Corbin Burnes pitched one of the best games of his life in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, but it didn’t matter because the O’s couldn’t score.
I regret to inform you, ladies and gentlemen, that the Orioles’ recent stretch of postseason failure shows no signs of stopping in 2024.
The Birds suffered their ninth consecutive playoff loss with a brutal 1-0 defeat at the hands of the Royals in Game 1 of the Wild Card Series, immediately putting them on the brink of elimination in the best-of-three series.
It’s a cruel bit of irony. The Orioles acquired Corbin Burnes last winter specifically for this very moment — starting Game 1 of a playoff series — and he exceeded every expectation in that exact scenario, pitching into the ninth inning and dominating the K.C. lineup. It all worked out according to plan.
And yet it still didn’t matter, because the Orioles’ offense picked the worst possible time to forget to show up. And yes, they were facing one of baseball’s best pitchers in Cole Ragans, who can make any lineup look silly. There’s no shame in that. But the Orioles sure didn’t do themselves any favors with a game full of frustrating at-bats, poor swing decisions, and lousy situational hitting, and they continued to struggle even after an injury forced Ragans out of the game early. This was the ugly return of the woeful O’s offense that nearly tanked their season in the second half. It may well tank their postseason hopes, too.
Let’s start with the good news. Burnes was absolutely sensational in what (unfortunately) might be his last start as an Oriole. He overpowered Royals hitters from the get-go, retiring 10 consecutive batters after Michael Massey’s bloop single led off the game. His cutter was phenomenal, and he mixed in an effective curve and a sweeper to keep hitters off balance. Even the few times that the Royals made solid contact turned into outs, including a scalding liner in the fifth inning that Ryan Mountcastle snared and doubled off a runner at first.
Burnes was pitching like every bit the Game 1 ace the O’s envisioned. All he needed was for the Orioles to score him some runs. Um…yeah, about that. Remember the last week of the regular season, when the O’s got a bunch of injured hitters back from the IL and it seemed like their offense was clicking again? Well, clearly the Orioles don’t remember. They reverted to the bad habits that plagued them for much of the season, failing to put together good situational at-bats. It cost them dearly.
The Birds went down quietly in the first and second, with Ragans retiring six of seven hitters, before they squandered a great scoring opportunity in the third. Cedric Mullins led off the inning with a sharp double off the right-field scoreboard, giving the O’s a man in scoring position with nobody out. But James McCann, after working Ragans to an eighth pitch, flailed at a high fastball for a strikeout, losing his bat in the process. Ugh. Gotta move the runner over, James.
Gunnar Henderson grounded out, and then Jordan Westburg clobbered a shot to deep left field that, under Oriole Park’s former dimensions, would have landed in the seats for a go-ahead, two-run homer. In the present day, though, Walltimore exists, and left fielder MJ Melendez made the catch on the warning track. That would have been a home run in 28 out of 30 MLB parks. Luck was not on the Orioles’ side today, but they didn’t exactly create their own luck, either.
No inning was more frustrating than the bottom of the fifth, when the Royals gifted the Birds a rally and the O’s still couldn’t scrape a run across. With one out, Ramón Urías lofted a catchable fly ball to left field, and Melendez just…missed it. He overran the ball and fell down, giving Urías a double on what should have been a routine out.
Next up, Mullins continued his great offensive day on his 30th birthday, lifting a soft single to center field. Urías didn’t get the best read on it, holding up until the ball fell in, and only got to third on the play (though I’m not sure he would have been able to score even if he’d been running from the get-go).
Still, runners at the corners and one out seems like a pretty promising situation, and the Camden Yards crowd of 41,506 sprang to life, anticipating that an O’s lead was imminent. But oh, that woeful Orioles clutch hitting struck again. McCann had an absolutely terrible at-bat, striking out on three pitches, the last one a helpless flail at a ball in the dirt. Ugh. You’re killing me, James.
Ragans then pulled off a great piece of pitching, striking out Henderson on a nasty slider, and shouting in triumph as he leapt off the mound. If the Orioles go on to lose this series, they’ll look back regretfully at that inning for a long, long time.
Perhaps buoyed by their great escape in the fifth, the Royals rallied for the game’s only run in the top of the sixth. Burnes made just one fateful mistake, walking the #9 hitter, Maikel Garcia, with one out. It was Corbin’s only walk of the entire game, but that is not the right guy to put on base, and the Royals made him pay for it. The speedy Garcia, who had 37 steals in the regular season, quickly swiped second against Burnes, who allowed 41 of them.
Burnes retired Massey for the second out, but Bobby Witt Jr. did Bobby Witt Jr. things, delivering a clutch, two-out hit by ripping a sharp single through the left side to plate Garcia. Oof. The way Ragans was pitching, and the way the Orioles were hitting — or rather, not hitting — that 1-0 lead felt insurmountable. And, as it turned out, it was.
But goodness, Corbin Burnes did everything in his power to keep the O’s alive. He needed just eight pitches to get through the seventh and only five in the eighth, giving him just 83 pitches through eighth innings. He even returned to the mound in the ninth, leaving open the possibility of throwing his first career complete game.
That dream was dashed with just one pitch, which Garcia lined for a single, prompting Brandon Hyde to go to his bullpen with the top of the order coming up. You couldn’t possibly have asked for more from Corbin Burnes, who rose to the occasion with an epic postseason performance: eight innings, one run, with the inherited runner stranded after Keegan Akin and Seranthony Dominguez got the final three outs.
If this was the end of the line for Burnes in an Orioles uniform, I’m sure going to miss him. He deserves to get his payday in free agency. Perhaps he’ll sign with a team that can score runs.
As the late innings arrived, the frustration continued to mount for the O’s offense. The Orioles seemingly caught a huge break when Ragans — who had thrown just 80 pitches in six scoreless innings — had to leave the game with left leg cramps. But against a Royals bullpen that struggled for much of the year, the Orioles struggled worse.
Lefty Sam Long retired all three batters he faced in the seventh and southpaw Kris Bubic got two quick outs in the eighth, but the Orioles tried one more rally when Henderson walked and Westburg singled. Royals manager Matt Quatraro turned to his closer, Lucas Erceg, for the four-out save. The Orioles’ top slugger, Anthony Santander, had the chance to deliver the big hit. Instead, he grounded out weakly, and two were left stranded. And so it goes.
With time running out for the Orioles, pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn worked a great at-bat to lead off the ninth, taking a very close 3-2 pitch just inside for a leadoff walk. A leadoff baserunner! For the life of me, I don’t know why Hyde didn’t have Jackson Holliday pinch run for O’Hearn at first base — why is Holliday on the roster if not for this exact situation? — but it didn’t end up mattering because nobody advanced or scored the runner. Erceg struck out Adley Rutschman on a 2-2 pitch that looked low, Colton Cowser flied out, and pinch-hitter Heston Kjerstad waved at a two-strike offering that was way outside. One more poor swing decision to go out on. How fitting.
Ballgame over. A painful 1-0 loss. And now the O’s have their backs up against the wall, needing to win the next two games to avoid another early postseason exit. I’m not optimistic, but I suppose that’s why they play the games.