When it comes to the Orioles offense, some of the judgements of it show recency bias, and that is understandable. As the team struggled late in the year the offensive performance and production dropped.

Fewer runs led to fewer wins, pretty easy to understand. In scoring just one run in two games in the playoffs, the offense that came up short often late in the year did so again, this time on the biggest stage.

For the full year, some of the O’s offensive numbers looked good. Those numbers include those from the first half, when the offense ranked second in team OPS and fourth in runs per game. But in the second half the offense ranked 11^th in the major leagues in team OPS and seventh in runs per game.

The first-half OPS was .764 as the Orioles scored 4.94 runs per game. In the second half those numbers were .731 and 4.73.

From Aug. 1 on, when the Orioles went 26-27, they scored 4.4 runs per game (13^th in runs) and the OPS was .702 (15^th).

It hasn’t been so long that Orioles fans won’t remember. The 2014 Kansas City Royals swept the Orioles four games to none in the AL Championship Series.

It sounds crazy to say, but it was a close series.

The Orioles lost by two, two, one and one run. Each game went down to the last pitch. The Royals didn’t lose a game, but barely won each of them.

This is no rematch now, but it is the Orioles and Royals in the American League Wild Card series beginning Tuesday.

This time it’s a best-of-three series, with all games in Baltimore and the winner advancing to face the AL top seed New York Yankees.

With a playoff berth now secure, the Orioles play at New York tonight looking to wrap up the top American League Wild Card seed. At five games behind the Yankees with five to play, they also are still mathematically alive for the AL East championship.

An O's win tonight would push them closer to that top Wild Card slot while keeping their faint division hopes alive for another day.

In Tuesday's 5-3 win at Yankee Stadium, they got solo homers from Anthony Santander (No. 44), Ramón Urías (No. 11) and Colton Cowser (No. 23). Santander's homer hit the right-field foul pole, going just 344 feet, while Urías hit one 405 and Cowser's blast went 432 feet.

Santander's homer also produced his 100th RBI, which is five more than his career high from 2023. Santander's 195 RBIs since the start of last year put him tied for 11th in the majors. He is tied with former Oriole Manny Machado.

He homered for the third time in five games and has hit 35 in his last 100 games, since June 1. Santander has four homers in 11 games versus the Yankees.

Still looking to clinch an American League playoff berth, with a magic number of two, and still not officially eliminated from AL East contention, the Orioles begin their final road trip of the regular season tonight at Yankee Stadium.

The Orioles can clinch a postseason slot tonight with a win and a loss by either Kansas City or Minnesota. 

Where once we thought this series might be the one to decide the AL East, the Orioles go into it six games behind with six to play, and one Yankees win will clinch them the division title.

The Orioles enter this series with an 86-70 record, clinching their second consecutive season finishing at least 10 games over .500 (101-61 in 2023). It’s the first time Baltimore has finished consecutive seasons 10 games over .500 since a streak of two between 1996 and 1997, per Stats Perform.

New York (92-64) is headed to the postseason for the seventh time in the last eight seasons (since 2017) and it's their 25th trip to the postseason in the last 30 years (since 1995).

It is not going to be the showdown for the American League East title we thought it could be or would be. As the Orioles play the Yankees tonight in the Bronx to start a three-game series, they still have yet to clinch a playoff berth.

Five straight series losses with a 5-10 record in that span while New York went 12-4 allowed the Yankees to open a six-game lead with six to play.

A year after winning 101 games, the O’s are fighting to get to 90 and are likely going to see the Yankees celebrate this week on their home field with a win over them.

Unless they sweep.

The Orioles' magic number to clinch a playoff berth is two. They will get there should they win tonight and either Kansas City or Minnesota loses. 

The Orioles played their first home game of the 2024 season on March 28 and they beat the Los Angeles Angels 11-3 on Opening Day. This afternoon they play their final home game of the regular season, still hoping home playoff games at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Along those lines, the O's report for duty with the same magic number as they had on Saturday, which is three, with the same scenario for clinching. They will wrap up a playoff berth today if they beat Detroit and Seattle loses at Texas. That game begins at 2:35 p.m. ET. 

The Orioles (86-69) have seven games remaining and hit the road after today for three games at Yankee Stadium and three at Minnesota to wrap up the regular season.

If the Orioles do clinch a playoff berth, they will be in the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time since 1996 and 1997.

They certainly must feel they let one get away yesterday, losing 6-4 to Detroit in 10 innings. Down 4-2 in the last of the ninth they tied the game 4-4 on Gunnar Henderson's two-run double. They had runners at second and third with no outs but could not push across another run to walk off the Tigers.

The Kansas City Royals lost again, so the Orioles' four-game lead for the first American League wild card berth is still intact. But they had a chance to build some real momentum and get their mojo back.

It sure looked like they were doing exactly that, until they were not.

Most Valuable Oriole Gunnar Henderson doubled in two runs in the last of the ninth and the Orioles and Tigers were tied at four. More than 39,000 fans were roaring. Another walk-off seemed moments away.

Second and third, no outs. But no more runs. A 6-4 loss to Detroit in 10 innings was a gut punch.

A few random thoughts:

Two teams hoping to play October baseball meet this weekend at Oriole Park. The Orioles (85-68) host the Detroit Tigers (80-73) in their final home series of the 2024 regular season.

The O’s beat San Francisco 5-3 Thursday on Anthony Santander’s two-run, walk-off homer in the ninth. When the Yankees lost later they had moved to four games back in the American League East with nine to play, including three next week at Yankee Stadium. The O’s begin play tonight leading Kansas City by three games for the top AL wild card spot.

Detroit, which took two of three at Comerica Park last weekend versus the Orioles, has now moved into a tie with Minnesota for the third and final AL wild card and No. 6 seed.

Minnesota, however, holds the tiebreaker over the Tigers, having won the season series, 7-6.

Last weekend, Detroit beat the Orioles 1-0 Friday on a one-hitter, the O’s won 4-2 Saturday and lost 4-2 Sunday. Baltimore was outscored 7-6 in that series.

With three straight losses and their last win coming Saturday at Detroit, the Orioles host the San Francisco Giants this afternoon in the finale of this series. With wins Tuesday by 10-0 and last night by 5-3, the Giants can sweep this series this afternoon.

The Orioles (84-68) are 16 games over the .500 mark, the fewest over they have been since May 29.

In last night's loss, the O's scored two runs in the third on James McCann's RBI double and Cedric Mullins' groundout. An RBI double by Ryan O'Hearn in the sixth produced their final run. They had seven hits and went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles have scored nine runs their past five games and 24 in the last 12 games. In those 12 games they are batting .191/.263/.312/.575 and have gone 11-for-74 (.149) batting with RISP.

Overall, Baltimore has lost three in a row, five of six, eight of 10 and nine of the last 12 games. The Orioles are 26-30 since the All-Star break, 31-37 since July 1 and 19-26 on the season versus National League teams. 

DETROIT – An Orioles starting rotation that had been pitching well recently kept it going tonight behind their ace.

With the team losing and not scoring many runs in dropping six of eight games, it was harder to notice the solid rotation outings. But in the last three games, O’s starters had an ERA of 1.37. Over their past seven games their ERA was 2.57 with five quality starts.

Right-hander Corbin Burnes, the 2021 National League Cy Young Award winner and 2024 All-Star game starter for the American League, took that up a notch today.

Burnes allowed two singles over seven scoreless innings tonight as the Orioles beat Detroit 4-2 to bounce back after their one-hit loss Friday night.

Baltimore improved to 84-65 and moved to within two games of first-place New York, which lost today. The win keeps the O’s two games ahead of Kansas City for the top AL wild card spot.

DETROIT - The Orioles are just 1-3 on their two-city road trip and have scored 11 runs in four games against Boston and Detroit.

Baltimore (83-65) has lost five of six and six of eight and is 9-12 the last 21 games. The O's are 25-27 since the All-Star break and 30-34 since July 1.

Detroit came up one out short of the 10th no-hitter in Tigers history on a night when skipper A.J. Hinch started an opener and used four pitchers. Gunnar Henderson's triple with two outs in the ninth ended the no-hit bid. The Orioles had had seven no-hitters pitched against them in team history, but no combined no-hitters.

Friday night right-hander Beau Brieske was the opener and got four outs. Then lefty Brant Hurter went 5 2/3 innings and struck out eight to get the win. Righty Brenan Hanifee pitched an inning and lefty Tyler Holton picked up his eighth save.

Hurter became the 10th reliever in major league history to throw 5 2/3 or more no-hit innings while getting eight or more strikeouts. The last to do that was Boston's Nick Pivetta, on July 17, 2023 at Oakland.

DETROIT - Having lost five of six and six of their past eight games and facing the team with the best record in baseball since Aug. 11, the Orioles will try to find a way tonight.

Find a way to get some offense and start winning again. 

The O's are now 83-65 overall and ended Friday night three games back of the Yankees, who are playing this afternoon. 

The O's were one-hit last night and they got just two baserunners: one on an eighth inning walk and one on Gunnar Henderson's two-out triple in the ninth that broke up Detroit's combined no-hit bid.

With the 1-0 loss, the Orioles were shut out for the seventh time and second in the the last five games. 

DETROIT – As the losses mount while the runs do not, if feels like the American League East is slipping away from the Orioles.

Their 1-0 loss at Detroit - in which they narrowly missed being no-hit - was their fifth in six games and sixth in the last eight. The Orioles are 25-27 since the All-Star break and 30-34 since July 1.

They are now three games behind the Yankees for first place at 83-65. It’s their largest first-place deficit since they were 3 1/2 games back on June 14. Their biggest deficit of the year is 4 1/2 games on June 6.

The Orioles still have three games left with the Yankees and could win the tiebreaker. But now they just need some runs and wins to make that tiebreaker matter. Or to have a chance when they face the Yankees for three games in the Bronx starting Sept. 24.

The Tigers used four pitchers last night and they had a perfect game going through seven innings. When Adley Rutschman became the Orioles' first baserunner with a walk leading off the eighth, Detroit’s bid for the first combined perfect game in major league history had ended. But they still had a chance for Detroit’s 10^th no-hitter, and it would have been the eighth pitched against the Orioles and the first since Seattle’s Hisashi Iwakuma got them on Aug. 12, 2015.

With a chance to move back into first place tonight, the Orioles have 16 games remaining in the 2024 season. They lost at Boston 12-3 Monday night before winning 5-3 last night.

The clubs play the third and deciding game of this series tonight at Fenway Park, before the O’s’ take Thursday off and then head for Detroit.

Cedric Mullins homered in the first and third innings in the Baltimore win, producing his fifth career multi-homer game. Mullins is batting .423 his past eight games, going 11-for-26 with four homers and eight RBIs. Last night marked Mullins' first two-homer game since June 19, 2021 versus Toronto, and it was his first time doing so on the road.

On the mound, right-hander Albert Suárez threw another strong game, allowing one run over six innings. Suárez has allowed one run over 23 2/3 innings in his past four starts against American League East opponents. For the season, he is 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA in seven AL East starts.

The New York Yankees (83-62) lead the division by a half-game after losing 5-0 to Kansas City on Tuesday night as right-hander Seth Lugo pitched seven scoreless innings and got 10 strikeouts.

Riding a small winning stretch - with four wins in the last five games - the Orioles will get another series win today if they can beat the Tampa Bay Rays at Oriole Park.

The Orioles (82-60) pitched their ninth shutout of 2024 in winning 2-0 Friday night on a four-pitcher three-hitter with 12 strikeouts.

In winning four of five, O's pitchers have a 2.20 ERA and .585 OPS against. The O's are 8-5 their past 13 games with a 3.32 team ERA in this span. They are now 24-22 since the All-Star Game.

Through Friday's games, the Orioles led the New York Yankees (81-60) by a half-game atop the American League East. The Birds have 20 games left to play and New York has 21. The clubs play a three-game series in the Bronx beginning Sept. 24.

The Orioles have pitched well versus the Rays all year in going 9-2 in the season series. In the 11 games, they have given up one, five, four, three, zero, two, two, one, five, two and zero runs. They've allowed two runs or fewer seven times and have a 2.02 season ERA against Tampa Bay with a .197 average against and .545 OPS. O's starting pitchers have a 2.11 ERA in the season series. 

The standings say that with their 2-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays last night, the Orioles moved 1/2 game ahead of the Yankees for the division lead. The Orioles (82-60) have 20 games left to play and New York (81-60) has 21.

But a real separator is each club's American League East record, the games within the division. The Orioles have a 7 1/2 game lead in that record within a record.

After their ninth win in 11 games this year against Tampa Bay, the Orioles are 29-15 in AL East games. New York is 22-23. Big difference. 

Here are the records of the teams in division games in 2024 and the Orioles are the only club over .500.

.659 - Orioles (29-15)
.500 - Boston (18-18)
.489 - New York (22-23)
.435 - Toronto (20-26)
.415 - Tampa Bay (17-24)

The start to the Orioles' latest homestand, which began with them playing easily the worst team in the majors, could have gone better.

Right-hander Corbin Burnes, who began today with an 8.59 ERA over his last three starts and 7.36 over his past five, gave up a couple of soft hits and both runners scored in the top of the first to give the Chicago White Sox a 2-0 lead.

One of those two runs was unearned, thanks to an error by first baseman Ryan O’Hearn, and the O’s gave up 90 feet on the bases overthrowing the cutoff man. Not a sharp start to the series.

They were playing a White Sox team that fell to 31-107 with Sunday's defeat to set a franchise record for losses. They had lost 10 in a row and 14 of 15, and were 4-40 the last 44 games.

They came to Baltimore with the second-worst major league record after 138 games since the Philadelphia A’s (30-107-1) of 1916.

Back home for the first time since Aug. 25 after a 3-3 road trip, the Orioles begin a six-game homestand this afternoon versus the Chicago White Sox, who will be followed by the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Orioles (79-59) are a half game back of the New York Yankees (79-58) as play begins today. The Orioles went 1-2 in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium and then 2-1 in Denver at Coors Field.

They scored 10 runs versus the Dodgers and produced 16 runs on 27 hits with a .759 OPS against Colorado. The Birds have had three straight games scoring five or more runs for the first time since July 14-20.

Today the Orioles host the Chicago White Sox (31-107), who have easily the worst record in the majors. They have lost 20 more games than any other club with Colorado next at 87.

The White Sox were swept over the weekend by the New York Mets, losing 5-1, 5-3 and 2-0.

The Orioles' roster churn continued today in advance of the homestand opener against the Chicago White Sox.

The club selected the contract of infielder/outfielder Nick Maton from Triple-A Norfolk and designated catcher David Bañuelos for assignment.

The Orioles acquired Maton, 27, from the Detroit Tigers on Feb. 7 for cash considerations. He has spent most of this season with Triple-A Norfolk but got into one O's game on June 20 at Yankee Stadium without an at-bat.

His wild ride this year saw the club designate him for assignment on March 26 and outright him to the minors five days later. On June 19 he was called up from the farm, but was DFAd on June 24 and outrighted back to Norfolk two days later. Now he is back on the Baltimore active roster.

He has played 180 career big league games between Philadelphia and Detroit and the one game with the Orioles this year. He was with the Phillies for parts of 2021 and 2022 and played in 93 games with Detroit last year.

The Orioles, 2-2 on their road trip out west, play Game 2 at Colorado tonight after beating the Rockies 5-3 last night at Coors Field.

Getting to five runs seems to be big for the Orioles. Last night they did that for just the third time in the last 13 games. They are 3-0 in those games. For the season the Orioles have scored five runs or more 63 times, and they are 55-8 (.873) in those games.

So, score five and thrive.

But over those 13 games, in going 6-7, the Orioles scored 48 runs for 3.7 runs per game, well under their season average of 4.95, which ranks fourth-best in the majors.

In the 13 games, the O’s have a team batting line of .185/.260/.334/.594. They went 4-for-15 with runners in scoring position last night but have gone 13-for-77 (.169) in the 13 games.