Orioles spoil potential no-hitter with incredible comeback vs Dodgers

Yamamoto needed just four pitches to get the first two outs of the ninth inning; he had now retired 19 Orioles in a row. On a night meant to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr. breaking the all-time record for consecutive games played, the Orioles were one out away from perhaps the most humiliating loss of a brutally disappointing season.

Almost 20 minutes later, however, the Orioles instead celebrated an incredible victory that made the Iron Man proud. And all it took was one hit to suddenly spring the entire lineup to life.

Jackson Holliday, who gave Baltimore their first walk-off win of the year on August 13, played spoiler by belting a cutter just over the right center field wall. The 21-year-old's 17th homer of the season got the Orioles on the board and knocked Yamamoto out of the game; from there, the rest of the batting order got to work against Blake Treinen.

Still down 3-1 and one out away from defeat, Jeremiah Jackson battled Treinen in a seven-pitch at-bat that ended in a double to left center field. The Dodgers' hard-throwing righty then completely lost his command; he plunked Gunnar Henderson with a pitch and walked both Ryan Mountcastle and Colton Cowser on top of throwing a wild pitch. Cowser's walk forced in a run and made it 3-2, with the bases still loaded. The Camden Yards crowd, which had little to cheer for outside of a fifth-inning ceremony for Ripken, was alive and on its feet.

The Dodgers turned to their closer, Tanner Scott, to clean up Treinen's mess by getting just one out. But Orioles third baseman Emmanuel Rivera had other ideas. He lined a single into center field, easily scoring the tying run (Henderson) from third, while pinch-runner Jorge Mateo raced home from second base with the game-winning run. Despite having the bases empty, two outs, and no hits, the Orioles turned a 3-0 deficit into a 4-3 win.

Baltimore has certainly shown a flair for the dramatic as of late. When Holliday walked off the Seattle Mariners in the aforementioned August 13 game, the Orioles became the last team in the league to earn their first walk-off win of the season. Fast-forward to Saturday, and the Orioles now have three walk-offs in their last 11 games at Camden Yards, including two in as many nights; Samuel Basallo had played hero the previous night with a game-winning home run, also off Tanner Scott.

Baseball works in mysterious ways, as Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino alluded to "magic" from celebrating Cal Ripken Jr.'s historic night. Perhaps it also served as a deserving tribute to beloved Orioles player and manager Davey Johnson, who passed away earlier in the day.

But chalking it up to "magic" would ignore the incredible resilience the Orioles showed, as they rallied around each other to turn a near-certain loss into a win that, regardless of the 2025 season's outcome, will be remembered for years to come.