The Baltimore Orioles’ series win against the Los Angeles Dodgers this past weekend might be the spark the team needs in a tight American League East race. Despite being five games under .500 and 10 1/2 games out of first place, the team still has a chance to have a big second half. Beating arguably the best team in baseball definitely helps morale and gives insight into when the team is firing.
Not only did Baltimore convincingly beat the Dodgers in Sunday’s finale, but their only loss during the three-game series came down to the wire. There’s some good coming from the team in the last few weeks, and it might help them make a push in the Wild Card race if it holds.
Orioles Series Win Featured a Bit of Everything
In the first game of the series, the Orioles found themselves in a 3-0 hole by the sixth inning, thanks in part to Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki‘s pitching. In the top half of the inning, however, Gunnar Henderson slugged a two-run home run, and Pete Alonso launched a solo shot to tie the game at three. Outfielder Jeremiah Jackson then clubbed a two-run single to go up 5-3 in the seventh inning.
Then, after a modest offensive effort in the second game, the team uncorked 12 runs on Sunday that featured four home runs. They went 6-for-14 with runners in scoring position. Alonso clubbed his second home run of the series, bringing his monthly total to seven. He also holds an OPS over 1.000 as of Monday, fully adapting to the Orioles lineup and reaching his advertised power.
Pete Alonso slugs a 3-run shot the other way!
The @Orioles have put TEN runs on the board in LA 😯 pic.twitter.com/WVwn6YgZXg
— MLB (@MLB) June 21, 2026
Blaze Alexander also had his second three-hit game in four games, along with a home run and a double, adding to his surprising 2026 campaign. Samuel Basallo and Colton Cowser also had strong performances, a hopeful sign that the team’s young core could be coming around for the second half.
On the pitching side, Trevor Rogers had arguably the best start of his injury-limited season, going seven innings of one-hit ball with six strikeouts. Brandon Young, one of their promising pitching prospects, went five innings and surrendered only one run in the 12-1 rout on Sunday. Aside from Ryan Helsley‘s blown save on Friday, the bullpen surrendered only three runs over two games.
What’s more impressive is not the double-digit win or the Orioles series win in general, but rather who it was against. Shohei Ohtani did hit a home run, but was kept rather mute at the plate, while the pitching kept both Freddie Freeman and Kyle Tucker to three hits collectively. They also kept prospective catcher Dalton Rushing hitless at the plate as well.
Got out of Dodge with the series dub 😎 pic.twitter.com/XVQv1NLpD9
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) June 21, 2026
Orioles Must Find A Hot Streak To Pull Closer In Division Race
Despite the Orioles’ series win, the one thing that’s held them back the entire season is the lack of a prolonged winning streak. The team has failed to have a winning streak of more than three games, while they have had two losing streaks of more than three games. The issue was that when the hitting got going, the pitching went cold; then, when the pitching got hot, the bats would go silent. This speaks to a clear lack of balance in the roster and the classic see-saw of teams being unable to get on the same page.
There is still a lot of baseball left to be played, fortunately, which means the team could seek help during the trade deadline. For now, they have to keep Alonso hot and also make sure Adley Rutschman returns with some type of vigor to the lineup. Their pitching also has to sharpen, especially parts of the bullpen and the starting rotation.
As of June 22, the Orioles have a 29% chance of making the playoffs, which means that it would have to take either a hot streak or a dual collapse of the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay Rays to have that happen. Their strength of schedule is also the weakest in the AL East at .498. Expect the team to potentially shop for a piece or two during the deadline, or if they feel it’s futile, sell for next year, perhaps even shopping Rutschman.
Main Photo Credit: © Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images
