The Baltimore Orioles were the St. Louis Browns until 1953. After that season, the franchise moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles – keeping the now iconic Orange & Black color scheme. Fast forward to August of 2026, and Chris Bassitt was on the mound as the franchise returned to St. Louis as the Orioles. Bassitt’s line: 6.2 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K.
To be blunt, this was a rout. The O’s set the tone with a three-run homer from Pete Alonso in the third inning, and a solo shot from Christian Encarnacion-Strand later in the frame. St. Louis made a slight attempt to fight back in the fourth with a solo homer by Church. Then the fifth inning happened.
Coby Mayo extended the lead to 5-1 with an RBI-single. Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s two-RBI single later in the inning brought it to 7-1. After the Orioles reloaded the bases, Dylan Beavers walked in another run.
And we went on. When the smoke cleared, the Baltimore Orioles, the former St. Louis Browns, or whatever you wanted to call them…the team wearing Orange & Black, were winning 13-1. St. Louis brought in a position player to pitch before it ended.
Pete Alonso asked for out of the lineup after the fifth inning. Alonso’s been slightly injured for awhile, yet he still produced. You have to hope it’s nothing serious and nothing lingering. In short, you have to hope it’s Alonso seeing the scoreboard and reading the writing on the wall.
Chris Bassitt played as big a role as anyone. He kept pitching and saved the bullpen – after a 37 minute fifth inning where he was on the bench. The Orioles also drove a stake through the St. Louis bullpen, setting up the rest of the series nicely.
The series continues tomorrow at Busch Stadium. Kyle Bradish gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by St. Louis’ Michael McGreevey. Game time is set for 7:45 PM.
Birdland Crush 