Orioles' series vs. Brewers almost identical to 2023 matchup against Milwaukee

Is it Groundhog Day? Baltimore Orioles fans wish they could turn off the 2025 season and switch back to the 2023 season that saw the club win 101 games. That's not going to happen, but in their biannual trip to Milwaukee to face the Brewers, the Orioles had an eerily similar experience to what happened in 2023.

Before the 2023 season, Major League Baseball implemented a new schedule where every team plays each other for at least one series, doing away with the past version of interleague play that saw certain American League and National League teams match up only once every three years.

Since the interleague matchups every three years alternated stadiums, some teams would not visit certain ballparks for stretches of six years, sometimes more. (The San Diego Padres did not play a game at the Blue Jays until 2017!) Under the new format, the Orioles now visit previously rare National League ballparks every other season, adding a fun twist to the prior doldrums of going down to Tropicana Field for ten games every season.

One such park the Orioles now frequent every other year is American Family Field in Milwaukee, home of the Brewers. The Orioles just completed a disappointing three-game set against the Brewers, though they were able to salvage the finale with a late-inning comeback against Milwaukee's bullpen. Does that sound at all familiar? Because that is almost exactly what happened when the Orioles last played in Milwaukee.

Orioles lose another series to the Brewers in Milwaukee

On June 6, 2023, the Orioles arrived in Milwaukee for a three-game road series against the Brewers. At 37-22 overall and 20-10 on the road, fans envisioned the Orioles continuing to roll over their competition. The O's dropped the first game of the 2023 series similarly to their 2025 opener against the Brewers, losing by one run due to the heroics of Brice Turang, who also scored the winning run in game one of this week's series.

The Orioles lost game two in 2023 behind a shaky outing from Dean Kremer and a silent offense, with Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Ryan O'Hearn, and Anthony Santander combining to go 1-for-12. The Orioles' offense was quiet in the second game this week, with Henderson, Rutschman, O'Hearn, and new right fielder Ramon Laureano going 2-for-12 in a 5-2 defeat.

In game three of the 2023 series, Milwaukee took a 3-1 lead into the seventh inning, before Baltimore erupted for one run in the seventh, two in the eighth, and three in the ninth to win the game, 6-3. Henderson hit a big, two-run home run late to secure the win.

In Wednesday's series finale, the Orioles rallied from a late 2-1 deficit by scoring twice in the eighth. The game went to extras, where Rutschman hit a three-run home run in the top of the 11th to secure the win.

Unfortunately, the similarities between the 2023 and 2025 seasons start and end with the Brewers series. In 2023, losing two of three to the Brewers, who at 34-29 were very good in their own right, was a disappointment. This year, losing two of three to the Brewers but somehow salvaging the final game is almost a pleasant surprise, as the Orioles avoided being swept for the third series in a row.

What, if anything, does it mean that the Orioles had nearly identical series against the Brewers in 2023 and 2025 at American Family Field? Nothing of substance, of course. But in a season filled with identifying whom the Orioles will be trading at the deadline and who will replace the disposed Brandon Hyde, a fun, random coincidence is the palate cleanser Birdland needs.

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