Craig Albernaz sent a message with how he managed Sunday's series finale

There are 115 games left on the Baltimore Orioles schedule, and coming into their game yesterday against the Washington Nationals, the Orioles were just 1.5 games out of a wild-card spot. Mathematically, they had a lot of time to turn things around and get back to where they want to be in the standings. However, after dropping two in a row against the Nationals to fall six games under .500, manager Craig Albernaz understood that, even though yesterday's game against the Nationals counts the same as the next 115 the Orioles needed to win, he had to manage like it was a playoff game.

Through three and a half innings, the Orioles looked like they were in great shape. They had jumped out to an early lead thanks to homers from Gunnar Henderson, Coby Mayo, and Colton Cowser. But Brandon Young ran into some trouble pitching with a five-run lead in the bottom of the fourth inning.

Craig Albernaz wasn't going to let the Orioles lose without putting his best pitchers on the mound

After loading the bases with no outs, Young buckled down and got the next two batters out, allowing only one run to score on a sac fly. With the lead at four and the tying run still in the on-deck circle, Albernaz trusted Young enough to let him try to face James Wood for a third time and get out of the inning. After Wood reached on an infield single that died right behind the pitcher's mound and the tying run stepped to the plate, Albernaz decided it was time to take action while the Orioles still had a lead to protect.

He pulled Young at just 70 pitches, having only allowed two runs through 3.2 innings, and called in reliever Anthony Nunez to finish the fourth inning.

All season, Nunez has been reserved for high-leverage innings, pitching primarily in the 7th and 8th innings and even earning a couple of saves. Even though this was early in the game, Albernaz correctly identified it as potentially the highest leverage moment of the game and went to one of his best guys.

Nunez got Luis Garcia to strike out, ending the Nationals' rally and leaving the bases loaded. From there, it was a classic bullpen game. It went Nunez to Tyler Wells to Yennier Cano to Rico Garcia, and ball game, Orioles win. If you're wondering which four pitchers Albernaz trusts the most, this game should give you a pretty good hint.

Why was this game so important? Had the Orioles lost, they'd be only two games out of a wild-card spot instead of 1.5. With 115 games to go, that's not that big of a difference, right? Albernaz was just part of a Guardians team that came back from a 15.5 deficit in their division; shouldn't he, of all people, know that the Orioles still have time to turn things around?

He would know, which is why seeing him emerge from the dugout to pull his starter with a four-run lead in the fourth inning sends such a clear message: This game IS important.

If the Orioles want to turn their season around, they need to treat each game like it matters. For the players, that means attention to detail and execution on both sides of the ball, and for the manager, that means pressing the win-now buttons in key moments as Albernaz did on Sunday.

Obviously, no bullpen can sustain postseason-type usage over a 100+ game span, so Albernaz won't be able to play this card every time the Orioles need to protect a four-run lead, but if he picks his spots, he should be able to make sure the Orioles don't lose games they shouldn't lose. Preventing a demoralizing sweep going into a key series and staying within five games of .500 is a great example of picking a spot to go all in on a game.

Hopefully, a few months down the line, the Orioles will find themselves in a place in the standings where if they have a four-run lead and their starter looks shaky early in the game, they can afford to roll the dice with letting him stay in the game and figuring it out.

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