Confident, healthy Orioles ready for Royals: ‘This is what we play for’

MINNEAPOLIS—What happened? Now, it’s on to the postseason. About 30 minutes after the Orioles concluded their regular season with a 6-2 win over the Minnesota Twins, they found out their postseason will begin with a best-of-three wild-card series with the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. Game 1 is scheduled to start at 4:08 p.m.

The Royals beat the Atlanta Braves, 4-2, while the Detroit Tigers lost, 9-5, to the Chicago White Sox, who set a modern-day record with 121 losses on Friday night but defeated Detroit in the final two games. The Tigers will play the Houston Astros in the wild-card round.

Corbin Burnes will start Game 1 for the Orioles while Cole Ragans will pitch for the Royals, who are playing in the postseason for the first time since 2015.

The Orioles haven’t announced their Game 2 starter, but it’s expected to be Zach Eflin while Kansas City has named Seth Lugo for Game 2 and Michael Wacha for a possible Game 3. The Orioles likely would start Dean Kremer.

If the Orioles advance, Albert Suárez could be in line for a possible Game 1 start against the New York Yankees next Saturday in the Division Series after he allowed two runs on four hits in six innings against Minnesota.

James McCann hit a three-run home run in the fifth. Jordan Westburg had a two-run single in the seventh and Heston Kjerstad homered in the eighth.

“This is what we play for,” McCann said. “This is what we talk about. This is the point in the season where regular-season stats don’t matter. Regular-season record doesn’t matter. All that matters is winning each pitch, each inning and advancing. Last year, things didn’t go our way. This year, I feel like we’re prepared to be ready to go.”

The Orioles won five of their last six, beating the Yankees in two of three before sweeping the Twins for their first sweep since June 7-10 against Tampa Bay. They ended the season 91-71.

“Really, really happy with how we played on this road trip,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I thought we played as good of baseball as we’ve played for a while. Really excited about how we’re playing going into the postseason.”

How well are the Orioles playing? “Guys are having fun again,” McCann said. “Losing stinks. Sometimes it’s the way the game rolls that no matter what you do, no matter how many different things you try, you just don’t come out of that rut. This last week was really good to see guys swing the bat well, guys throwing the ball well, defense playing well, really all aspects of the game.”

Hyde though the past week was important because the team wanted to qualify for the postseason and secure home-field advantage.

“Got some at-bats and got some games for these guys that have missed some significant time, and they’re going to be a big part of the postseason lineup as well as some bullpen guys to get some innings before we went into the first round, so that was important,” he said. “And they played well, so really encouraging.”

What will the wild-card roster look like? The roster for series won’t be announced until Tuesday morning, and it seems likely that Suárez won’t be on it so he can be fresh for that possible Game 1 Division Series start.

“Well, we’re making roster decisions for the wild-card round,” Hyde said.  “With a short series, we just have a lot of things in play. He pitched great, though.”

The Orioles must cut two players on the roster. They could go with 14 position players, as they currently have and drop Suárez and reliever Colin Selby, who was elevated for Sunday’s game and pitched a scoreless ninth.

Does postseason experience matter? Most of the players on the Orioles’ roster have been in the postseason, whether with the Orioles or other teams.

“I just go out there and play the same game,” first baseman Ryan Mountcastle said. “I’m not going to put too much pressure on myself. I’m just going to go out there and have fun.”

Are the Orioles playing well when it counts? The Orioles, who had lost five consecutive series and weren’t hitting, enter the postseason with series wins over the Yankees and Twins.

“We’ve played good baseball,’ Burnes said. “It’s good to see the offense swing the bat and put up a bunch of runs. Pitching, everyone is getting their innings and getting prepared. It’s about getting everyone rested and feeling good for Tuesday.

“Relaxed baseball is also great fun. Once we get into the postseason, the lights shine bright. It’s go time … You’ve got to come out and play your best.”

After losing starting pitchers Kyle Bradish, John Means and Tyler Wells and infielder Jorge Mateo to season-ending injuries and watching Mountcastle, Westburg and Ramón Urías return from injuries, the Orioles are the healthiest they’ve been in some time.

A year ago, they were without start closer Félix Bautista who had Tommy John surgery during the Division Series.

“We’ve dealt with injuries and there were tough stretches,” Ryan O’Hearn said. “It seemed like last year, if felt like everything, aside from Félix, to be peachy, and then we were hit by a truck in the postseason.”

Is the game different in the postseason? Emmanuel Rivera was with last year’s Arizona Diamondbacks, who made a surprise run to the World Series.

“I think that’s one of the things that helped us last year that no one expected us to get to the World Series,” Rivera said through an interpreter. “It’s a matter of playing really strong baseball and going out there and getting the job done.”

He does believe the postseason game isn’t the same as the regular-season schedule.

“I think it’s a big difference just because in the regular season if you lose a game and go through a couple of losses, the feeling of defeat isn’t as great,” he said. “You’re able to get away with a few losses whereas in the postseason, you don’t have that luxury. You lose a game or two, your game can go right then and there.”

O’Hearn played in the Orioles’ loss in three games to Texas in the Division Series. The Orioles had the best record in the American League, won 101 games, and then suddenly the season ended.

“You play 162 games at this level,” O’Hearn said. “If you lose, it’s not the end of the world. On a day-to-day basis, we’ll get them tomorrow type of thing. It kind of is the end of the world if you lose a few in a row now.”

How different is the postseason atmosphere? Orioles pitching coach Drew French was the Atlanta Braves pitching coach when they won the World Series in 2021.

“Every seat is going to be filled,” French said. “There’s going to be towels, and it’s going to be crazy and media presence, but it’s the same game that we’ve been playing since we got to camp in February.”

That’s a common theme, but the game is played differently. Eflin, who’s expected to start Game 2, has been a starter almost exclusively during his major league career but was a key member of the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen in their World Series run of 2022.

“When you’re a competitor you can react to any situation you’re put in,” Eflin said. “If you have the mentality that you’ll do anything for the guy next to you, I think you’ll be just fine in any role that you’re put into.”

In 2018, Burnes appeared in six games with Milwaukee as a reliever in their postseason, and he had two starts in 2021 and 2023.

“There’s definitely a lot more adrenaline, a heightened environment,” Burnes said. “Once you know what to expect, you can prepare for it a little bit and try to keep the adrenaline as low as you can. It’s very easy to get out there and get fired up with the crowd and start spraying balls all over the place and try to do too much. Having been there many, many times, I kind of know what to expect.”

What does it mean? After losing five consecutive series, the Orioles won two straight. It wasn’t coincidental that with the return of Mountcastle, Westburg and Urías from the injured list, the team started perking up.

What’s the word? “You don’t want to lose guys, and you wish that everybody stayed healthy the whole time and we could have won the division. That’s not the scenario we’re in. That doesn’t matter. We feel good where we’re at.”-O’Hearn on the Orioles’ recent play.

What’s the stat of the day? 33-33. The Orioles end the second half with a .500 record. They were 13-12 in September, their first winning month since June.

What’s next? The Orioles will work out at Camden Yards on Monday afternoon. Burnes will face Ragans on Tuesday in Game 1 at 4:08 p.m. Game 2 on Wednesday is scheduled for 4:38 p.m. Game 3 on Thursday is scheduled for 4:08 p.m.