The Orioles (68-69) open a three-game series at Coors Field on Monday against the Colorado Rockies (52-85), carrying a three-game winning streak into the high altitude after completing a sweep of the Athletics in Sacramento.
Gunnar Henderson carried Baltimore in Sunday's 8-5 win, going 4-for-4 with two home runs and five RBI. Coby Mayo added a home run and three RBI on a 1-for-4 night to give the offense real depth. On the mound, Chris Bassitt struggled through 5.2 innings and allowed five earned runs, but Anthony Nunez, Josh Walker, and Yennier Cano combined for 3.1 scoreless innings to close it out.
"It was a great series for us. We're in the hunt. We need every win we can," Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said Sunday after the sweep. "A West Coast trip is always tough, and our guys did a great job of playing great ball in St. Louis and continuing on here. For us, it's one game at a time. We have to enjoy this happy flight, and turn the page and be on to Colorado."
The win didn't come without a scare. Pete Alonso was struck in the helmet by a 95-mph fastball from Athletics reliever Kade Morris in the eighth inning Sunday, a blow that knocked his helmet off and briefly stopped the game. Alonso got up under his own power and walked to first, and Albernaz addressed it afterward. "Pete was fine," Albernaz said. "He was typical Pete in the dugout. He'll be fine." The plan had already been to substitute Jackson Holliday in given a sore calf Alonso has been managing, and Alonso even gave Morris a thumbs-up, acknowledging the pitch had simply gotten away from him.
Colorado has dropped four straight and won just two of their last ten, making Monday's opener a favorable matchup on paper — but with Baltimore sitting 1.0 games back of the final AL wild-card spot and BSF's own playoff odds tracker giving the Orioles roughly a 25 percent chance of reaching October, this series carries real weight. Taking two of three from a last-place Rockies club should be treated as close to a minimum requirement given what follows: series against the Red Sox, Guardians, and Yankees in the coming weeks, none of them nearly as forgiving as this one. Every game against a team like Colorado is an opportunity Baltimore can't afford to let slip if it wants to control its own path into the postseason.
At 68-69, the Orioles are a single game under .500 for the first time since April 30 — the last time they were within a game of even. It's been a genuine climb to get back here: Baltimore bottomed out at a season-worst nine games below .500 in late June, and has fought its way back across the trade deadline and through the summer to get within one loss of a .500 record.
Rockies right-hander Tanner Gordon (1-4, 5.38 ERA) draws Monday's start. Baltimore has a full slate of roster moves to go with its own starter: left-hander Cade Povich has been recalled from Triple-A Norfolk and will start tonight's game, one of four moves the club made ahead of Monday's series opener. The Orioles also officially claimed outfielder Luis Robert Jr. off waivers from the Mets, though he has not yet reported to the team. To make room, Baltimore optioned reliever Anthony Nunez to Triple-A Norfolk — a quick turnaround for a pitcher who'd thrown a scoreless inning as recently as Sunday's win over Oakland — and designated infielder Luis Vázquez for assignment.
Baltimore does know who it will see to close the series, though — right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano, who spent last season in an Orioles uniform before signing with Colorado over the winter, is lined up to start the finale. Sugano went 10-10 with a 4.64 ERA across 30 starts for Baltimore in 2025 and has settled in as a steady presence in Colorado's rotation this year.
Probable Starters
Colorado Rockies: RHP Tanner Gordon (1-4, 5.38 ERA)
Baltimore Orioles: LHP Cade Povich (2-1, 4.45 ERA)
Where to Watch/Listen
First pitch: 8:40 PM ET at Coors Field
Weather: 88°F, Partly Cloudy
TV: MASN
Radio: 98 Rock (97.9 FM) and WBAL NewsRadio (AM 1090 / FM 101.5)