O's game blog: With a magic number of three, O's close in on a playoff berth

If you didn't think a team could erase a magic number of three in one day, you are wrong. The Orioles begin today with a magic number of three to wrap up a 2024 MLB playoff spot. They can get there with a win over Detroit this afternoon and a loss by Seattle tonight at 7:05 p.m.

A potential Clinchmas is here for an Orioles team that heading into Thursday's game having lost five of six, eight of 10 and nine of the last 12 games and was 26-30 in the second half.

The Orioles (86-68) take the field today with eight games remaining. They are four games behind New York for the American League East lead and four ahead of Kansas City for the No. 1 AL wild-card spot. If the O's wrap up the No. 1 wild-card berth, should they not win the AL East, they will host all games in the best two-of-three wild-card playoff round beginning on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

The Orioles hit a season-best five home runs last night in beating a hot Detroit team 7-1. The Tigers (80-74) entered the night having won four in a row, nine of 11 and 18 of 25. And since Aug. 11 Detroit was 25-10, best in the majors in that span.

But Anthony Santander hit his 43rd home run while Colton Cowser and James McCann hit two homers each. It was Cowser's second career multi-homer game and McCann's third.

This marked the first game in which two Orioles hit multiple homers since June 19, 2021 vs. Toronto (Ryan Mountcastle and Cedric Mullins). Santander's homer represented back-to-back plate appearances with a longball after his walk-off home run Thursday. 

The Orioles have back-to-back wins for the first time since taking three in a row Sept. 1-3. That was the last time they had a three-game win streak. Their longest win streak of the year was six in a row from June 7-12.

The Orioles currently lead MLB with 224 home runs, one ahead of the Yankees (223) while the Dodgers (220) rank third. Baltimore led MLB in homers through June with 139, 16 more than the Yankees, but have hit 85 home runs since, good for 12th in MLB.

The O's have hit 200 home runs in a season for the 13th time in team history and this year marks the most by the club since 2017 (232). Baltimore has nine players with at least 10 home runs, tied with the Dodgers for the most in MLB this season: Anthony Santander (43), Gunnar Henderson (37), Colton Cowser (22), Adley Rutschman (19), Jordan Westburg (18), Cedric Mullins (15), Ryan Mountcastle and Ryan O'Hearn (13), and Ramón Urías (10). The team record is 10 players, done in 2019, 2000, and 1998.

The Orioles' regular season home schedule will conclude here Sunday. The Birds are 44-35 (.557) at Camden Yards this season, but 15-18 (.455) at Oriole Park since the beginning of July. The Orioles are 93-67 (.581) at home since 2023.

Lefty Cade Povich (2-9, 5.74 ERA) will make his 15th start. The team is 5-9 over his first 14. Povich's last start was Sunday at Detroit and he gave up two runs over five innings on 89 pitches. In eight home starts, he is 2-4 with a 3.60 ERA.

Righty Reese Olson (4-8, 3.50 ERA) takes the hill for the Tigers. The team is 7-13 in his games. He allowed four runs in 2 1/3 against K.C. his last time out. But over his past seven starts, Olson is 3-0 with a 3.15 ERA.