After 9th-inning comeback, Orioles fall in walk-off loss

CLEVELAND -- Even though the Orioles are in control of the American League East race, they haven’t wrapped up the division title yet. Every game matters down the stretch, and Baltimore can’t rely on Tampa Bay losing out or ending on a skid (even though it could happen).

That’s what made the conclusion to Friday’s seesaw battle in Cleveland especially disappointing.

After the Orioles nearly completed an improbable comeback win -- which would have been nothing new for a team with 48 come-from-behind victories this season -- the Guardians rallied in the bottom of the ninth inning, as David Fry’s walk-off two-run double handed Baltimore a 9-8 loss at Progressive Field.

“That’s a tough loss,” manager Brandon Hyde said.

The Rays lost to the Blue Jays earlier in the night, dropping the Orioles’ magic number to clinch the AL East to six. But the O’s could have lowered it by one more had they won.

• Games remaining (8): at CLE (2), vs. WSH (2), vs. BOS (4)
• Standings update: The Orioles (95-59) and the Rays (94-61) are in a tight race atop the American League East, with Tampa Bay 1 1/2 games back. However, should that gap tighten further, Baltimore owns the tiebreaker by virtue of winning the season series between the two teams, 8-5. The AL East champion will be the No. 1 seed and get a bye into the best-of-five Division Series. If the O’s fall out of first place, they will be the No. 4 seed and host a best-of-three Wild Card Series at Camden Yards.
• Magic number for AL East: 6

It sure seemed like Baltimore was going to win after an impressive rally in the top of the ninth.

Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase came in and retired the first two batters of the inning. With Baltimore down to its final out, Cleveland had a 96.5 percent win probability at that point, per Baseball Savant.

Then, the Orioles got new life when Clase hit Anthony Santander with a pitch. Ryan O’Hearn followed with an infield single, and he and pinch-runner Ryan McKenna each moved up a base when Clase bounced a wild pitch, putting both in scoring position.

“Our offense is never down for the count,” said starter Dean Kremer, who allowed six runs (three earned) in 3 1/3 innings. “They’ve been really clutch pretty much the whole season. When we need hits, we get hits. When we need runs, we get runs.”

Baltimore got a big hit and a pair of runs via Aaron Hicks, who was down to his final strike when he chopped a two-run double the opposite way to left field and put the Orioles ahead, 8-7. That shifted the win probability in favor of the O’s, who then had an 83.3 percent chance at victory.

All the Orioles needed was three outs from All-Star right-hander Yennier Cano, one of the team’s biggest success stories of 2023. It’s been his job to try to help make up for the loss of All-Star closer Félix Bautista, who remains on the injured list with a partial right UCL tear.

Cano began the bottom of the ninth by giving up a double to Andrés Giménez, who then moved up to third base on a Gabriel Arias groundout.

Hyde opted to intentionally walk the left-handed-hitting Will Brennan -- putting the potential winning run on base -- and have Cano face the righty-hitting Fry in a more favorable matchup.

“He’s just a heavy ground-ball guy,” Hyde said. “I want to take my chance with the right-hander there, being that Cano usually gets a ground ball.”

But this time, Fry belted a 100.2 mph, 386-foot double to left-center field, scoring both Giménez and Brennan, sending the Cleveland fans into a frenzy.

It’s hard not to imagine what may have happened instead if Baltimore still had Bautista.

“Obviously, he went out there and did that better than anyone else,” Cano said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “He’s definitely missed, but we just try to go out there and get the job done.”

Cano, who has been lights-out for much of the season, has struggled of late. The 29-year-old rookie has allowed eight runs (six earned) in eight innings over his past 10 appearances, recording a 6.75 ERA over that stretch. He’s also struck out only two in that span (35 batters faced).

Of course, it likely hasn’t helped that the Orioles have been leaning quite heavily on their bullpen, which hasn’t gotten a light night of work this week. Due to Kremer’s short start, Baltimore used six relievers. It has now made 32 calls to the ‘pen over its past six games.

“We’re battling. They’re hanging in there,” Hyde said.

Despite a three-game losing streak, Cano is confident in Baltimore’s ability to respond over the final two games of the series in Cleveland, with a welcome off-day coming Monday. He believes the O’s are still soon going to be crowned AL East champs for the first time since 2014.

“You win some, you lose some,” Cano said. “That’s going to be baseball sometimes. But I have 100 percent confidence that we’re going to be able to play really good the rest of the way and win the division.”