More baseball is being played while the Orioles regroup and think about 2025. They'll move past the crushing Wild Card loss to Kansas City but also use it to avoid feeling this way next fall.

Since we're looking back ...

* The Orioles worked backward over the last few seasons and it’s skewed perceptions that lead to some skewering of the organization. At least, that’s my theory and I’m floating it like a birthday balloon.

They unexpectedly won 83 games in 2022 after losing 110 the previous summer. Then, they jumped to 101 wins in 2023 to claim the division and earn the top seed.

This team raises bars like Jon Taffer.

Mike Elias’ annual season-ending press conference lasted 36 minutes today at Camden Yards. The time wasn’t an issue.

It was the date.

The Orioles thought they’d be playing games instead of packing and heading home. The sixth-year executive vice president/general manager didn’t want to reflect only a few days into October.

The Royals swept the best-of-three Wild Card series and traveled to New York for the Division Series. Some Orioles players and coaches returned to the ballpark today, including major league field coordinator Tim Cossins, pitchers Dean Kremer and Seranthony Domínguez and infielder Jorge Mateo, to grab the rest of their belongings. Everyone believed they had a chance to hoist a World Series trophy, but they didn’t get close to it.

“Clearly a very disappointing, bitter ending, whatever word you want to use. I think a lot of those words were used last night by the players and those of us in the organization that spoke publicly,” Elias said.

After Orioles starting pitchers covered just eight innings in the 2023 American League Division Series versus Texas, O’s 2024 ace Corbin Burnes matched that innings total in one night.

He was that good.

But even giving up one run was too many on this night as the Orioles were held to five hits, went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and were shutout 1-0 by Kansas City in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card round.

The Orioles had scored 22 runs in a three-game sweep at Minnesota and 56 runs with a team OPS of .797 in their last 10 regular season games.

But the O’s have now been blanked four times since Sept. 8 and that is a 20-game span.

The long-assumed Orioles starter for today’s Game 2 of the Wild Card series became official last night. Manager Brandon Hyde, without a drum roll in the interview room, announced that Zach Eflin would pitch.

The reasoning behind the delay might remain a secret. The outcome of Game 1 was cited as a reason. Did that imply that a win over the Royals might push back Eflin rather than going for the kill with the team’s other ace?

Dean Kremer could have moved up. Rookie Cade Povich wasn’t dismissed as a possibility after his inclusion on the Wild Card roster.

Whatever was going on, Eflin must be the stopper today or the Orioles’ latest run toward a champion is halted.

At least there’s a run. They couldn’t score one yesterday for Corbin Burnes.

In sizing up the last two regular seasons, where the Orioles posted 192 wins to rank second-most in the majors, O’s skipper Brandon Hyde noted the differences Monday afternoon at his press conference ahead of Game 1 of the AL Wild Card playoff series with Kansas City. 

There were big differences between how one team won 101 games and a division title and the other faced real challenges to get to 91 victories and a Wild Card berth.

“Last year there were so many things that went right throughout the regular season,” said Hyde. “The one thing that went wrong was (Félix) Bautista there at the end. But it felt like we won a lot of games that maybe we shouldn’t have at the time. We had a lot of comebacks.

“And this year was just a little more of a grind. Way more injuries. A big part of our rotation that we lost. There were a lot of things we dealt with that we didn’t have to deal with last year.

“I’m hoping it makes us tougher honestly. The adversity our guys went through this year, I hope it benefits us this postseason. I think it’s going to benefit guys in the future.

The Orioles returned to the visiting clubhouse Sunday at Target Field and still didn’t know their opponent for the Wild Card series that begins this afternoon at Camden Yards. The Royals were winning in the ninth inning. The Tigers were losing in the ninth inning. The drama was high for anyone paying attention to it.

The interest from players was low. Every television was tuned to the NFL. They punted on watching baseball.

“Whoever shows up,” shortstop Gunnar Henderson said yesterday, “just go out there and continue to play our game.”

They got the Royals.

“We weren’t too worried about who it would be in the sense,” Henderson said. “Just got to know that we’ve got to go out there and continue to play. It’s postseason, so anything can happen, and they’re two outstanding teams. So we’re just going out there and trying to play the best ball that we can play.”

MINNEAPOLIS – Never mind that the Tigers refused to lose again tonight, still behaving like a team determined to run the table. The Orioles used their own tools to nail down the home Wild Card.

Ryan O’Hearn hit his first home run since Aug. 27, Cade Povich twirled 5 2/3 scoreless innings and the Orioles pulled away from the Twins for a 7-2 victory at Target Field.

Game 1 of the best-of-three Wild Card Series will be played at Camden Yards, with the opponent and time to be determined. It’s finally done.

The Orioles can adjust their rotation this weekend and rest some regulars. They can schedule their Monday workout. The only reason to check the out-of-town scoreboard is curiosity or boredom.

“We’re disappointed that we didn’t win the division but to get home field through the Wild Card is huge," said manager Brandon Hyde. "We’re gonna be pumped to play in front of our fans. We know there’s gonna be a lot of energy and excitement in the ballpark and our guys are really looking forward to that.”

The Orioles' 2024 regular season will come to an end this weekend before they begin the Wild Card Series on Tuesday, they hope at home.

The Orioles (88-71) need one more win or a Tigers loss to clinch the top Wild Card spot as the No. 4 seed in the six-team playoff field in the American League.

Kansas City and Detroit (both 85-74) could clinch playoff spots tonight. The Royals would clinch with a win in Atlanta or a Twins loss. The Tigers would clinch with a win versus the White Sox or a Twins loss.

Minnesota's only chance to make it is to sweep Baltimore and then have either Kansas City or Detroit get swept.

Should the Orioles lockdown the fourth seed, they then await to find out which club they would play. Kansas City holds the tiebreaker over Detroit.

When manager Brandon Hyde used the word "collaborative" to describe the decision to shorten Corbin Burnes' start last night, it was clear the O's, the pitching coaches, Hyde and Burnes had all decided that was how last night would go for him.

He was dealing in throwing 69 pitches over five innings, but that was as far as he would pitch on this night.

Unfortunately for the Orioles, the bullpen could not take it from there and three pitchers walked four and allowed six runs to immediately see the Yankees blow the game open.

The Yankees got a 10-1 win and clinched the AL East, while the O's head to Minnesota still needing a win to clinch the top Wild Card spot.  

Baltimore was not conceding the game with this move, but the way the last of the sixth played out, it looked like it. 

With 5-3 and 9-7 wins the last two nights at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles can sweep their three-game series at New York tonight.

The Orioles (88-70) have four games left in the regular season and a series at Minnesota beginning tomorrow night.

They have five sweeps this year of at least three games, but none since early June. They swept three at Boston April 9-11, versus Minnesota April 15-17 and at Cincinnati May 3-5. Their past two sweeps are four-game sweeps at the Chicago White Sox May 23-26 and at Tampa Bay June 7-10.

In going 8-4 this season against the Yankees, the Orioles have a team ERA of 3.75 allowing a .698 OPS in the 12 games. The O's batters score 5.08 runs per game with a .754 OPS.

In going 4-1 at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles have scored 40 runs with a .320 batting average and .908 OPS.