​ST LOUIS, MISSOURI – AUGUST 26: Gunnar Henderson #2 and Dylan Beavers #12 of the Baltimore Orioles celebrate after beating the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium on August 26, 2026 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) | Getty Images Good morning, Camden Chatters.The Orioles just can’t make things easy, can they? What should have been a second straight breezy blowout win over the Cardinals turned into a cardiac-inducing affair, a game that saw the O’s fritter away a 7-0 lead and nearly suffer what would’ve been perhaps their most agonizing loss of the season. Thank goodness for Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who played the hero with a tie-breaking double in the top of the ninth, and the Orioles’ bullpen, which delivered 4.2 innings of scoreless relief after Kyle Bradish’s fifth-inning meltdown. Check out Stacey’s recap of the barnburner in St. Louis. It was a doozy of a humdinger.There was a lot to like about last night’s game. The Orioles’ offense was clicking on all cylinders early, especially in the clutch, putting up a five-spot with two outs in the top of the first. Pete Alonso continued to do Pete Alonso things with an opposite-field dinger. As mentioned, the bullpen, which is made up of more castoffs than I’d like, held the line. There are elements here that make you think, You know, maybe the Orioles could make the playoffs after all.And then there’s all the ugly stuff that makes you think, Nope, not a chance. The aforementioned Bradish blew a seven-run lead and looked visibly fatigued, perhaps because he’s thrown more than 140 innings this year after tossing just 71 in the last two seasons combined. Craig Albernaz did him no favors by leaving him in at least two batters too long. The O’s also had a notable defensive misplay — Dylan Beavers failing to catch a “double” that plated two runs — and Gunnar Henderson continued to struggle so much that the Cardinals intentionally walked Alonso to face him with two runners aboard in the eighth, and of course he meekly grounded out.Such is the enigma that is the 2026 Orioles. They’re capable of playing so well, as we’ve seen in these first two wins in St. Louis and plenty of other games throughout the year. But they’re riddled with many flaws that have kept them from building any lasting momentum. Could this road trip be when things finally start to click more consistently? Considering the Birds’ upcoming opponents, now is as good a time as any. But we’ve gotten our hopes up before and have usually been burned.For now, the Orioles remain 2.5 games back of Cleveland for the third wild card spot. It always seemed like one team was going to emerge from the pack of mediocrity and get hot, and for now the Guardians are that club. They’ve won seven straight — including a sweep of the useless Angels — to push two games above .500.The bar has been raised for the Orioles, who probably can’t just sneak into the postseason with a .50