Orioles' Samuel Basallo blasts first walk-off homer to beat Dodgers, 2-1

Matt Weyrich, The Baltimore Sun on Sep 5, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — The moment is not too big for Samuel Basallo.

Baltimore’s rookie catcher walked off the Los Angeles Dodgers with a two-out, two-strike, bottom-of-the-ninth home run Friday to lead the Orioles to a 2-1 win in their series opener. It was the first walk-off of Basallo’s career and his second MLB long ball after he went yard for the first time Saturday on the road.

Basallo, 21, joined Jackson Holliday, also 21, as the only Orioles with walk-off hits this season. The last player to win the game on a home run for Baltimore was Anthony Santander last September.

The game began with Shohei Ohtani, thrust into the start after Tyler Glasnow was scratched, and former Dodgers prospect Dean Kremer locked into an early pitching duel, but neither made it through the fourth. Kremer left the game with right forearm discomfort after three hitless frames while Ohtani recorded 11 outs on 70 pitches before giving way to the Dodgers’ bullpen.

Kremer’s lone blemish the first time through the order reached on a fielding error by Holliday, who couldn’t backhand a ground ball by No. 9 hitter Miguel Rojas. He then walked Ohtani before getting Mookie Betts to ground into a force out that ended the inning. However, Kremer appeared to be in some pain after the pitch and the Orioles replaced him with Dietrich Enns to start the fourth, raising concern another major injury had struck their pitching staff.

Ohtani, pitching against the Orioles for the third time in his career and first since 2023, was nearly as dominant. Baltimore scattered a few hits against him including a leadoff double by Ryan Mountcastle in the fourth, but the two-way superstar dialed up his fastball to 101 mph and racked up five strikeouts in his short-lived Camden Yards appearance.

It wasn’t until the fifth when the Orioles (65-76) finally broke the scoreless tie. Baltimore picked a lucky pitch for Holliday and Gunnar Henderson to try a double steal, dashing for third and second base, respectively, on a breaking ball that bounced away from Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing. Holliday never slowed down and slid headfirst to beat the throw to the plate.

Baltimore’s lead lasted exactly one out. Freddie Freeman tied the game right back up with a solo home run off Enns to lead off the sixth, blasting a 420-foot fly ball to straightaway center field. That was the final pitch Enns threw. Interim manager Tony Mansolino opted to piece together the final innings with Kade Strowd, Grant Wolfram, Rico García and Yennier Cano all posting zeroes.

The game appeared headed for extra innings with former Oriole Tanner Scott on the mound after he retired the first two batters and worked Basallo down to his final strike, nearly getting the young catcher to foul out down the left field line. But Basallo stuck with the at-bat and pulled a ball 433 feet to right-center to stun Los Angeles (78-63) for a series-opening win.

Instant analysis

It’s not something the Orioles are going to get too worried about right now — not when he’s 21 years old and they’re in the final month of a lost season — but Holliday’s defense at second base has been a glaring problem.

Holliday’s third-inning fielding gaffe was his 10th error of the year, tying Jake Cronenworth and Lenyn Sosa for the most among second basemen in the majors. Holliday’s lack of range on the infield has also produced poor ratings from both outs above average (minus-9) and defensive runs saved (minus-10), two of the game’s most widely recognized defensive statistics.

The natural shortstop is still one of the youngest players in MLB and his athleticism is undeniable. Both are more than enough reasons to be optimistic about his ability to improve in the field moving forward. But with Holliday still a work in progress offensively as well, the Orioles will be looking for him to show improvement on both sides of the ball next spring.

On deck

More often than not this season, Trevor Rogers has outmatched the opposing pitcher with ease. That will be tested in more ways than one Friday when he takes the mound to face the Dodgers lineup while Yoshinobu Yamamoto toes the rubber for Los Angeles. Yamamoto has been among the best pitchers in the National League this season with a 2.82 ERA and 167 strikeouts.

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