The 2010–11 offseason has been notable for the Orioles, featuring a complete makeover of their infield, with only Brian Roberts expected to reprise his starting role.

On December 6, 2010, the Orioles completed a trade with the Arizona Diamondbacks for third basemen Mark Reynolds, in exchange for relief pitchers David Hernandez and Kam Mickolio.

[1] The next day, the Orioles lost corner infielder, second baseman (40 games in 2010), and lone 2010 All-Star representative Ty Wigginton when he signed with the Colorado Rockies.

On December 9, however, a deal was struck with the Minnesota Twins, acquiring shortstop J. J. Hardy, utility infielder Brendan Harris and cash in exchange for minor league pitchers Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson.

[3] Finally, after weeks of rumor and speculation, concerning possible first base signings, the Orioles inked veteran free agent Derrek Lee on January 6, 2011.

[7] Though still on the 40-man roster, the Orioles may have lost reliever Alfredo Simón, as he was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Dominican Republic, following an accidental shooting death of his cousin during a New Year's celebration.

The Orioles were aiming to play the role of spoiler and end the Red Sox season with help from the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the AL wild card race, The Boston Red Sox were suffering through a 7-19 stretch in which they had blown a nine-game lead on August 30 (which gave them more than a 99.7% chance of making the playoffs).

However, the Orioles struck back in the bottom of the 3rd as J. J. Hardy, laced his 30th home run of the season into left field to give the O's a 2–1 advantage.

In the top of the 4th with Marco Scutaro at 3rd base, a controversial balk call was made on Alfredo Simón which tied up the game at two apiece.

In the top of the 5th, Dustin Pedroia hit a one-out solo home run to give the Red Sox back the lead, 3–2.

Carl Crawford then picked up a double after Nolan Reimold mistimed his jump to make the catch and Adam Jones fired the ball to catcher Matt Wieters to get Scutaro out.

The Orioles' win broke ESPN's viewership record for a Wednesday Night game bringing in a 1.6 rating, 1.546M household impressions, and 2.116M viewers.