DETROIT — The day was supposed to be about Tarik Skubal receiving a sendoff worthy of a future Hall of Famer pitching perhaps his final game for the Tigers. Detroit jumped out to a seven-run lead, and the Baltimore Orioles, with three errors and a hopeless offense, played the part of the quiet visiting team fading into the background of the pomp and circumstance.

That all changed in the seventh, when the Orioles knocked Skubal out of the game and plated five runs to arouse startled boos from the Comerica Park crowd. Baltimore (53-56) then tied the game in the ninth on Coby Mayo’s two-run triple, plated two runs in the 11th, gave them right back, then won 10-9 in the 12th on Colton Cowser’s go-ahead single.

Try to keep up.

Just when it seemed the club might have sealed its trade deadline fate, the Orioles pulled off their largest comeback win since setting their franchise record with a nine-run explosion to beat the Boston Red Sox, 11-10, on June 30, 2009. It was just the third time in Orioles history (1954 to present) that they won a game after trailing by seven runs or more.

Baltimore scored the game-winning run in the 12th when Cowser worked a 3-2 count against left-hander Drew Sommers and caught a sinker inside, lining it up the middle to score automatic runner Taylor Ward from third. Grant Wolfram, who entered the game in the 11th, combined with Andrew Kittredge to close out the miraculous victory.

It was a game that threatened to go either way throughout extra innings. Baltimore took its first lead in the 11th on a sacrifice fly by catcher Yahel Pozo that was set up by Leody Taveras’ sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position. Jackson Holliday, who went 2 for 3 off the bench, tacked on an insurance run with an RBI single, but it wasn’t enough.

Rico Garcia took the ball and immediately surrendered his fourth home run in his past five games to first baseman Spencer Torkelson. The Tigers then put another runner aboard with two outs, but Wolfram replaced Garcia and induced a popout from shortstop Kevin McGonigle to end the inning, setting up Cowser for the game-winning hit.

The highly anticipated pitching matchup between two prized left-handers shrouded in trade rumors looked like a one-sided affair early.

Skubal struck out Ward in the first at-bat of the game to become the fastest pitcher in Tigers history to 1,000 career strikeouts, and he cruised from there until the seventh. The biggest potential crown jewel of this year’s deadline walked off the mound to a standing ovation in recognition that he could be traded by Monday’s deadline.

Trevor Rogers, another potential trade candidate, retired the first six batters he faced until Torkelson led off the bottom of the third with a single. The Tigers plated their first run two batters later on an RBI single by Gleyber Torres, but the Orioles gifted them another when Torres got caught in a rundown, and Pete Alonso threw the ball away into left field. Right fielder Matt Vierling scored on the play, and Torres came around for an unearned run on a sacrifice fly.

Detroit, which beat the Orioles 14-0 on Tuesday, appeared to put the game away early for the second straight day. Vierling led off the fifth with a line drive to center field that got past a sliding Taveras and went down as a triple. He came up lame on the play, and Zach McKinstry pinch ran for him, scoring on a double by Báez. Third baseman Hao-Yu Lee then made it 5-0 with a sacrifice fly, and a pair of errors in the sixth stretched that lead to 7-0.

The Orioles’ three errors in the game — Christian Encarnacion-Strand also bobbled a ground ball, and Gunnar Henderson didn’t complete a routine throw across the diamond on consecutive plays — gave them 73 on the season, retaking the American League lead. Their 69 unearned run this season are also the highest in MLB and more than they had all of 2025 (67).

As a result, Rogers finished with seven runs allowed (four earned) on eight hits, zero walks and six strikeouts over six innings. If it does wind up being his final start in an Orioles uniform, Rogers will have finished his Baltimore career with a 3.36 ERA over 42 starts after being acquired from the Miami Marlins at the 2024 deadline.

The Orioles’ offense finally woke up in the seventh when Taveras hit an RBI single off Skubal for his final batter of the game. Detroit manager A.J. Hinch then turned to right-hander Kyle Finnegan, who didn’t record a single out. Jeremiah Jackson walked to load the bases, and Holliday followed with a pinch-hit, two-run single. Holliday then stole second and scored on a single by Ward to cut the Tigers’ lead to two.

After a scoreless inning by Anthony Nunez, Henderson led off the eighth with a walk off right-hander Drew Anderson and moved to second on an ill-advised attempt by Torres to throw him out on a weak ground ball by Dylan Beavers. Henderson and Beavers then tied the game when Mayo hit a deep flyball off the center-field wall for his first career triple.

Yennier Cano and Tigers closer Kenley Jansen traded zeroes in the ninth to send the game to extra innings, and Tyler Wells did the same with right-hander Jacob Waguespack, inducing a game-saving double play with one out and a runner on third to keep the Orioles alive.

The Orioles’ win pulled them to within two games of the final wild-card spot in the AL while simultaneously preventing the Tigers from moving into a tie with them in the standings.

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