From the verge of history, to the depths of horror.
The kind of unimaginable nightmare even these slumping Dodgers didn’t seem capable of.
One minute, Yoshinobu Yamamoto was on the precipice of a no-hitter, needing just one out to put his name in the record books. The next, orange Baltimore Orioles jerseys were sprinting around the bases, what had seemed like a storybook night going suddenly wrong.
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Yamamoto’s no-hitter was broken up by Jackson Holliday, who hit a homer to right that pushed Yamamoto out of the game. The real trouble came in all that followed, with Blake Treinen giving up one run while loading the bases, before Emmanuel Rivera lofted a two-run single off Tanner Scott to end the game.
The final score was Orioles 4, Dodgers 3.
The way it happened was almost impossible to comprehend.
Granted, the Dodgers have been inventing new ways to lose games for a while now. But nothing stung as brutally as this.
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After Yamamoto’s exit, Treinen immediately put himself in a jam. Jeremiah Jackson hit a double to left. Gunnar Henderson was hit by a pitch. Another throw from Treinen then went to the backstop. And a walk to Ryan Mountcastle loaded the bases.
Though Scott was beginning to warm, manager Dave Roberts left in Treinen to face Colton Cowser. The move didn’t work, with Treinen issuing another walk to force a run in.
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At that point, Scott entered the game, one night removed from giving up a walk-off home run that ran the Dodgers’ losing streak to four games. And in a 1-and-1 count to Rivera, he threw a low fastball that was lined into center.
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The winning runs came racing home. A sellout crowd at Camden Yards — in attendance for the 30th anniversary of Cal Ripken Jr.’s Ironman moment — broke into delirium. The Dodgers walked off the field slowly, stoically, stunned.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.