Good morning, birdland,

Baseball season will last at least another day. The Dodgers’ bullpen game approach on Tuesday night didn’t go well, as the Yankees scored against each of their four teams, including a grand slam by Anthony Volpe in the third inning. The Bombers’ 11-4 win will force a fifth game tonight.

It’s not all bad for the Dodgers, however. They didn’t use any of their best substitutes in the defeat and instead hoped the B team could pull off a miracle. While this wasn’t possible, it still leaves the strong part of the pen completely rested. The Yankees, on the other hand, used Luke Weaver, Clay Holmes, Mark Leiter Jr. and Tim Hill in consecutive games. This is the World Series. These guys are not off limits for Aaron Boone tonight. But it’s possible they won’t be at their best, especially in late October.

You can imagine that Boone and the Yankees fan base is more focused on offense. After struggling through the first three games of this series, they came to life in Game 4 (and the Dodgers’ pitching was particularly bad). They scored 11 runs on just nine hits as they also walked six times and were hit by a pitch. Aaron Judge even got a hit!

It’s back to reality for the Yankees tonight. They will face a true starter as we get the same matchup as in Game 1: Jack Flaherty vs. Gerrit Cole. Both were good in Game 1, although Cole was better. First pitch is 8:08 from the Bronx.

Left

The World Series is about huge stars. Do the Orioles have one? | The Baltimore Banner
It really depends on your definition of a “star”. The Orioles don’t have players with great track records like the Dodgers and Yankees do. But they have plenty of talent and there’s reason to believe they’re still on the rise.

Despite the struggles, the Orioles offense has no obvious holes to fill this offseason The Baltimore Sun
That’s right, at least they don’t have any holes anywhere. But they have responsibilities to fulfill in terms of clubhouse presence. Anthony Santander could be a big loss in that regard, and even if the slugger returns to Baltimore, the Orioles need at least one more experienced voice who has “been there and done that” in the postseason.

Douglas Hodo III’s first home run in the Fall League | MLB.com
Hodo was an interesting player to follow in the summer. He filled the stat sheet in Aberdeen, hitting 42 bases and getting on base at a .397 clip. The Orioles could have something in the former sixth-round pick.

We look at three more opportunities for the Orioles to improve in 2025 – Roch Kubatko
Two of the reasons seem to really need to happen: Adleyrutschman needs to get better and Jackson Holliday needs to settle in. The Orioles are talented enough to turn around one black hole in the lineup, but not two.

Orioles birthdays

Is it your birthday? Happy Birthday!

• Luis Matos turns 46 today. From 2000 to 2006, Matos patrolled the Orioles’ outfield. In 494 total games, he had a .688 OPS, hit 72 bases and played brilliant defense at times.

This day in the history of O

1986 – The Orioles traded pitcher Storm Davis to the Padres for catcher Terry Kennedy and then-minor league pitcher Mark Williamson. It’s a trade that works well for Baltimore. Kennedy made the All-Star team in 1987 and Williamson pitched out of the bullpen for the O’s over the next eight seasons while Davis struggled to post a 6.18 ERA in a total of 21 games with San Diego.