Sept. 6 has produced some unforgettable moments at Camden Yards over the years, but this one landed with a thud.
Baltimore’s season-high losing streak hit six games Sunday afternoon, when the Red Sox completed a four-game sweep with a 3-1 win and pushed the Orioles farther from the American League playoff picture. Eli White’s three-run homer off Kyle Bradish in the second inning supplied all the offense Boston needed, and the O’s never recovered.
The loss dropped Baltimore to 69-75 and left it four games behind the Guardians for the third AL Wild Card spot. The Orioles also sit behind the Blue Jays and Rangers, while matching the Twins. They had finally climbed back to .500 on Monday, but haven’t won since.
“Of all the blows we've taken this year,” manager Craig Albernaz said, “this is by far the biggest.”
For Bradish, the second inning was the decisive stretch. He said he regretted the 1-0 slider he left up to White, who turned it into a drive over the left-field wall. The homer came after an error by shortstop Gunnar Henderson, and because of that miscue, all three runs were unearned.
Baltimore’s offense never found much room to breathe. The Orioles’ only run came in the first inning, when Coby Mayo and Christian Encarnacion-Strand strung together back-to-back two-out doubles off left-hander Payton Tolle. After that, Tolle settled in and struck out 12 over six strong innings.
The strikeouts piled up for Baltimore all afternoon. The Orioles fanned 17 times, a season high, and have scored just one run over their last 27 innings. Boston’s starters had already set the tone in the first two games of the series, with Ranger Suarez and Sonny Gray each working seven scoreless innings in shutout wins.
“This was definitely a big letdown this weekend,” Bradish added.
Albernaz pointed to the approach at the plate, saying the Orioles weren’t making the starters work the way they need to when they’re at their best.
“All of our guys have the juice in the tank and know how they can impact it, and sometimes, it’s not throttling down, it’s understanding what the pitcher is trying to do to you, understanding the attack plan, watching the game,” Albernaz said. “These guys are prepared, but when you go into the box, you have to trust it and believe it and be willing to be wrong sometimes.
“Our guys, they have the ability to hit the ball all over the yard. But sometimes, it’s really tough to do if the pitcher is not giving it to you.
Our guys, when we’re at our best, we’re diligent and stubborn to our approach and we’re making the starter work. In this series, we didn’t do that.”
The math is getting tighter with 18 games left, but Baltimore’s schedule still leaves a path, however narrow. The Orioles next face the Guardians in a three-game home series, and they still have six games remaining against the Blue Jays - three in Toronto beginning Friday and three at home from Sept. 21-23.
Bradish said the focus has to stay on the next game and the one after that.
“We’ve got to win tomorrow, win the day after that and win the day after that,” Bradish said. “We’ve got Cleveland and Toronto coming up, those are kind of the two teams ahead of us. So if we take care of business, we should be back to where we want to be.”
Henderson said the club can’t get caught dwelling on what slipped away during the skid.
“We just need to take a breath right now,” Henderson said. “We can still make up some ground.
Can’t try to force it all at once. So, it’s pretty much now or never.
We’ve got to get it going.”
Albernaz echoed that sentiment, stressing that the Orioles need to turn the page quickly before Cleveland arrives.
“We can't look back and play, 'We could have done this,' or, 'Should have done that,’” Albernaz said. “We have to move on and get ready for Cleveland coming in, because they're ahead of us and it's a big series."
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