Baltimore Orioles

The former Orioles slugger still pays close attention to his old team.

The Orioles’ magic number to clinch the top wild card seed — and therefore home-field advantage for the best-of-three series — drops to one.

“We are going to get him ready for 2025,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “It’s disappointing. It’s tough. He’s so talented and a huge part of our rotation this year and going forward.”

The Orioles are guaranteed at least the third wild card spot but are in position to secure the top spot and home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

This year's team didn't breeze through the regular season like last year's squad did, but that might not be a bad thing.

The Orioles are reinforced, and it shows. They are in the playoffs, and they celebrated accordingly. Win a couple more games and they can ensure a home playoff series next week. Play as well as they can, and they’ll probably play well beyond that.

“It’s been a really tough stretch the past couple of months,” outfielder Colton Cowser said. “To be where we’re at with the number of injures we had, I’m just really proud of this group.”

Mountcastle is an instrumental part of the Orioles offense as a right-handed bat, hitting .265 with a .730 OPS, and infield, where he’s a Gold Glove candidate at first base.

Plus, Samuel Basallo ranked No. 1 and Jordan Westburg’s true impact.

The Orioles can clinch a playoff spot this week starting with an upcoming series against the Yankees

Burnes won the 2021 Cy Young Award, in part, because of his cutter.

The Orioles lost Sunday, yes, but look at the lineup they started this home stand with Tuesday. This version has a much better chance of playoff success.

David Rubenstein grew up in Baltimore and now owns the Orioles. But for most of his life, nobody — not even Rubenstein himself — thought he was a Baltimore guy.

The Orioles couldn’t clinch this weekend, missing out due to inconsistent bats and a few bad breaks. But are they more resilient for the struggle?

The reeling Orioles got a much-needed boost Sunday.

The final regular-season game at Camden Yards could have been cause for celebration, but the Orioles again stranded too many runners.

The Orioles, who would have secured a playoff spot with a win and a Mariners loss, will have to wait another day to try to get into the postseason.

The Orioles optioned infield prospect Coby Mayo to Triple-A Norfolk on Saturday to make room for an additional outfield bat while Cedric Mullins’ status is cloudy.

Anthony Santander gets the offense started after hitting a walk-off Thursday, and Colton Cowser and James McCann hit two homers each.