BALTIMORE — The Orioles, who trounced the American League East-leading Blue Jays twice already, tried sending a message to the front office on the field, a plea to keep this team intact. Executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias delivered another one right back.
About an hour before news broke that Baltimore traded reliever Seranthony Domínguez to Toronto between games of Tuesday’s doubleheader, Game 1 starter Charlie Morton assessed the trade deadline candidly, saying that “Mike is going to have some choices to make.”
It appears he’s already made them. But it didn’t stop the Orioles (50-58) from winning their fifth game in a row anyway despite being forced to turn to a journeyman reliever with a one-run lead in the ninth. For one night, Corbin Martin was enough in the 3-2 win to take the series against the first-place Blue Jays (64-46).
Domínguez even pitched for his new team. Donning a powder blue No. 48 uniform only hours old, he delivered a scoreless seventh inning to maintain the tie at 2. His new bullpen mates let it slip away soon after.
While Brandon Young put together one of his best starts of the season, the Orioles’ offense that had been explosive in recent days simmered. The lineup was stymied through three innings before Ramón Laureano singled, Ryan O’Hearn tripled and Ramón Urías grounded out to even the score at 2 in the fourth.
That was it for either side until the eighth when Adley Rutschman, in just his second game back from a five-week injured list stint, replicated Gunnar Henderson’s double off the right field wall with his own two-bagger that scored the shortstop and broke the deadlock.
Then came the ninth inning with a one-run lead. With Félix Bautista on the injured list and Gregory Soto traded last week, this would have been Domínguez’s spot. But he was in the opposing bullpen. Instead, it was Martin’s. The 29-year-old had never recorded a major league save, and it appeared the first wouldn’t come when he put two runners in scoring position with just one out before recording consecutive strikeouts to end it.
The Game 2 win followed a 16-4 beatdown by Baltimore earlier in the afternoon that included Tyler O’Neill’s fourth consecutive game with a home run, two Urías long balls and Morton’s sixth quality start of the season.
O’Neill, maligned for his injury woes that tarnished his introduction to his new team, is finally becoming the middle-of-the-order right-handed bat the Orioles hoped he’d be. His sixth-inning, three-run homer capped a 2 for 3, four-RBI game that included a sacrifice fly and a walk.
Cedric Mullins went 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Gunnar Henderson’s 3-for-4 game included a three-run homer. Jordan Westburg went 4-for-6 with four runs scored.
“We’ve been competing all year, even through the worst of times,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “When you have days like this, it just feels good.”
It proved to not be enough to sway the club’s decision-makers away from partially dismantling this squad. Instead, this week is full of what could be final appearances in Baltimore for the many Orioles’ trade candidates. Zach Eflin didn’t complete five innings Monday. Mullins this week rediscovered the bat and glove that made him an All-Star four years ago. Tuesday afternoon was Morton’s turn.
The 41-year-old, who’s acknowledged feeling guilty for how this season unfolded but has been excellent in recent months, was somewhere in the middle. He retired seven of the first eight batters he faced before the Blue Jays broke through in the third, stranded two in a bounce-back scoreless fifth, then left another pair on the bases in the sixth to complete his sixth quality start of the year and second in a row.
“I don’t know if I’m thinking more about it,” Morton said when asked about the possibility of him being moved. “I think maybe I’m thinking differently about it, just because it’s fast approaching. I wouldn’t say that I’m thinking more about it, necessarily. I do think, though, it’s just kind of becoming more of a reality. And it’s kind of like, it’s a moment in time that you know is there, and you know it exists, but you don’t know how it’s gonna play out. And as it gets closer, you’re kind of closer to that reckoning moment where something will happen.”
Tuesday started with a sample of what this season could have been. It soon became a reminder of how it’s going.
The trade deadline is less than 48 hours away. If this stretch had come weeks earlier, the Orioles might not be sellers ready to give up on 2025.
Instant analysis
Young had one of the best starts of his career in Tuesday’s nightcap, allowing just two runs over six innings with six strikeouts. It wasn’t enough to earn a win with minimal run support, but was a step in the right direction.
Looking ahead, he’d be one of the biggest benefactors of a deadline fire sale.
The Orioles have already traded three pitchers this month. Morton, Eflin or Tomoyuki Sugano could be next. If any of those starters are traded in the next two days, Young would be at the front of the line to get an extended run in Baltimore’s rotation. But if they aren’t, and Kyle Bradish and Cade Povich return in the coming weeks, Young could remain squeezed out.
The 26-year-old right-hander has an unflattering 6.63 ERA in nine major league starts this season. Tuesday was one of few positives for Young as he’s done little to earn more opportunities. They still might be given to him out of necessity.
By the numbers
Baltimore’s five sacrifice flies in Game 1 are a franchise record and tied a MLB record. Only three other teams have hit five sacrifice flies, which became an official statistic in 1954, in a single game, most recently the 2008 Mariners.
Game 1 was also the Orioles’ seventh time in 11 games in which they scored in the first inning and the first time they posted 10 or more runs in consecutive games since June 2024.
Around the horn
— Bradish and Povich both made rehabilitation starts Tuesday. Bradish threw 38 pitches (24 strikes) over 3 2/3 innings, allowing one hit and striking out two for Double-A Chesapeake. Povich completed 4 2/3 innings on 86 pitches (54 strikes) at Triple-A Norfolk but gave up four earned runs on seven hits.
— Ryan Mountcastle, who hit a three-run homer in the Tides’ game Tuesday, will likely rejoin the Orioles in Philadelphia for their three-game set against the Phillies that begins Monday, Mansolino said.
— Right-hander Colin Selby was placed on the 15-day injured list with a left hamstring strain, the Orioles announced Tuesday. He pitched a scoreless inning in Monday’s win and has allowed five earned runs across nine appearances with Baltimore. Selby is the 27th Oriole to spend time on the IL this season.
— Starter Grayson Rodriguez is receiving multiple opinions on his elbow injury that has kept him from taking the mound this season, Mansolino said.