Down big and momentarily down a manager, Orioles blast their way back to a triumphant win

As terrible as everything felt — and surely it was everything — the energy around Camden Yards shifted quickly.

A foul ball struck manager Craig Albernaz in the face. The Arizona Diamondbacks unloaded four home runs to take a six-run lead. Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo was so frustrated with a strikeout that he broke his bat over his leg.

And then, as a bruised Albernaz returned to the dugout, the vibes in Baltimore lifted into a Monday night frenzy. Jeremiah Jackson, the very player whose foul ball walloped the Orioles’ rough-and-tumble first-year manager in the fifth inning, cranked a grand slam in the sixth to bring the Orioles within one. And Pete Alonso, the big-money free agent who has made a career of rising to the moment, belted a two-run homer in the seventh to turn this game on its head.

Who could’ve seen that coming?

Not Albernaz, who wasn’t even in the dugout when the Diamondbacks went ahead 7-1. But he was certainly keeping tabs as medical professionals gave him an on-site examination.

With the way the Orioles came back to beat the Diamondbacks 9-7, this will go down as one of those tell-your-kids-someday games.

A Monday night in April? Who cares about that? Who cares about tomorrow? Who cares about a banged-up face? Who cares about a six-run deficit?

Not these Orioles, apparently.

It was chaos. It was a full range of emotions — including pain. It was a perfectly bizarre night of baseball in Baltimore, with everything and more all rolled into one madhouse of a contest at Camden Yards.

“He was fired up. He knew I felt bad. He knew I was kind of in my head,” Jackson said. “But to see him pop out there and enjoy the moment with us just goes to show the sort of person that he is and the competitor that he is. And I think that kind of trickles down into the team.”

When thinking about the Orioles under the direction of Albernaz, one of the tenets the first-time manager wanted to build was the expectation that his team will fight. Albernaz fought a foul ball, kind of, and returned to the dugout to tell the tale. He left the dugout once more, for good this time, so he could receive scans and testing.

But to see him out there with a baseball-sized mark on his right cheek was invigorating — a rallying cry.

“It takes every single one of us in this clubhouse, and then some,” Alonso said. “You’ve got to stay in the fight. And we did that, and we executed. Phenomenal job. Phenomenal job by everyone staying in it. Was it perfect? No. But, hey, it doesn’t need to be. Just need to get the win at the end of the day.”

These Orioles didn’t pack it in when Ketel Marte and Nolan Arenado rocketed two home runs apiece.

Three of those homers came against right-hander Dean Kremer, who was making his first start of the season. Only one of the pitches, a hanging curveball to Marte, was in the strike zone. Marte sent Kremer’s first pitch, a fastball above the zone, to Eutaw Street. Arenado lifted another high fastball later.

And against right-hander Albert Suárez, Arenado’s second long ball gave the Diamondbacks a six-run advantage in the sixth.

But the Orioles began chipping away in the bottom half of that frame. Alonso led off with a double, and he scored on Leody Taveras’ bloop single. And after Colton Cowser walked to load the bases, Jackson came to the plate.

He felt somewhat more calm because before that plate appearance, Jackson had the opportunity to see Albernaz in the tunnel headed to the clubhouse. His “heart dropped” during the previous plate appearance, which ended in an infield single, when he realized his foul ball hit Albernaz.

“It was a whirlwind, a roller coaster of emotions for sure,” Jackson said. “But once I knew he was doing better, it helped me a lot mentally.”

His big swing helped even more.

Against right-hander Taylor Rashi, who came in to relieve starter Ryne Nelson, Jackson unloaded on a slider left up in the zone. It was his first career grand slam, and Baltimore’s first of the season. In the Orioles’ dugout, Alonso immediately grabbed Shane Baz, and the pair began to hop in joy.

“Just a genuine, excited reaction,” Alonso said. “To be able to come back from down that many runs, there’s no quit in this group.”

And in the seventh, with right-hander Jonathan Loáisiga on the mound for Arizona, Alonso hit his second bomb of the season to left-center field. That gave Baltimore a lead, and Jackson added another insurance run for closer Ryan Helsley in the eighth with a solo shot.

This was bonkers. From pain to party — that’s what the Orioles did.