BALTIMORE — Camden Yards could smell blood in the water, but Adleyrutschman couldn't bite.

With two outs in the fifth inning of a tied Wild Card Game 2, the Orioles' franchise catcher found himself on the scene.

An Oriole occupied each base. rutschman's team had scored its first run of the series early in the game thanks to a rousing, game-winning home run by Cedric Mullins. This explosion sent an understandably frustrated home crowd into complete delirium. The hysteria only increased as the next three Orioles arrived and loaded the bases with no one out.

After 13 innings of scoreless incompetence, the impatient sea of ​​black and orange had a reason to roar. For the first time in the entire series, the O's had the Royals – and starting pitcher Seth Lugo – on the ropes. Instead of dealing the decisive blow in Wednesday's 2-1 loss, Baltimore took off its gloves, offered some water and threw a towel at Kansas City.

Anthony Santander, one of 44 homers in the regular season, was overzealous on the first out. That brought in hard-throwing Royals reliever Angel Zerpa. The next Baltimore hitter, outfielder Colton Cowser, went down while hacking…literally. Cowser, who appeared to have already made up his mind to bat before the pitch, spun around with a ball that hit him in the hand as he fell to the ground.

It was one of the most bizarre strikeouts you'll ever see.

Those two outs threatened to stifle the rally and dampen the excitement. A nervous stadium rolled its eyes as if to say, “Here we go again.” But when a still-wild Zerpa fired a few balls atrutschman, Birdland found his voice again.

In theory, it was the scenario the O's and their fans had dreamed of. Your homegrown franchise catcher at the top of a playoff game with a chance to be the hero. A loud, desperate, passionate crowd creating a wall of noise. A pitcher loses control.

The entire stadium knew that since Zerpa didn't want to go down 0-3 and risk getting caught in a run,rutschman had to throw a strike. rutschman, who has struggled greatly since the All-Star break and whose confidence evaporated in a cloud of passivity, must have known this too. He had to be ready for a fastball. He would almost certainly see a hittable pitch.

On the ESPN broadcast, commentator Ben McDonald, a regular on Baltimore's home broadcast and therefore very familiar with the club, mentioned the moment andrutschman's role in it.

“Those are the situations (Orioles manager). “Brandon Hyde wants Adleyrutschman to be more aggressive, right?” McDonald remarked in his typical Cajun style. “Bases loaded, count 2-0, go chase the fastball. If you can do it, get your momentum going and be aggressive.”

The heating came.

Butrutschman, as his club had done throughout the series, blinked in the spotlight.

He couldn't pull the trigger. Zerpa's fastball flew into the catcher's mitt and landed right in the middle of the plate. Strike one.

Whenrutschman entered the court, he remained in his stance for a remarkably long time, as if he had been turned to stone with regret. On the show, McDonald groaned.

When asked after the game if he would have done anything differently in that attack,rutschman replied, “I would have gotten a hit.”

Two pitches later,rutschman landed sharply against Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the player selected immediately after the Baltimore catcher in the 2019 MLB Draft. A half-inning later, Kansas City took the lead back with an infield single by Witt. The Orioles didn't threaten again, failing to even get a runner to second base in the final four frames. Star shortstop Gunnar Henderson struck out to end the game, the series and Baltimore's season.

In 18 innings of that wild-card series, the Birds' vaunted offense managed one meager run. Kansas City performed extremely well, but Baltimore continued to help the Royals, going 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position. Henderson, who hit 37 home runs in the regular season, finished 0-7 with three strikeouts in the two games. Except for Mullins, no Orioles hitter appeared relaxed or calm.

And whilerutschman's lockjaw wasn't the only reason for Baltimore's early October exit, its 2-0 win epitomized the team's downfall.

A talented young player in a talented young team, in the crucial hour, buried by indecision. The shine of promise – always a dangerous thing – is worn away by the reality of failure, by the sheer difficulty of a very difficult sport. rutschman, once a player to dream about in dynasties, looked tired, as he did for most of the second half of the season. Public bat speed data shows thatrutschman's swing speed decreased over the course of the season, suggesting he was either fatigued or injured. His offensive performance declined, as did his defensive stats.

“I’ve answered that question a million times,” Hyde told the media after the game. “I think it's a young player who has faced some adversity. I think he’ll come back next year and I think he’ll be a different player.”

Hyde's optimism is well founded. rutschman, still only 26 years old, remains a volcano full of talent. There is enough scope for growth and fame. This is also the case with most of Baltimore's players, although Santander and star player Corbin Burnes are likely to leave in free agency. It's reasonable for everyone involved, from the players to the leadership to the fan base, to believe that there's a brighter day ahead somewhere out there.

But on that particular gray afternoon in October, neither the team nor their most important player managed to capture the moment.

A long winter awaits you.