Mayo wows teammates with 2nd-deck HR: 'That would have gone out of Yosemite'

BALTIMORE -- The ball was flying out of Camden Yards with ease during a slugfest between the Cubs and the Orioles on Wednesday night, when the two teams combined for nine home runs during Chicago’s 9-7 win over Baltimore.

Only one of those homers, though, landed in extremely rare territory.

Coby Mayo came off the bench and jolted a Statcast-projected 420-foot home run off left-hander Caleb Thielbar in the eighth inning -- a solo shot that left the 24-year-old right-handed slugger’s bat at 113 mph and at a launch angle of 32 degrees. It was barreled and absolutely clobbered.

Not only that, but Mayo’s homer became only the eighth to land in the second deck in left field at Camden Yards, which opened at the start of the 1992 season.

“I mean, that would have gone out of Yosemite,” first baseman Pete Alonso said. “That was just an absolute beauty of one.”

Here’s the full list of the exclusive group:

Camden Yards second-deck home runs
Rex Hudler -- June 11, 1995, for the Angels
Mark Reynolds -- Aug. 7, 2011, for the Orioles
Manny Machado -- June 2, 2017, for the Orioles
Edwin Encarnación -- June 20, 2017, for Cleveland
Pete Alonso -- Sept. 2, 2020, for the Mets
Maikel Franco -- June 8, 2021, for the Orioles
Austin Hays -- June 7, 2022, for the Orioles
Coby Mayo -- July 8, 2026, for the Orioles

So, Alonso knows how challenging it is to get one up there, considering he achieved the feat on Sept. 2, 2020, with a 409-foot solo shot off John Means.

Mayo’s homer may have been even more impressive in Alonso’s eyes.

“Majestic. Absolutely majestic shot,” Alonso said. “It’s tough. That’s a tough go. He got every single bit of that baseball, and that’s one he’s probably going to remember. He’s definitely going to tell stories about that long, long after this to hopefully his kids and grandkids. I know, for me, the one I got up in that one, I know I got that one really good and that’s one that sticks with you.”

Of Mayo’s 11 home runs this season, eight have come off left-handed pitchers. Though the youngster continues to struggle against righties (a .147 average with a .446 OPS in 164 plate appearances), he is mashing vs. southpaws (a .294 average with a 1.098 OPS in 77 plate appearances).

As the Orioles tried to battle back into Wednesday’s game, it became obvious that Mayo would be among the hitters to come off the bench when the Cubs went to the left-handed Thielbar.

“I think it's kind of just a testament of how prepared he was,” said outfielder Dylan Beavers, whom Mayo pinch-hit for. “It's hard to hit a homer in the big leagues ever, but coming off the bench and doing that is really impressive. He’s just got a good routine and sticks to it.”

Mayo’s home run was Baltimore’s first pinch-hit blast since ... an inning earlier, as Tyler O’Neill came off the bench and began the bottom of the seventh with a homer off lefty Drew Pomeranz. Prior to that, the O’s most recent pinch-hit home run had occurred on July 26, 2025 (Alex Jackson against the Rockies).

O’Neill homered a second time in the eighth, following Mayo’s solo shot with one of his own. It was the first time the Orioles got a multi-homer game from a player who didn’t start since Ramón Laureano had two home runs on April 19, 2025, vs. the Reds.

However, all of these O’s home runs weren’t enough to overcome a sizable deficit against the Cubs, who hit four solo shots off Dean Kremer and broke the game open with a five-run seventh that gave them a 9-3 lead.

Baltimore had the tying run at the plate with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, but Gunnar Henderson was robbed of a hit on a diving play by shortstop Dansby Swanton to end the inning. The Orioles then went down in order in the ninth.

“Something I’ve been talking about with this group all year -- they don’t quit, they don’t give in and they fight until the last out,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Our guys did a good job of fighting back. Who knows what would happen if Dansby didn’t make an unbelievable play up the middle on Gunnar’s line drive.

“I was proud of our guys for fighting, but still came up short.”