Orioles drop series finale vs. Cardinals, 7-5, to fall 3 games back of playoffs

Jacob Calvin Meyer, Baltimore Sun on Aug 27, 2026

Published in Baseball

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ST. LOUIS — The Orioles this week took two of three from the Cardinals for Baltimore’s third series win in four tries.

However, they’re now in a worse position in the American League wild-card race than they were before.

After taking the first two games against the Cardinals, the Orioles lost, 7-5, on Thursday. Trevor Rogers gave up two homers and six runs, while the late comeback attempt from Baltimore’s bats came up short.

The Orioles (65-69) will head to Sacramento to take on the lowly Athletics with only two teams standing between them and a playoff spot. But one of those teams is the hottest team in baseball, making it more difficult by the day to envision the Orioles going on a September run to claim the AL’s third and final wild-card spot.

After Thursday’s loss, the Orioles are three games back of a Cleveland Guardians team that’s won seven in a row to get back above .500. If the Guardians (68-66) can build on this run the way the Boston Red Sox were earlier this season, there might be little the Orioles can do to salvage what’s largely been a disappointing campaign.

The last time the Orioles were three games back of a playoff spot was Aug. 10. They’ve since gone 8-7 to put themselves in a slightly better position than several other wild-card hopefuls, but that mark matches the type of .500 ball the team has played for months. Baltimore is 11-11 since the trade deadline and 19-18 since the All-Star break.

The Orioles have six more games on their road trip against two of MLB’s worst ballclubs, the Athletics and Colorado Rockies. Winning at least four of those games is imperative for Baltimore’s playoff odds, which FanGraphs puts at 16.1%.

The Orioles took early leads in each of the first two games of the series, but the Cardinals (67-68) made sure that trend didn’t continue for Thursday’s matinee. Rogers allowed three straight hits in the second inning, the last of which was a three-run home from Blaze Jordan, to break the scoreless tie. Old friend Ramón Urías then put the Cardinals up 5-0 in the fourth inning with a two-run blast, and Rogers allowed his sixth and final run on an Alec Burleson RBI groundout in the fifth.

Rogers struck out seven across his five innings, but the two long balls — both on pitches in the heart of the plate — did him in. The left-hander has been one of the Orioles’ most steady starters since June, but his ERA rose to 4.38 with his loss Thursday.

Baltimore’s bats struggled for most of the game against the Cardinals’ bullpen. Opener Gordon Graceffo tossed three perfect innings with four strikeouts, and Justin Bruihl and Luis Gastelum combined to toss three frames of one-run ball. Colton Cowser got the Orioles on the board in the fifth with a sacrifice fly, but it was a big fly from Coby Mayo in the seventh that got Baltimore back in the game.

Against left-hander Caleb Ferguson, Mayo clobbered a 446-foot three-run homer to center field to put the Orioles down only two runs. The former top prospect has been one of the sport’s top performers against southpaws this season with a .307 average and 1.109 OPS. He has more homers (14) than singles (13) in 124 plate appearances against lefties, and that long ball tally is tied with Matt Olson for most in MLB.

Gunnar Henderson then put the Orioles down one run in the eighth with an RBI double that scored Jackson Holliday, who went 2 for 4 with a double and another web gem after his game-saving diving play Wednesday. But Henderson was then thrown out at third on a grounder back to the pitcher to hamper the Orioles’ chances of tying the game.

The Cardinals added an insurance run on a Nathan Church RBI single in the bottom of the eighth against reliever Anthony Nunez. Cowser’s two-out single against All-Star closer Riley O’Brien brought the tying run to the plate, but Leody Taveras grounded out to end the game.