Kansas City Royals at Baltimore Orioles

One number had defined the first half of the Orioles’ 2026 season: Three. That had been Baltimore’s longest winning streak. And not only that, but the O’s had won three games in a row seven times, failing to win a fourth straight on each of those occurrences. The eighth attempt, however, yielded a much better result. Finally, the Orioles orchestrated their first four-game winning streak of the year, as they completed a three-game sweep of the struggling Royals with an 8-2 victory at Camden Yards on Sunday. Now, the Giants are the only MLB team that has yet to win four in a row in 2026. It can’t be overstated how badly Baltimore needed this type of run heading into the All-Star break, which begins Monday. Entering Thursday, the O’s were sitting a season-worst nine games below .500. After a finale win over the Cubs and three more against the Royals, the Orioles are 46-51 and only two games back of a playoff spot in the wide-open American League Wild Card race. The celebration inside the O’s clubhouse likely would have been more raucous had the club not lost utility man Blaze Alexander to a left hand fracture during the win. That news, which came following a benches-clearing incident, put a bit of a damper on the afternoon. However, the Orioles still received a needed morale boost that could propel them forward into a strong second-half run. “It is perfect, honestly, for us to go to the All-Star break with that in mind, that we can just keep doing that,” outfielder Leody Taveras said. “That’s great for us, honestly.” Taveras lifted Baltimore to victory in the finale vs. Kansas City. The 27-year-old outfielder slugged a two-run homer off right-hander Seth Lugo in the second -- a blast that traveled a Statcast-projected 448 feet, the longest of Taveras’ 45 career homers -- and he broke a 2-2 tie with an RBI single in the sixth.