Alonso's slide home rewards O's for risky moves late vs. Cubs

BALTIMORE -- In the late stages of a mid-July game on Thursday afternoon, Craig Albernaz was managing like it was October -- because if the rookie skipper doesn’t manage like this now, his Orioles may not end up making it to October.

One sequence during the eighth inning of the O's 3-2 victory over the Cubs at Camden Yards -- a win that was much needed, as they all are at this point -- flipped the contest. In the process, it showed what Albernaz is willing to do to come out on top.

Here was the situation: Trailing 2-1, the Orioles had runners on first and second with one out in the bottom of the eighth after Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso were hit by consecutive pitches from right-hander Tyler Ferguson. Although Ferguson was struggling with command, Baltimore opted to send the left-handed-hitting Dylan Beavers to the plate in place of Tyler O’Neill (who had homered in the second inning).

It seemed to be a good spot for Beavers. But Albernaz also thought it might trigger a countermove from Chicago manager Craig Counsell -- and he was right. The Cubs pulled Ferguson and called on lefty Ryan Rolison.

At that point, Albernaz knew he was going to counter that counter by deploying the right-handed-hitting Jeremiah Jackson as a second pinch-hitter. Sure, Beavers would be done for the day. But it set up a matchup in which the O’s were quite confident.

“That’s a move we were anticipating,” Albernaz said. “The right opportunity presented itself. Rolison is a really tough lefty, and once they made the move, J.J. was ready to hit.”

He certainly was. Jackson pounced on a low 1-1 four-seam fastball from Rolison and drove a 106.5 mph liner to the right-center-field gap.

Henderson easily scored the tying run from second. Then, third-base coach Buck Britton was aggressive in sending Alonso, who scampered all the way around from first and beat a relay throw with a headfirst slide into home plate to give the Orioles a 3-2 lead.

Everything about the play worked to perfection.

Jackson was the right man for the spot. The 26-year-old is now hitting .300 (15-for-50) with 27 RBIs with runners in scoring position this season.

“I don't think anything changes,” Jackson said. “I think it's the same as a ninth-inning at-bat with a game on the line and a first-inning at-bat. I think you just try to stay as calm as possible and stick to your approach and just try to get a good pitch.”

Other Baltimore players were confident Jackson would come through.

“He’s clutch,” said right-hander Andrew Kittredge, who worked a scoreless ninth for the save. “He seems to step up in big moments like that.”

Credit must also be given to both Britton and Alonso. It was a close play at the plate, but Alonso went from first to home in 11.77 seconds (per Statcast) with an average sprint speed of 26 feet/second to get there in time.

The Polar Bear may not have elite speed, but he’s willing to hustle and get dirty when needed.

“It's not the first time he's done it, and the thing about Pete is he’s a gamer,” Albernaz said. “He wants to win, loves to play. He plays the game hard, plays the game right, and you can tell right when the ball was hit and got in the gap, there was no slowing down for him. And he's making jokes about open-field speed when he gets going.”

Often this season, these types of intense, low-scoring games haven’t gone in the Orioles’ favor. That’s why they’re sitting at 43-51 -- the same record they had at the 94-game mark last year. (Though they avoided falling to a season-worst 10 games below .500.)

Baltimore still believes 2026 can end up differently than '25, when it finished 75-87 and missed the postseason after making it each of the previous two years.

After denying the Cubs a three-game sweep, the O’s will play three games at home against the Royals this weekend, their final series before the All-Star break. They’ll look to build some positive momentum and play well enough to give their front office the confidence to be buyers ahead of the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.

If Albernaz gets to manage in October, he’s showing he could be up to the task. But the Orioles must keep playing like they did Thursday to give him that chance.

“We have such a talented group in here. It’s kind of like we’re waiting for it to kind of come together,” Kittredge said. “A win like this really feels like it’s a step in the right direction.”