Vowel supremacy wasn’t the only thing on the line at Camden Yards this weekend.
The series between the O’s and A’s matched the second- and third-worst ballclubs in the American League. The O’s might be one game ahead in the standings, but the A’s were at the front of the alphabet this weekend by winning the series.
The Orioles on Sunday squandered a ninth-inning lead to lose 3-2 to the Athletics. Unofficial closer Keegan Akin blew the one-run save opportunity in the ninth inning, allowing two runs to score after three of the first four batters he faced reached base.
Willie MacIver’s two-run double scored former Orioles prospect Darell Hernaiz and speedster Lawrence Butler, who crossed the plate after Gunnar Henderson’s wide throw home couldn’t be corralled by catcher Alex Jackson.
“He didn’t mean to throw it there,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Things are speeding up right there. He’s got his back to the play. He’s catching the ball and he just kind of threw a sinker to the plate. Just kind of getting on top of it, straighten the thing out, making a better throw.”
Jackson Holliday reached base with two outs in the ninth, but Jordan Westburg struck out to end the game.
The Orioles’ offense tallied only eight runs and 12 hits in their three games this weekend. At 53-65, Baltimore is only one game ahead of Oakland in the standings. The Chicago White Sox (42-75) are the only AL team behind the Orioles and Athletics.
The matinee was shaping up to be one of the post-deadline Orioles’ best wins. Cade Povich pitched well, Westburg homered and Coby Mayo came up with a clutch hit.
Povich tossed six innings of one-run ball, scattering four hits and three walks while striking out five. It marked the young left-hander’s second straight solid start since returning from the injured list earlier this month. The only run he allowed was on a Colby Thomas RBI single in the sixth.
“I feel like Cade has progressed since April,” Mansolino said pregame. “I think what happens sometimes is the longer we’re here, the more we think we just stay here. That’s not how this always works. I think with Cade, when I’ve seen him have a little adversity surrounding his outings, whether it’s coming off the IL or getting sent down and coming back up, those have been his best outings. I just think he fights for his life on those days.”
The Orioles were hitless through three, but Westburg broke the scoreless tie in the fifth with a solo homer. The third baseman has been perhaps the club’s best hitter in recent weeks, posting a batting average above .300 and an OPS over .900 since July 29.
With the game tied in the seventh, Mansolino called on Mayo to pinch hit with the go-ahead run on third base and one out. Mayo came through by roping an RBI double to left-center field to break out the sprinkler, put the Orioles back on top and bring the announced 23,183 fans to their feet.
Yennier Cano and Dietrich Enns bridged the game to Akin, who walked Hernaiz to lead off the ninth and allowed a single to Gio Urshela to bring MacIver to the plate.
“Walking the leadoff hitter,” Mansolino said of where Akin’s inning went wrong. “Anytime you walk the leadoff guy who isn’t necessarily a huge power threat, it’s not really what you want, so I think he’d love to have that one back right there. … Just unfortunately how it played out.”
Postgame analysis
The Orioles played five players in the outfield this weekend: Dylan Carlson, Jeremiah Jackson, Greg Allen, Ryan Noda and Jordyn Adams. They went a combined 1-for-28 at the plate.
After placing Colton Cowser and Tyler O’Neill on the injured list Friday, the Orioles opted to sign Allen and recall Adams rather than promote prospect Dylan Beavers. A decision to hold a prospect in the minors isn’t too surprising for a team out of playoff contention, but it’s also critical for Baltimore to give Beavers a test run in the big leagues to inform them going into the offseason.
This decision, though, doesn’t have traditional service-time implications. Calling up Beavers last week or Tuesday or next week does not change when he’d be scheduled to become a free agent like it does in mid-April when some teams have manipulated a player’s service time in order to gain an extra year before he hits the open market.
That doesn’t mean there are no external factors, though. A player who wins his league’s Rookie of the Year Award can earn his organization an extra draft pick in the following year’s draft as part of MLB’s prospect promotion incentive program. The earliest date a team could promote a prospect to ensure he maintains rookie eligibility for the 2026 season is Friday.
However, for a player to earn his team the PPI pick by winning the Rookie of the Year Award, he must enter that season as a top 100 prospect on at least two of three major lists (MLB Pipeline, Baseball America, ESPN). Unlike catcher Samuel Basallo, Beavers is not a top 100 prospect. With how well he’s playing, it’s possible he leapfrogs onto top 100 lists entering next season, but that’s unlikely given Beavers has never appeared on one of those rankings and he now has to compete with 2025 draftees for those spots. For example, the Orioles only have two top 100 prospects on Baseball America and Beavers ranks sixth in Baltimore’s farm system.
The odds Beavers makes it onto two of those lists and wins the Rookie of the Year Award are infinitesimal. But it remains unlikely he will join the Orioles until at least this weekend.
What they’re saying
Mansolino on the importance of fastball command for Cade Povich:
“I think the biggest thing for Cade to be effective in the future and reach his ceiling, so to speak, is fastball command. I think the best pitching teams in the league locate their fastball. … He has to have the ability to command his fastball glove-side and arm-side. I think as he gets that and to be more arm-side in the future, as he commands the ball arm-side, I think his whole repertoire will take off.”
By the numbers
Before Aug. 3, no team in MLB history (since 1900) had three players with the first or last name Jackson in its lineup, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Over the Orioles’ past seven games, they’ve done it three times.
The Jackson Three — second baseman Jackson Holliday, right fielder Jeremiah Jackson and catcher Alex Jackson — has taken over a third of Baltimore’s batting order three times since Aug. 3, including Sunday. The Jacksons combined to go 2-for-8 with four walks.
On deck
After a day off Monday, the Orioles begin one of their most difficult stretches of the season. All but three of their next 25 games are against playoff teams: the Seattle Mariners, Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers.
That gantlet starts at Camden Yards with a three-game set versus the Mariners as Dean Kremer, Trevor Rogers and Tomoyuki Sugano will take the ball for the Orioles.
Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.