyst on MASN broadcasts, McDonald provides a link to a distant past on a young team with players who only know what they’ve read, heard and watched on video.

SAN DIEGO – The Orioles are pulling more players off the injured list, reducing the number to 10 with a little more than three weeks left in the season.

They might need to send out the homer hose for repairs. Maybe chip in to pay the Petco Park water bill.

Jackson Holliday cleared the right-center field fence against former Orioles Rule 5 Draft pick Nestor Cortes to begin today’s game. Colton Cowser, Coby Mayo and Alex Jackson went back-to-back-to-back in the third to send Cortes to the showers, accompanied by a chorus of boos.

The Orioles cleaned up on the Padres, completing the series sweep with a 7-5 victory before an announced crowd of 35,019 at Petco Park.

A 4-2 road trip has left the Orioles with a 64-76 record as they wait for the Dodgers to arrive in Baltimore for a weekend series.

SAN DIEGO – A couple of injured Orioles are nearing their returns to the active roster this month. The injured list holds 10 players and can get down to single digits.

Consider it an accomplishment in 2025.

Infielder Jordan Westburg (ankle) is doing full baseball activities and should go on a rehab assignment next week.

Westburg hasn’t played since Aug. 18 in Boston.

“Everything is getting closer and closer,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino.

SAN DIEGO – The rest of baseball also recognizes Trevor Rogers’ brilliance on the mound.

Rogers was named the American League’s Pitcher of the Month for August, while Milwaukee’s Freddy Peralta won the honor in the National League.

Rogers is the 14^th Oriole to earn the distinction and the first since Corbin Burnes last September. Erik Bedard was the last left-hander in 2007.

This is the first time that Rogers has won it.

It was fairly predictable.

SAN DIEGO – It keeps happening. In every game and every start that he makes.

Rookie Jeremiah Jackson slashed .323/.344/.484 last month in 96 plate appearances, his first in the majors. Of course, he stayed in the lineup Monday afternoon at Petro Park, shifting from third base to right field, and tied his brief-career high with three hits.

Batting second again last night, Jackson fell behind 0-2 to Yu Darvish in the first inning and pulled a sweeper into the left field seats. He’s homered in three of his last four games. And his fielder’s choice grounder in the eighth scored Dylan Beavers with an insurance run.

The Orioles won’t try to carry over his rookie status to 2026. He isn’t in any Top 100 prospect rankings. He might not break camp with the team next spring, though he’s making a solid case for it.

Jackson is in a different kind of phase as the season draws nearer to a merciful conclusion. The Orioles aren’t focused as much on exposing him to big league pitching as they are figuring out who he really is and whether he can fill a utility role next season.

SAN DIEGO – Tyler Wells waited 508 days to pitch in a major league game. He could handle another 18 minutes.

Padres starter Yu Darvish threw 30 pitches in the top of the first inning, surrendered a home run to Jeremiah Jackson, hit two batters and issued a walk. The three strikeouts extended his stay on the mound while Wells paced in the dugout.

Finally able to pick up the baseball, Wells gave the Orioles five innings with two runs allowed and had teammates waiting to slap hands and hug him after his final batter in a 6-2 victory over the Padres before an announced sellout crowd of 42,536 at Petco Park.

Jackson has homered in back-to-back games and three of the last four. Emmanuel Rivera delivered two-out, two-run singles in the third and fifth innings to tie his career high in RBIs.

The Orioles claimed the series after dropping three in a row, improved their record to 63-76 and made certain that they wouldn’t lose 100 games.