BALTIMORE — The Orioles operated as sellers ahead of Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline. They dealt away several key players, most notably star catcher Adley Rutschman to the Red Sox.
President of baseball operations Mike Elias doesn’t want it to be viewed as Baltimore giving up — not on the future, but also not on this season. He made an appearance on the MASN broadcast during Tuesday night’s series opener vs. the Angels to reiterate that point.
“We are not rebuilding the team,” Elias said. “We have a very strong, competitive team out on the field right now with a ton of talent at the big league level and a very full Minor League system again. So, we’re ready to jump back in the fight.”
The O’s quickly jumped forward and fought.
Pete Alonso knocked a key two-run single in the third inning and lifted the Orioles to a 3-1 victory over the Halos at Camden Yards. Cade Povich tossed six scoreless frames after being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to at least temporarily fill the rotation spot vacated by Dean Kremer, who was traded to the Twins last Friday.
Hours before Tuesday’s game, Elias and manager Craig Albernaz held a team meeting inside Baltimore’s clubhouse to discuss the fallout of the Deadline. Elias delivered a similar statement to the one he gave on air later in the night.
“The message he said is, ‘Still believe in you guys, you guys are still a great team,’” Alonso relayed later. “‘The expectation is still to go to the playoffs and still go on a run.’”
It’s not out of the realm of possibility. After all, the O’s (55-58) are only 1 1/2 games back of the third American League Wild Card spot. The postseason picture is so congested this year that teams that typically would have fallen out of the race are still in it.
Several times before the game, Albernaz referred to Tuesday as the beginning of a “50-game sprint” for his club. This was an encouraging start to it.
The Orioles didn’t mount a ton of offense against right-hander Grayson Rodriguez, who faced his former team for the first time since getting traded to the Angels last Nov. 19. The 26-year-old, who was Baltimore’s 2018 first-round Draft pick and a former top prospect, tossed a season-high seven strong innings.
But the O’s loaded the bases with no outs in the third, and Alonso later came through, plating a pair with a one-out single to center field. That proved to be enough support for Povich, who tossed six or more scoreless innings for the third time in his 43-game MLB career (but for the first time since blanking the White Sox for 7 1/3 on Sept. 3, 2024).
Tyler O’Neill padded Baltimore’s lead with a pinch-hit solo home run in the eighth.
Alonso has been a leader in the Orioles’ clubhouse since signing a five-year, $155 million contract this past December, and they’ll need him to keep excelling in that role if they are going to make a push to the postseason. The 31-year-old slugger is a veteran voice who knows what it takes to play well enough to get to October.
It’s possible. Alonso pulled out a reference from 22 years ago to prove his point.
“If I recall history, I think, what, it was 2004 when the Red Sox traded away Nomar Garciaparra? They were like, ‘How are you going to win without him?’” Alonso said. “And hopefully, we’re one of those special cases where we can find a way into the playoffs and make some noise and go on a special run.”
The 2004 Red Sox not only moved Garciaparra at the Trade Deadline, they went on to win the World Series.
New faces will get some opportunities in Baltimore down the stretch. Carlos Narváez (acquired from Boston in the Rutschman trade) started behind the plate and helped navigate Povich’s terrific outing. Christian Franklin (acquired in a Minor League trade with Washington) started in left field for his MLB debut and tallied a walk, a steal and a run scored.
Povich isn’t sure if he’ll be in the rotation long term — Chris Bassitt has made two rehab starts in his recovery from a back injury and could return soon — but the southpaw is ready to help whenever he’s called upon.
“For us as a team, we’re just trying to stay together, stay as one, no matter who that is,” Povich said. “Guys have to come up when guys go down anyway. So, it’s a little bit of that next-man-up mentality that we’ve talked about before.”
Who knows? Maybe the next men up will help the Orioles make an improbable push.
“What a time,” Alonso said, “what a time for us to go on a run.”
