Orioles beat Blue Jays, 4-2, stave off elimination to open doubleheader

Taylor Lyons, The Baltimore Sun on Sep 23, 2026

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — The Orioles are on the verge of being eliminated from postseason contention, entering Wednesday five games back of a playoff spot with five games to play.

Those hopes will stay alive for at least a few more hours.

Baltimore beat the Blue Jays, 4-2, to open a doubleheader against Toronto on Wednesday afternoon. In a game that was originally scheduled for Tuesday but postponed because of rain, Pete Alonso hit his 41st home run of the season, and Chris Bassitt shut down his old team.

The loss eliminates the Blue Jays from postseason contention. They’ll have a chance to get back at the Orioles in the second game, which starts at 6:35 p.m. ET. Baltimore has yet to announce a starting pitcher.

The Orioles struck first in the second inning. Jeremiah Jackson singled Christian Encarnacion-Strand home, then Jackson helped score the second run by intentionally getting caught in a rundown to give Colton Cowser time to reach the plate.

Alonso doubled his team’s lead with his American League-leading 41st long ball of the season in the fifth inning. Named the Most Valuable Oriole on Wednesday, he’s also tied for the league lead in RBIs.

Baltimore’s offense fell silent after that, but Bassitt provided enough room. He tamed the Blue Jays over five scoreless innings, then exited with two runners on and none out in the sixth.

Luis de León nearly escaped cleanly, but the left-hander allowed two runs to score on a throwing error by Jackson. Anthony Nunez ended the inning.

Toronto brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the ninth against Andrew Kittredge before two flyouts and a strikeout sealed the Orioles’ 77th win of the year.

Earlier, Bassitt left the mound after likely his final start of the season to a nice ovation from the sparse Camden Yards crowd of an announced 10,562. Signed to a one-year, $18.5 million deal late in the offseason, the veteran right-hander missed more than two months after undergoing midseason back surgery. He returned with 20 appearances and 18 starts, posting a 4.59 ERA over 102 innings.

When he was available, Bassitt provided the back-end stability the Orioles sought.

Bassitt and Alonso were two of the club’s biggest free agent acquisitions last winter. While the latter did his job and the former largely did, too, they couldn’t help a flailing team around them that fell into an early-season hole and never quite climbed out of.

That ongoing chase has left them here, entering Wednesday unable to lose any of their five remaining contests. A loss in the doubleheader opener would have sealed the Orioles’ fate. Instead, a win will push that possible conclusion until at least Wednesday night, when either a loss to the Blue Jays or a Chicago White Sox win would eliminate Baltimore from playing in October.

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