It was not an evening billed as "Fantastic Fans Night" as it was in May 1988. Then, just days after the Orioles had snapped their 0-21 start to the season, more than 50,000 fans showed up to welcome them home at Baltimore's Memorial Stadium.
But when the Orioles rallied for five runs in the last of the eighth last night and took a 10-6 lead over the Los Angeles Angels, a crowd of 15,867 - some of them there, no doubt, because Shohei Ohtani was pitching - roared their approval. It sounded like 50,000, and a 19-game losing streak, which reminded some of that 1988 streak, was about to end.
"It was so exciting to get the win, and I also want to give a shout-out to our fans here," Trey Mancini said after the streak-ender was over. "They were great, from start to finish. We went down, I think, 6-2 there and they were amazing and stuck with us, and luckily we were able to come back. But they really were behind us tonight, and I'm so thankful and we are so thankful, especially after this streak, that they're still so supportive of us."
It was loud in the ballpark and it was loud where the Orioles let off some steam and celebrated their first win since Aug. 2 and first home win since July 28.
"The clubhouse is loud right now," manager Brandon Hyde said. "There's a lot of people that are very excited, relieved. It's good to hear our guys feel good about the game they just played. I'm real excited about how we played. We played real good baseball tonight. And this is a lot of relief, for sure. It's been really, really difficult."
So, there was a lot of relief and finally some happiness throughout Birdland. Fun was back at Camden Yards.
"I just think we're so relieved," said Hyde. "It's just like, this has been a really challenging year. An incredibly hard three weeks. You know, these guys have dealt with a lot. Even though there are low expectations and rebuilding or whatever you want to call it, it's not fun to lose. And it's not fun to get beat and, you know, you want to show your fans that the big league club is going to be a fun team to watch and we're going to be pretty good in a couple years and there are some pieces that are coming, etc. So that's what's just been disappointing. We want to give the fans something to cheer about."
They did that from the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning last night. Future Most Valuable Oriole Cedric Mullins hit his seventh leadoff homer, his 22nd of the season, and the crowd cheered. Two outs later, Anthony Santander homered.
In a span of four batters, Ohtani had allowed more homers than he gave up in any start this year. And he matched the total of homers he had allowed in his last seven combined starts over 40 2/3 innings.
It was a stunning start against a pitcher with a 1.36 ERA his past five games. A pitcher who allowed four runs or more just twice in 18 games. He would give up four to the Orioles, yielding three home runs over five innings.
The crowd was ready for a streak to end.
"There was great energy in the ballpark," Hyde said. "From the first, as soon as Cedric hit that homer. It was a loud crowd. There was a lot of orange out there. I think our guys fed off that too. It was a fun crowd to play in front of. We appreciate the people coming out and we appreciate the energy they brought us."
The O's bullpen had a big hand in the win. After the Angels had scored six runs off Chris Ellis and Marcos Diplán, they were shut out the rest of the way. Connor Greene, Cole Sulser, Dillon Tate, Tanner Scott and Tyler Wells combined to throw six innings of scoreless ball, allowing just one hit. The Angels went 1-for-19 against them.
In losing three games over the weekend against Atlanta, the Orioles had scored five runs in the three games. At that point they had scored 18 runs their previous 10 games. Now they have 18 in two games versus the Angels.
Santander went 3-for-4 and has recorded back-to-back games with at least three hits for the first time in his career. He is 7-for-9 in this series with three doubles and two homers.
Of his 14 homers this year, 11 have come at home, including each of his past nine. And eight of his 14 homers have come in the month of August. Entering last night his 1.055 OPS this month led the American League.
Mullins was 4-for-36 his last nine games, and then he went 2-for-4 with three RBIs in the win. He had gone 10 straight games without a multi-hit game, his longest streak this season. Entering the game, Mullins' 16 first-inning extra-base hits were tied for the most in the majors with Mookie Betts and Ohtani. He hit his 10th career leadoff homer.
Austin Hays delivered a huge pinch-hit, two-run double during the eighth-inning rally that gave the Orioles a 9-6 lead. Until that two-bagger, Hays was 0-for-9 in his career as a pinch-hitter with two walks and an RBI. This marked his fifth-career hit with the bases loaded, and first since May 8 at Boston.
The Orioles are now 5-69 when trailing after seven innings.
They scored 10 or more for the first time since beating Houston 13-3 June 29.
3:45 PM - @TreyMancini and @AustinWynns cleanse the dugout energy with sage.
-- Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 26, 2021
10:26 PM - O's extend the winning streak to one.
ðŸ‘OriolesðŸ‘Magic pic.twitter.com/oBC3L1WoFH