Ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Athletics, the Orioles gave off the usual signs of chaos. There was a roster move to shuffle for a fresh bullpen arm who nobody really wants to see. There was a day-of decision to have Keegan Akin go as an opener instead of Chris Bassitt making a regular start. If you took those things and also were told that the Orioles would only get six hits and only score two runs, you’d probably be expecting a loss. The O’s surprised us all, avoiding a sweep by the once-Oakland Athletics with a 2-1 win.
The first prong of a successful opener strategy is actually having the opener get through a scoreless inning. When Akin is involved, this is not something you can take to the bank. On Mother’s Day, Akin turned in a fine outing, retiring his three batters on only 13 pitches.
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The second prong is having the guy who otherwise would have been a starting pitcher pitch well. When Bassitt has been involved in the 2026 season, this has not been guaranteed, either. There was a “Here we go again” feeling to Bassitt allowing a leadoff double to the first batter he faced, then bungling the fielding of a comebacker hit by the second batter that he faced. The not-officially-called-Sacramento Athletics had two men in scoring position before Bassitt got anybody out and the first out he recorded was a run-scoring sacrifice fly, giving the A’s a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
Bassitt, to his credit, limited the damage to that one run. Also to his credit, he went on to pitch for five more innings without allowing any more runs. He worked through the Athletics lineup just like the Orioles hoped he might, giving up four hits and a walk while striking out six batters. The Orioles needed this kind of outing from the veteran who they signed with the idea of bolstering the back of their rotation. They’re going to need several more for the signing to look like something other than a bust. Bassitt lowered his season ERA to 5.21.
The Orioles knotted the game back up in their half of the third inning. The bottom of the lineup got things going, as Dylan Beavers led off with a double and Weston Wilson drew a walk. Those were the 7 and 8 hitters. #9 guy Blaze Alexander squared, dropped a bunt, and advanced the two runners as the lineup turned over.
In general, I am not a fan of sacrifice bunts. This one gets a pass because Alexander’s chances of doing damage are not high, might as well move the guys over for better hitters and see what happens. Not that the hitter who was at the top of Sunday’s lineup, Gunnar Henderson, has been at his best in the 2026 season; he entered the game with a 30.2% strikeout rate for the season and could very easily have struck out and ruined the point of getting a guy to third with only one out.
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Henderson did not strike out. He did not even get to two strikes. After fouling off the first pitch he saw, Henderson was able to pull the bat inside and get to a cutter boring in on his hands. This resulted in a grounder to A’s first baseman Nick Kurtz, who was playing deep, not worried about cutting down a runner going home. Kurtz was slow to start running the ball to first himself and A’s starter Luis Severino didn’t rush there initially either. Henderson ran hard all the way for an odd infield hit. This was going to get the run in regardless, but Gunnar will certainly take the hit.
The Orioles still had Wilson at third base with only one out, but he was stranded by Taylor Ward and Adley Rutschman. This was not the only case of stranding runners on Sunday. Over the 5.1 innings that Severino was in the game, the Orioles got six hits against him and drew four walks. That’s a lot of traffic. They just couldn’t capitalize as much as you’d like, in part because they only loaded the bases in the fifth inning after they had two outs.
They did manage to get to Severino for one more run, which turned out to be the game’s decisive run. Samuel Basallo got things started with a double in the sixth inning. Leody Taveras moved him up to third as he added a single to center field; the ball hung up in the air too long for Basallo to be sure it wouldn’t be caught, so he wasn’t able to score. Basallo scored easily as the lefty Beavers slashed a line drive to the opposite field. The Orioles took a 2-1 lead that proved to be the final score.
The game did not lack for drama from then on. The Athletics threatened again in the seventh – Bassitt’s last inning – with Carlos Cortes picking up a one-out single and stealing second base during a strikeout to get himself into scoring position. Then they got one last hit against Bassitt as Nick Gelof drove a single into center field. That probably sounds like a recipe for a game-tying hit, doesn’t it? Except that Taveras, the center fielder, charged in hard on the ball and made a strong, accurate throw home. Basallo picked up the ball and was ready to tag out the runner.
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Cortes is listed at 5’7” and 197 pounds. If he ran into you or I, that would probably go badly for us. Cortes’s problem is that he wasn’t running into us, he was running into Basallo, who is listed at 6’4” and 250 pounds. That’s a basic problem that Isaac Newton could have explained for Cortes with his laws of motion. You did this one in middle school math class. Does this moving object have enough force to budge a larger object that is braced to remain still? No, man. You’re going to look like an idiot if you try that. And so:
This was barely even dramatic enough to call it a collision. Cortes, probably realizing that he was running dead, and also realizing that he had no interest in a full-force crash into Basallo – which, remember, is against the rules now anyway – just kind of bumped awkwardly into Basallo. The young Orioles catcher sent Cortes flying as if he was a bumper in a pinball machine and Cortes was the ball.
Basallo stood up and regarded Cortes with a look of disdain. Like, you really tried that? This was a badass sequence reminiscent of Matt Wieters holding on to a ball after a collision during the Chris Davis Pitching Game, after which he flipped up his mitt and showed the umpire the ball, while grinning like the Cheshire Cat. Basallo has his own moment now. Runners beware. If any Orioles outfielder can execute a good throw home, you’re in trouble.
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Fortunately, Anthony Nunez didn’t spoil the party in the eighth inning even though he gave up two walks and tossed a wild pitch. In the ninth, Rico Garcia came in and closed the door, allowing a two-out walk but otherwise keeping the maybe-some-day-Las Vegas Athletics off of the bases. This was Garcia’s third save of the year.
It is safe to say that this victory does not dispel any lingering concerns about the Orioles, particularly the state of their offense. Most games, six hits and two runs isn’t going to cut it, especially with another series against the Yankees coming up.
The Orioles are now three wins better than they were through the same number of games last season. That’s good. They are also now on pace to win 71 games this season. That’s not good. Avoiding the free fall is only the first problem. They still need to actually get good. These are problems for tomorrow and beyond. Today, they won the one game they could win today. That’s still worth something.
