On a day when Lamar Jackson was the center of attention in Owings Mills, the Orioles showed they’re not yet ready to concede the Baltimore sports spotlight for the summer.
That’s a good thing with the Ravens still more than three months away from kicking off their 2026 campaign. Four months without meaningful baseball is a painfully long time to talk about nothing but the future of president of baseball operations Mike Elias or any other flawed aspect of this organization.
Just a week after falling a season-worst eight games below .500, the Orioles are suddenly having fun with a 5-1 start to what felt like a crucial 10-game homestand to keep a poor start to 2026 from spiraling into a 2025-like abyss. That their first series sweep and three-game winning streak in well over a month came against AL-leading Tampa Bay made it all the more encouraging, especially after last week’s sweep in St. Petersburg and claims of being able to play with anyone ringing mostly hollow over the first two months of the season.
Now the Orioles (26-30) have to keep it going. The last thing they need is to feel satisfied with themselves and take their foot off the gas against defending AL champion Toronto, who’s also been trying to get back to .500 since early April.
A five-run first inning set the tone in Wednesday’s 11-2 dismantling of the Rays and reflected an offensive awakening of 26 runs scored over the last three games, but it was rookie Trey Gibson continuing what’s been a mini-resurgence for a starting rotation that’s ranked among the worst in baseball so far this season. Making his first start at Camden Yards, the 24-year-old Gibson induced three double plays to maneuver his way through 5 2/3 innings and back up the recent strong outings turned in by Kyle Bradish, Shane Baz, and Brandon Young.
The game looks so much easier when you have good starting pitching. The next step for Baltimore is getting Opening Day starter Trevor Rogers back on track and coaxing more consistency out of veteran Chris Bassitt.
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The Orioles hope walk-off homers from Colton Cowser on back-to-back days will be remembered as the turning point months from now, but they’re still at least another great series or two away from getting back to .500, let alone convincing anyone they’re going to be a legitimate force the rest of the way. Of course, it helps that most AL clubs are still trying to find their own footing as Baltimore concluded Wednesday just one game out of the final wild-card spot.
With more than 100 games to go, just keep getting better.
One hopes Wednesday’s two-homer night for Gunnar Henderson is the start of an extended tear for the star shortstop to rebound from his disappointing .222/.274/.440 slash line to open the season. And while Pete Alonso — who collected his 1,000th career hit in Wednesday’s victory — has had a much better May than April, he’d be the first to say his .744 on-base plus slugging percentage isn’t exactly what the Orioles had in mind upon signing him to a five-year, $155 million contract in December.
Henderson and Alonso aren’t the only two who’ve underperformed at the plate, but it’s difficult seeing a path for Craig Albernaz’s club being consistently good without those two being much better the rest of the way. You’d love to see what this offense can look like with those two at their best and Adley Rutschman, Samuel Basallo, and Taylor Ward continuing at their current pace. That’s not even considering what the 22-year-old Jackson Holliday might offer with his hamate surgery recovery finally behind him.
Staying relatively healthy from this point would also help, which is what made reliever Yennier Cano’s Wednesday exit due to hamstring discomfort a sobering reminder of the unrelenting injuries that have plagued this club for multiple seasons now. Jordan Westburg and Zach Eflin aren’t coming back in 2026, but the expected returns of closer Ryan Helsley, starter Dean Kremer, and rookie outfielder Dylan Beavers could help fortify some of this club’s deficiencies.
Though an impressive series sweep and a superb start to the homestand didn’t wipe out the first 50 games, the Orioles are feeling much better about themselves. They still have a long way to go, but holding off talk about football is a welcome development that didn’t feel all that likely even a week ago.
A long summer awaits, which is suddenly sounding like a positive for the Orioles.
