Baltimore’s ‘winning mentality’ was born a year ago with the first of 10 wins in a row – The Denver Post

If history is set to repeat itself, the Orioles might be on the verge of a long winning streak.

Last week, Baltimore lost its final two games against the Cincinnati Reds and then its first two versus the Minnesota Twins, only to avoid a sweep with a close win. The last time they broke a four-game losing streak with a win over the Twins, the turning point in the organization’s rebuild followed.

Monday is the one-year anniversary of the Orioles’ first win in their 10-game winning streak last July. The improbable streak, which contained eight wins of three or fewer runs and three in walk-off fashion, catapulted the Orioles from a rebuilding team expected to finish in the basement of the American League into a playoff contender.

The players who slogged through the rebuild and reached the light at the end of the tunnel say the winning streak started something that has carried over into this season — a throughline from the walk-off wins and bedlam at Camden Yards last July to now being one of the best teams in major leagues.

“We started having a winning mentality,” right fielder Anthony Santander said. “After that winning streak, everything changed. And look where we’re at right now.”

As the Orioles raced out to one of their best opening months in franchise history this year, manager Brandon Hyde was frequently asked whether he was surprised by his team’s hot start. Projections systems, oddsmakers and history all agreed Baltimore was destined to regress in 2023 after overachieving with an 83-79 record the year prior. The fifth-year skipper repeatedly said he wasn’t, noting the way his team played over the final three months last year carried over into the offseason, spring training and the regular season.

His center fielder agrees.

“The winning streak was really a boost,” Cedric Mullins said. “The unity of our team really clicked at that moment in time. Coming into this season, we had the confidence that no matter who we played that we would be dialed in every single night.

“For us to do what we did last year and come into this year, people were expecting us to kind of be the same and in some cases be a little worse. And now we’re proving people wrong.”

In addition to Mullins and Santander, third baseman Ramón Urías also braved the rebuild after making his MLB debut with the Orioles in 2020. He said the clubhouse celebrations after those games were unlike anything he experienced prior.

“It was special,” Urías said. “I don’t think we had won many games like that in the past. I’ve been here for four years, and that was the most exciting time to be here.”

The streak began with a 3-1 win over the Twins a day after the team lost in walk-off fashion on consecutive nights. Then came back-to-back extra-inning walk-off wins over the Texas Rangers — the first on a hit-by-pitch of Jorge Mateo, the second on a double from Mullins.

After a one-run win to sweep the Rangers, the Orioles then swept the Los Angeles Angels — the same team that extended Baltimore’s losing streak to 19 games a year prior — in a four-game series. The highlight was a three-run ninth for another walk-off win, with RBI hits from Adley Rutschman and Mullins leading to Trey Mancini’s game-winning single.

Seven of the 10 wins came at Camden Yards, whose seats that were empty during many games amid the rebuild were suddenly filled. The announced attendance of 32,286 for Baltimore’s 1-0 win over the Angels, the seventh in the streak, was the club’s largest for a game not played during the opening home series since 2018.

“I remember having a lot more fun in that time,” reliever Bryan Baker said. “I also remember the stadium being more filled on a general basis. The attendance was amazing and we fed off that energy a lot with a lot of those games being at home.

“Coming to the park and going to work is a lot more fun when it’s that type of environment.”

The Orioles won their next two for a sweep of the Chicago Cubs to extend the streak to 10 before having it ended by the Tampa Bay Rays.

Before the miraculous stretch, the Orioles started playing better after Rutschman’s debut in May, but they were 35-44 on July 2, 2022, and well out of the wild-card race. After the 10th win, they were above .500 that late in the season for the first time since 2017 as well as, suddenly, playoff contenders.

The streak was the club’s longest in 23 years, and the Orioles were the first team since 1889 to lose 110 games one season and win 10 in a row the next. That fun fact was one of many from the stretch, which garnered the Orioles’ on-field product national attention in a positive way for the first time since before the new regime took over. In 165 games since the streak began, the Orioles have gone 97-68.

“I think the media aspect made it as fun as it was,” Mullins said. “We were the underdog team. We had a few names that were playing well but not too many guys were getting full recognition for what they were doing. It was just one of those moments where it was like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to pay attention to us a little bit now, we’re putting together something special here.’”

The winning streak was certainly a product of the Orioles simply being a better team, but Baker said the confidence they gained from the 10 wins was immense.

“Bad teams don’t go on streaks like that, so we knew at that point, like, we’re legit,” he said. “Right before the win streak, we already kind of knew that we were playing better. But you put together a couple weeks like that and your whole perception changes even more.

“Rolling through that second half and outperforming expectations last year, it gave us a little bit of a taste of competitive baseball. It’s bled over into this year, and it seems like nobody in here is surprised at the start that we’ve had.”

Santander, who made his MLB debut with the Orioles in 2017, said spending the final three months of the season in a playoff hunt and falling three games short of a wild-card spot was bittersweet. It was the closest they’ve come to the postseason since making it in 2016, but it also stung to remember the games that slipped away.

“We went home, and I was like, ‘Damn, three games away to make it to the playoffs?” Santander said. “I was pretty sure that everybody did that. So that momentum and energy started in the offseason with how we prepared to get to spring training. We knew this season we’d have a better chance to take us where we want, which is the playoffs. That all started with the winning streak.”

Despite the similarities between how the streak began a year ago and the Orioles’ past five games, they don’t need a 10-game winning streak to hop into playoff contention. Through the midway point of the season, Baltimore is 49-33 — 16 games above .500 for the first time since 2016 — with four players heading to the All-Star Game and owners of the first wild-card spot in the AL.

But they certainly wouldn’t say no to a repeat of history.

“We need another one of those,” Baker said. “Let’s go.”

What’s to come?

The final week before the All-Star break. Aside from another four-game losing streak, nothing that happens this week can spoil Baltimore’s excellent first half. But it can be a little cherry on top. The Orioles travel to New York for the final time this season for a four-game series against the Yankees. Monday’s game features starting pitchers Tyler Wells, the MLB-leader in WHIP, versus Domingo Germán, who pitched the 24th perfect game in MLB history Wednesday. Baltimore is 3-3 versus the Yankees (46-38) and four games ahead of them in the standings. The road trip continues over the weekend with a three-game series against the Twins in Minnesota.

What was good?

In his first week as a major leaguer, Jordan Westburg appeared in all six games and started five of them as Hyde manages the Orioles’ infield pileup. The infield prospect checked off several boxes in his debut: reaching base in four of his five starts, playing two infield positions and earning his first game-winning RBI with a hit-by-pitch Sunday. He ended the week 5-for-19 with three RBIs, two walks and a double.

What wasn’t?

The offense. The Orioles scored two or fewer runs in four of their six games. It wasn’t all bad, such as the 10- and seven-run outputs Monday and Wednesday, but Wells and Kyle Bradish both pitched well enough to win Tuesday and Saturday, respectively, and didn’t because of Baltimore’s cold bats. Players who were scorching hot in June began to cool down last week. Aaron Hicks went 2-for-15 and Ryan O’Hearn went 1-for-13. Mullins also struggled as he continues to get acclimated following his stint in the IL, going 3-for-20 with eight strikeouts.

On the farm

In 24 games on Baltimore’s roster, Joey Ortiz totaled just 34 plate appearances. However, not getting an opportunity to play much in the big leagues didn’t impact the infield prospect during his first week back in Triple-A. Ortiz went 11-for-22 with four doubles, three walks, four stolen bases and seven RBIs. In 37 games with Norfolk, Ortiz is slashing .353/.405/.587 — good for a .992 OPS.

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