Holliday's first home game doesn't bring hit or Orioles win (updated)

There will be a day when Jackson Holliday walks into a clubhouse and goes to his locker, turns back around and is ignored. No recorders or cameras. No media forming the shape of a basketball three-point arc.

He will be a major league player arriving for work. Perhaps getting a bite to eat, since he dresses next to the entrance to the kitchen. Perhaps just relaxing before fulfilling the on-field obligations.

We aren’t there yet.

“Looking forward to it, but it’s awesome,” he said earlier today, flashing that boyish grin. “Obviously doing something right if you’ve got all this attention. But yeah, looking forward to that. Just excited to play.”

Holliday jogged onto the field about 15 minutes before first pitch and fans cheered him. Stretching out a hamstring could bring a standing ovation. The city is Holliday happy, and he’d love to give them more reasons beyond his arrival.

Three at-bats produced three strikeouts, but the Orioles were burdened with much bigger issues in an 11-1 loss to the Brewers before an announced crowd of 32,205 at Camden Yards.

Tyler Wells allowed four runs and six hits over the first three innings, and the Orioles didn’t have a seventh comeback in them.

They did have some anger, and it boiled over in the sixth inning.

Catcher James McCann and Brewers shortstop Willy Adames started jawing at each other at home plate, McCann pointed a finger multiple times, lifting his mask to make sure he was heard, and plate umpire Adam Hamari pushed McCann back as the benches and bullpens emptied. Adames, restrained near the dugout, motioned with his hand that McCann was talking too much.

Managers Brandon Hyde and Pat Murphy came together later, with two umpires attempting to keep the conversation from escalating. Hyde seemed the most irritated by the end of it.

Order was restored rather quickly and Adames reached on an infield single to leave him a triple shy of the cycle. He moved up on a wild pitch from Jonathan Heasley, who allowed six runs in two innings, and scored on Sal Frelick’s single. Adames popped out of his slide as McCann gathered the ball, with no contact made, and paused only for a moment before heading to the bench.

"Something happened on the field, we took care of it and I'm not going to have much other to say about it than that," McCann said.

Asked if he has a history with Adames, McCann replied, "It wasn't between me and Adames. Something else going on."

Hyde also didn't have much to say.

"I'm not going to comment on it, honestly. It's just one of those things we're going to keep in-house and try to get them tomorrow," he said.

Adames said it was a "misunderstanding" in "the heat of the game."

"I don't really want to get into details. It's just how it goes," he said.

"He was saying some stuff when I got there and I responded, and that's just how it goes. That's the game. Something happens and you respond to it. ... It was something stupid. I guess he was just a little frustrated. I don't know."

Colton Cowser doubled and homered in his first two at-bats to stay on his power trip. He was 6-for-13 with five extra-base hits and 10 RBIs in Boston, homering twice in the series finale.

Cowser’s 415-foot shot off Freddy Peralta in the fourth cut the lead to 4-1. The ball landed in the seats and Cowser, the only rookie on the roster on Opening Day, was batting .500 with a 1.577 OPS.

"Using the whole field, line-drive approach, taking what's kind of given to him," said Hyde, who watched Peralta strike out 11 in six innings. "He's really swinging the bat well."

The crowd roared as Holliday was introduced and walked to the plate leading off the bottom of the third. He fell behind 0-2, worked the count full and struck out swinging at a slider from Freddy Peralta.

Holliday led off the fifth and again was down 0-2 before striking out on a slider on a 1-2 count. He batted with two outs in the seventh and fanned on three pitches from J.B. Bukauskas, the last a slider that Holliday thought missed outside.

The scene conjured memories of Gunnar Henderson’s early days in the majors and Holliday’s early spring training before he became more comfortable at the plate, chasing less, and more like himself. It's inevitable, but in the meantime, Hollilday is 0-for-11 with seven strikeouts.

"To finally be here, it was a very special moment," Holliday said.

"Made some pretty good pitches, I got down quickly all three at-bats. I shouldn't have chased a few. But overall, it's good experience to face guys like that who are dominating in the big leagues."

Gary Sánchez was 0-for-12 with the Brewers before pulling a fastball 434 feet down the left field line in the second inning for a two-run homer – exit velocity clocked at 111.4 mph. Rhys Hoskins doubled before Sánchez stepped to the plate.

Pitching coach Drew French came to the mound after Wells walked Andruw Monasterio, but former Oriole Joey Ortiz delivered a run with his first career triple to give the Brewers a 3-0 lead.

The Orioles showed Ortiz and DL Hall on the video board after the inning and welcomed them back to Baltimore. Ortiz certainly did look right at home, grounding a single into left field in the sixth to get halfway to the cycle and producing an RBI single off Jacob Webb in the ninth for his first career three-hit game.

Webb hadn’t allowed a run in his first six appearances over 6 1/3 innings.

Adames doubled to left field at 108.6 mph with one out in the third and scored on Hoskins’ two-out single for a 4-0 lead.

"I think it's kind of the same thing that's been going on, a very mediocre start to the season," Wells said. "It was just poor locations. Really, that's all I can say about it. I'd like to say the Sánchez pitch was a mistake, but we put it right where we wanted to and he just happened to be on it. Other than that, I think everything else was just mistake pitches down the middle. Can't happen."

Wells came out after four innings and 90 pitches, including 10 to Jackson Chourio, his final batter. The Orioles’ streak of starters going at least five innings ended at 12 games.

"Not typical Tyler Wells," McCann said. "His command was a little off tonight. It was kind of a battle, really, from the second inning on. We just never got in a good rhythm. Got to tip your cap to them. They did a good job of taking advantage of mistakes. Not a very typical night for Wells and I have a lot of confidence he'll bounce back. Just one of those nights."

Wells was much harder on himself, saying, "For me, it's very frustrating. I think everyone knows how I am. I'm going to go out there and I'm going to change something up and figure it out, and I'm going to go out there and continue to do my job and do my job well. It's always my goal. I didn't give the team a chance to win today and that really pisses me off."

Heasley, trying to hold onto his roster spot with new reliever Yohan Ramírez reporting soon, served up Adames’ three-run homer in the fifth before retiring a batter.

The Orioles had a chance to tie the game in the fourth after Cowser’s home run. Cedric Mullins reached on an infield hit with two outs, Jordan Westburg singled and stole second base, and Austin Hays couldn’t check his swing on a strikeout. Hays went 0-for-4 and is 2-for-32 this season and hitless in his last 25 at-bats.

Dillon Tate retired the side in order in the seventh in his first action since Saturday. He retired the first two in the eighth, issued a walk and faced Adames, who struck out.

* Coby Mayo homered twice tonight at Triple-A Norfolk and Heston Kjerstad hit his seventh. They went back-to-back in the first inning.

Albert Suárez started and allowed five runs and 10 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out seven.

TT Bowens had a three-run double in the first for Double-A Bowie, which scored six in the inning. He also delivered an RBI double in the third.