The Orioles entered Saturday with a chance to clinch a postseason berth before the night ended. The first step: a victory over the Detroit Tigers.

Cade Povich gave his team enough to achieve that, continuing his solid September to put the finishing touches on an encouraging rookie campaign. The Orioles’ bullpen unraveled behind him, but the offense’s ninth-inning rally erased that deficit. To extra innings the two wild-card hopefuls went, with a win (and some help) potentially securing the Orioles their second straight trip to October.

But reliever Yennier Cano let two runners score in the top of the 10th, snatching the energy that the announced 39,647 in attendance had built just minutes before, and Baltimore didn’t have another response.

The Orioles lost, 6-4, and now the earliest they can clinch a postseason berth is Sunday. That can happen if Baltimore wins its series finale Sunday and the Seattle Mariners lose one of their next two games against the Texas Rangers.

Gunnar Henderson later said he had no idea that the Orioles could clinch Saturday, but his intensity on the field resembled that of an elimination game. Entering the ninth inning down two, the Orioles put the tying runs on base after singles by Emmanuel Rivera and Heston Kjerstad (who finished a combined 5-for-7). Jackson Holliday walked, bringing Henderson to the plate and a near-sellout crowd to their feet.

The star shortstop, who was named Most Valuable Oriole hours before first pitch, roped a double to center field that scored Rivera and Kjerstad. Henderson latched on to second base, rose to his feet and clenched his fists while yelling at the home dugout. It was a call to his teammates to score, to win the game right there and potentially clinch a playoff spot later Saturday night.

They never moved.

Cedric Mullins grounded out. Anthony Santander, swinging at a low 2-0 slider with first base open, lifted a popup that shortstop Trey Sweeney sprinted to catch as he crashed into left fielder Riley Greene. Holliday didn’t try to tag and score the winning run, as an alert Sweeney quickly tossed the ball in. Colton Cowser flew out to end the threat.When Cano allowed two runs to score in the top of the 10th, Baltimore didn’t have another answer, going down without a hit.

When Cano allowed two runs to score in the top of the 10th, Baltimore didn’t have another answer, going down without a hit.

“He’s trying to win the game and he’s got 43 homers and he’s had a ton of big hits for us,” Hyde said of Santander’s swing decision. “We just didn’t come through in that spot.”

“Nine times out of 10, we put together a good at-bat and get that run in,” Henderson said. “It just didn’t happen to go our way today.”

The Orioles found themselves in the late hole despite Povich’s impressive start. The rookie allowed two earned runs over five innings, striking out seven and walking three.

Scoreless third and fourth frames followed a two-run second as Saturday began to closer resemble Povich’s solid starts as of late. The left-hander entered with a 3.18 ERA across three September outings, and that success rolled into the fifth as Povich struck out the side to cap his night.

In four starts this month, the rookie southpaw has recorded 30 strikeouts. Previously, the most he had in a month was 17 in June. Povich’s command also continues to improve — he’s walked three or fewer batters in his past seven outings.

“I think still that last inning, scoring those two runs before going into extras, shows kind of the fight that this team has,” Povich said. “I think the momentum can still carry us into the next few games and the rest of the season.”

It’s a longshot for Povich to make the Orioles’ postseason rotation — and being on the playoff roster isn’t a lock, either. But a sound finish to his rookie season could set him up for success in 2025.

The Orioles have a playoff race to worry about until then, and the bullpen that took over for the rookie ensured that race would be prolonged.

Cionel Pérez allowed two groundball singles to start the eighth, and Holliday couldn’t field a third one cleanly at second base as the Tigers took the lead. “Maybe fooled him a little bit,” Hyde said. “I don’t think that was an easy play.”

The left-handed Pérez was removed before he recorded an out and gave way to Seranthony Domínguez with two runners on. The usual closer let one run score, charged to Pérez, and the Orioles trailed 4-2 entering the ninth inning.

Cano wasn’t better. With the automatic runner on second base, the sinkerballer started the 10th by allowing a single, a double and a sacrifice fly to put Baltimore back down a pair. And in the bottom half of the inning, the offense’s heroics ran dry.

“Tough spot for Cano. I was trying to stay away — we weren’t going to pitch [Jacob] Webb and [Danny] Coulombe unless it was an emergency,” Hyde said. “So, Cano was the only guy left and when you roll — I don’t usually put him in those types of situations with all those left-handers, and just little bit too much of the plate the first few hitters early in the count.”

The Orioles are still on the precipice of the postseason. But any euphoric release will have to wait at least another day.