BALTIMORE -- Finally, Jorge Mateo can cross “homer” off his 2025 to-do list.
The Orioles’ infielder/center fielder crushed his first long ball of the year to power Baltimore’s 4-2 win over Chicago on Saturday afternoon at Camden Yards, clinching the series win. And, the O’s fanbase rewarded him with a massive standing ovation, filling the ballpark with cheers.
“[Bench coach Robinson Chirinos] called it,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “Chirinos, he was sitting next to me and said, ‘This is the day Jorgie’s going to hit his first home run.’ I said, ‘I sure hope so.’
“Big blow -- game-winning blow. Big one for us. I feel like he’s been swinging the bat better, if you guys watch the games -- there’s some really good feelings about him in the box right now. Good chance he’ll be back out there tomorrow.”
Mateo -- who finished the 2024 season on the injured list after partially dislocating his left elbow on July 23 vs. the Marlins, then undergoing Tommy John surgery -- had not gone yard since June 21, 2024.
Though Mateo isn’t a big slugger (in six seasons he’s had just 30 home runs, including a 13-homer campaign in 2022), it seemed the Baltimore faithful had been waiting to see him trot around the basepaths.
The long ball finally came in the fifth inning on Saturday, barely an inning after the benches had cleared following a collision between first and second base. As O’s fans’ energy simmered, paper napkins floating around the ballpark on a rather breezy afternoon, Mateo stepped to the plate with one out and a runner on second, the Orioles ahead just 2-1 and in desperate need of an insurance run.
And Mateo provided. He took the first two pitches he saw for a ball and a called strike, then fouled off four pitches. On the seventh pitch of the at-bat, he struck.
Mateo smashed the ball deep to center field, leaving his bat with a 100.8 mph exit velocity and soaring a Statcast-projected 396 feet.
“Super happy,” Mateo said via team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “I think obviously it was very motivating because I helped the team win, and ultimately because of it, we won the game.”
Just a few innings later, though, Mateo had an injury scare -- with that same left elbow. This time, it was an eighth-inning collision in the outfield between Mateo, playing center, and right fielder Heston Kjerstad. After being attended to, chatting with the training staff and Mansolino, Mateo remained in the game -- and then stole his 14th base of the year in the bottom of the frame.
“Jorgie’s good right now,” Mansolino said. “Obviously, we’ll see how he wakes up tomorrow. That’s the arm from last year. That’s the glove arm. You’ve got an infielder out there playing center field, you have a young right fielder. I think things like that happen. We feel fortunate that nobody got hurt. We didn’t have Part 2 of Jorgie’s collision from last year, and then, two, we got the ball -- because that would have been ugly had we not.”
“It was an uncomfortable moment, just because I went through it,” Mateo said. “But thankfully I'm doing good right now.”
By the end of the nine innings of play (or, 8 1/2 innings), it’s safe to say that Mateo had breathed two very different sighs of relief.