Orioles hit three homers in 5-3 win over Yankees, clinch playoff berth

NEW YORK – The reaction to the last out was subdued out of necessity.

A fly ball sealed the Orioles' 5-3 win over the Yankees and players lined up for the traditional congratulatory handshake line. They didn't know whether they made the postseason for a second year in a row. The out-of-town scores posted on a video board in right-center field didn't show a final between the Marlins and Twins.

Manager Brandon Hyde stepped out of the clubhouse for his usual post-game media scrum, and a club official called him back inside. It was done. The Twins lost and the Orioles would get to keep playing in October.

Outfielder Colton Cowser purchased a mini water-proof video camera, dropped it and said, "It broke already." He spoke too soon, using it to take selfies with teammates and media. Heston Kjerstad doused 20-year-old Jackson Holliday with champagne and beer, the kid being too young to drink it but not to wear it. They all hugged, laughed, danced, smoked cigars and let off steam.

The visiting clubhouse at Yankee Stadium was covered in plastic. The Orioles couldn't clinch at home but they didn't let it ruin their party. They busted loose in the Bronx.

"Last year everything went a lot smoother, it felt like, and this year it's just been a nightly grind," said manager Brandon Hyde. "We've had a lot of injuries. We're pretty young and the games haven't been easy, and so to continue to battle, not get down, now we're in."

"It's been tough, you know?" said Anthony Santander. "But we stayed positive. We know the type of group that we have and we're ready to go out there and compete."

Comparisons to last year's team and celebrations were inevitable. Totaling 101 victories and claiming the division, twice popping corks. Avoiding the number of injuries and amount of adversity that's come to define 2024 to some degree.

"It's a little different," said executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. "Last year, winning the American League East was just such an achievement for us, and the expectations were much lower, and we came into this year with higher expectations. We made a lot of moves that kind pushed some chips in for this year. And then we just didn't have the fortune that we would have hoped for. I think today is a sense of relief. And also doing it against a tough Yankee team at Yankees Stadium. You don't know how this series is going to go.

"Our next goal is preserving the home field advantage for the Wild Card and I think we're in good position to do that, but we're gonna have to fight the rest of the way. I'm hopeful that our luck kind of evens out in the playoffs, because last year we had the reverse."

"Honestly, for us, this is definitely like a stepping stone," said catcher Adley Rutschman. "Our goals and aspirations are beyond this. But it's a testament to our hard work. I don't think anyone's gonna be satisfied with just this. I think everyone's ready to go, everyone wants to take that next step."

Rutschman's next answer was interrupted as a teammate poured beer over his head, creating a stream directly into his eyes.

"Thank you," he said. "Oh, God, when it gets in your eyes it's so bad."

But also so good.

"We're ready to go, we're trying to get better, we're setting ourselves up for a playoff run right now," he said. "I think our guys are just really excited to get going."

The Orioles set up a birdbath for Holliday that had a child's uniform jersey draped over it with his name and number on it and a sign that read, "Baby's First Clinchman." Inside was an infant's plastic bottle and large glass bottles labeled "Bird Bath Water." Two sloppy crayon drawings of the Oriole Bird were taped on a plastic-covered wall.

"It was awesome for them to do that and be able to celebrate with these guys," he said, displaying his boyish grin.

"Next year, I'll be able to drink."

Dean Kremer allowed one run in five innings, Santander hit his 44^th homer, Ramón Urías and Cowser also went deep to provide some much-needed cushion, and the Orioles prevented the Yankees from securing the division title. They have their first back-to-back playoff appearances since 1996-97.

"I think that this is going to be like kind of a fresh start," Kremer said. "We don't have to grind now. We're in. So I think it's a breath of fresh air for a lot of guys here."

Kremer started on Sept. 17, 2023 when the Orioles clinched their first playoff berth since 2016 and on the Sept. 28 game when they won the division. He escaped a jam tonight in his final inning and lowered his second-half ERA to 3.82.

"That's just the nature of being a competitor," he said. "I like pitching in big games, I like getting the ball every fifth day. Just trying to do my job for the team."

Kremer insisted that he didn't know what was at stake tonight beyond trying to win.

"I didn't know that we could clinch tonight," he said. "I didn't give that much thought. We were focused on just trying to shut them down. I really didn't know. It's not my job to know that."

Aaron Judge hit his 56^th home run leading off the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Yankees never led. Giancarlo Stanton came within a few feet of an opposite-field, game-tying homer off Jacob Webb in the sixth before striking out. Cionel Pérez put two runners on base with two outs in the seventh and they scored against Yennier Cano on Gleyber Torres’ ground-rule double and Juan Soto’s single that cut the lead to 4-3.

Torres got caught in a rundown between third and home after Rutschman tried to nab Soto going to second. The putout was 9-2-6-2-5-2-6.

Cowser stepped to the plate against Ian Hamilton leading off the eighth and blasted his 23^rd homer, a slider disappearing into the night at 432 feet and 113.6 mph. The kind of swing that might stick in the minds of some Rookie of the Year voters.

Kremer walked the first two batters in the fifth, but Alex Verdugo bounced into a 6-3 double play and Torres flied to the left field track to end a nine-pitch at-bat. Kremer was finished after 83. He allowed three hits, including a pair of Torres singles.

His win became official after Gregory Soto retired three batters before walking Anthony Rizzo with one out in the ninth, and Seranthony Domínguez notched his 10th save.

"I like the way the pitching staff looks right now and I think we have a really good shot," Elias said.

Santander hit the foul pole against Clarke Schmidt with one out in the sixth, giving him 100 RBIs for the season. He joined Mickey Mantle, Lance Berkman and Chipper Jones as the only switch-hitters with at least 44 home runs. The ball traveled only 344 feet but he aimed it at the right spot.

Urías led off the seventh against left-hander Tim Mayza with a 405-foot home run to right-center for a 4-1 lead. Urías was reinstated from the injured list Sunday. He hasn’t cooled down.

"We have a couple guys back," Santander said, "and we're so happy to have them back."

The Orioles went ahead 1-0 in the second inning with a productive out from Kjerstad, who grounded to the right side against Schmidt after Westburg singled with one out and Ryan O’Hearn doubled into the right field corner.

O’Hearn poked a two-out, full-count single to left field in the fourth that scored Santander, who walked and moved up on a wild pitch. Meanwhile, the Twins were losing 4-0 in the second. The Orioles could see the score posted. Now, they can go back to focusing only on themselves.

"That's a big relief," Hyde said. "We wanted to do it a while ago and it just wasn't happening. It feels good."

"Tonight, sitting behind home plate and watching the out-of-town scoreboard, and we're watching the Royals and Twins, we were watching Detroit," Elias said. "Yeah, it's a lot. And we're still going to be doing that. It's kind of fun. It's part of the excitement of September baseball when the fall weather sets in, the crowds have a little more edge to them. And the out-of-town scoreboard is part of the drama."

Ryan Mountcastle, in his first game since Aug. 22, pinch-hit for O’Hearn in the sixth and singled into center field at 107.2 mph. The Orioles are healthy again and owners of a 87-70 record. They also clinched the season series against the Yankees by going 7-4 with two games left.

They’ve claimed two straight for only the fifth time in club history.

They care more about the games won in October. They will have more work to do.

"It's possible that we enter into the playoffs with a little different flow than we had last year," Elias said. "At least that's my hope at this point."

"We knew what kind of team that we have and we tried every single day and finally we did it today," Santander said.

"This is special. We're in the playoffs. We're in the Wild Card right now but anything can happen."