What do you make of a team that had high expectations entering this season, only to fall below .500 after one-fourth of the season? This team seems to be bipolar; swept by the New York Yankees, played lights out in two wins against the Miami Marlins only to return to Camden Yards and drop two in a row to the A’s.
The Baltimore Orioles lost 6-2 to the Athletics (21-18) on Saturday. A crowd of 30,707 saw this latest loss, the third in a row for the team, and all the warts as well, ie. lackluster starting pitching and a tepid offense that could not cash in when needed.
The Orioles were held scoreless for 7.0 innings despite havin runners on base in 6 of those 7 innings. Their best opportunities to score came in the 4th (bases loaded, 2 outs) and 5th (bases loaded, no outs) innings. Baltimore finally broke through with a pair of runs in the 8th inning. With two outs, Leody Taveras singled and Dylan Beavers doubled to set the stage for pinch-hitter Colton Cowser, who produced a 2-RBI single.
Gunnar Henderson went 2 for 5 with a double while Samuel Basallo went 2 for 4 in the contest.
Shane Baz (1-4) made the start and lasted just 4.2 innings. He threw 100 pitches (62 strikes) to 22 batters and allowed 5 runs on 5 hits, walked 3 and struck out 5. The A’s touched Baz for a run in the first inning, a 3-run homerun by Brent Rooker in the third and another run in the fifth that preceeded his exit.
The A’s final run came off of Andrew Kittredge in the ninth.
Lou Trivino and Dietrich Enns combined to hold the A’s scoreless over 2.1 innings.
It has beeen said before that the offense needs to consistently step up and the starters have to go longer, something the Orioles did not do on Saturday.
2026 Record: 17-23
Next Game: Sun. 5/10 (Mother’s Day) @ 1:35 pm vs. the Athletics
