Baltimore Orioles

Kyle Gibson pitched five shutout innings and the offense got hot late to carry the Orioles to a 5-2 victory over the Red Sox in front of a sellout crowd in their penultimate game of the season.

After being named the Orioles’ minor league player of the year, Jackson Holliday has his sights set on reaching the major leagues to begin the 2024 season.

Gunnar Henderson, at just 22 years old, was announced as the Most Valuable Oriole on Saturday, as local media recognized the young star who helped propel Baltimore atop the American League.

The Orioles will officially be without Félix Bautista, a 28-year-old All-Star who was baseball’s best reliever before suffering an elbow injury, for the playoffs and likely all of the 2024 season, too, as he is set to undergo Tommy John elbow reconstruction.

The deal wasn’t a much-anticipated new lease replacing or extending the one that expires Dec. 31, but rather a “memorandum of understanding” between the tenant O’s and their state landlord that was not legally binding.

As one of the AL’s top two division winners, the Orioles will not have to play in the opening round of the MLB playoffs. Instead, as four teams play next week, the Orioles will be one of two AL clubs watching, receiving a much-needed break.

Boston Red Sox at Baltimore Orioles, the third of a four-game weekend AL-East division series Saturday Sept. 30, 2023. Baltimore (101-60) beat Boston (77-84), 5-2.

A day after winning the AL East, an Orioles lineup without several regulars managed just three hits and was shut out by the Red Sox, 3-0, though starter John Means was sharp again in allowing two runs across 6 1/3 innings on Friday.