Orioles can't snap out of offensive funk and lose fifth in row 6-1 (updated)

The theory that last night’s incident in the ninth inning that emptied both dugouts and bullpens and eventually sent Heston Kjerstad to the seven-day concussion injured list would light a fuse under the Orioles was doused pretty early this afternoon.

The anger lingers but so do the problems that made a first-place lead practically vanish.

Grayson Rodriguez’s streak of quality starts was over by the first inning, with three of the Yankees’ four runs scoring on Austin Wells’ two-out homer to the flag court. Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hit back-to-back homers in the fifth, and the Orioles lost again, 6-1, before an announced sellout crowd of 44,018 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles hadn’t dropped a division series in the last 22, going 16-0-6, but they’re staggering to the All-Star break. They’ve lost 13 of their last 21 games to lower their record to 57-38 and they’ll need a victory Sunday to avoid back-to-back sweeps.

The five-game losing streak matches their season high and they lead the Yankees by mere percentage points.

"In any situation it's tough to be down four runs right away, but we scored a lot of runs this year but we haven't of late," said manager Brandon Hyde. "We still feel really good about our offense. At some point here we're going to come out of it."

"I don't think we're going to dwell on what we've done of late," Rodriguez said. "We're going to look at the first half more in general. First place in the AL East. It's hard to do. We're going to keep grinding day in and day out and show up to the field tomorrow."

Tempers didn’t boil over today but Rodriguez got into hot water after Alex Verdugo’s leadoff single in the first and a one-out walk to Judge and a wild pitch. Ben Rice struck out, but Gleyber Torres followed with an RBI infield single and Wells launched the ninth pitch of his at-bat over the out-of-town scoreboard.

"Pitches felt good today. Just caught a little bit too much of the plate at times," Rodriguez said.

"A lot of sweat. Hard to grip the ball. Going to the rosin bag a lot. There's not much you can do on a hot day like that, but just trying to dry my hand off. But I don't think that affected the way I pitched."

Rodriguez threw 33 pitches in the first inning, but only four in the second. He retired 11 of 13 batters before Soto and Judge cleared the center field fence at a combined distance of 857 feet.

Judge’s ball was 112.9 mph off the bat, and his 34 homers are a Yankees record before the break. He reached base in his first eight plate appearances in the series before Keegan Akin struck him out in the seventh.

Rodriguez tied his career high with three homers and was done after the fifth. He allowed six runs and eight hits with one walk and seven strikeouts, and he goes into the break with his ERA at 3.88.

"Wish I would have finished it a little better," he said. "I kind of let the fans down today. This was a big game for us. Wish I could have thrown the ball a lot better."

"This start doesn't shake how I'm feeling about him," Hyde said. "He's making huge strides. Made a couple bad pitches today. Maybe not as aggressive with his fastball as I would have liked, but he's got really, really good stuff and he's still early on in his career."

Vinny Nittoli made his Orioles debut and tossed two scoreless innings.

The Orioles scored once against Luis Gil in six innings. He also walked one and struck out seven.

Gil allowed seven runs to the Orioles in 1 1/3 innings in their last meeting in the Bronx. He had three scoreless innings today heading into the fourth, but Ryan O’Hearn led off with a triple and scored with one out on Ryan Mountcastle’s ground ball. Colton Cowser and Austin Hays singled, but Ramón Urías grounded out to make the Orioles 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

Failure to administer more punishment again hurt the Orioles with the Yankees taking a 6-1 lead in the fifth.

Kjerstad might have offered a boost but he was scratched from the lineup and put on the IL. He won't play before next Saturday in Texas.

"He went out and took batting practice and just wasn't feeling real well," Hyde said. "He did all the tests and everything this morning. They felt comfortable about him going out there. Once the day started going along and he got out in the sun and started moving around, he started to not feel as good."

Austin Hays was replaced in left field due to some soreness in his hip.

"Took him out for precaution," Hyde said. "Hoping he can be in the lineup tomorrow."

The Orioles have totaled two runs in the last 42 innings and four in their last five games, their fewest since April 2002, and are 1-for-31 with runners in scoring position since Tuesday.

"Just baseball," Mountcastle said. "It is what it is. We're just going to try to get it going tomorrow. We've got a good little break coming up and get it going in the second half."

"At this point it's pressing," Hyde said. "You see them trying to get the job done and maybe not as relaxed as normal. They're trying to be the guy to get the big hit for us, and every single one of them down in the lineup, and it's just not happening right now."

“The last couple of weeks we’re in a funk and our pitching staff hasn’t had its best, and also our position players haven’t been getting hits with runners in scoring position," said executive vice president/general manager Mike Elias. "That’s going to happen over a baseball season. But when both of those things happen at the same time, you’re going to lose games.

“It’s been our worst stretch and that’s concerning and you don’t want to take that lightly, but you’ve also got to remember that teams are allowed to have some stretches like this. Hopefully, that’s all this turns out to be. If you told me in Sarasota, ‘You guys can be in first place on July 13, take it or leave it,’ we’ll take that. But we’ve got to keep fighting. There’s a lot of season left, and this is going to be really close. These guys in the other dugout are really good, so we’ve got to focus on the second half.”

The post-break roster will undergo more changes and Coby Mayo is front and center.

Mayo, the No. 3 prospect in the organization per MLB Pipeline and No. 15 in baseball, is batting .297/.380/.606 with 16 doubles, two triples, 19 home runs and 56 RBIs in 63 games with Norfolk.

“I think what he’s done offensively in Triple-A, you never know if somebody’s going to be able to come up to the big leagues and kind of hit the ground running, and certainly not replicate their Triple-A stats right away,” Elias said. “Nobody does that. But he’s put himself in a position with his offensive production in Triple-A where he’s kind of ready for the next challenge, and if there was another minor league level above Triple-A, which there isn’t, we’d move him up to that. But the next level is the major leagues, and it’s got to fit into what’s going on in the major leagues because we’re playing games and trying to win the games at the same time.

“All of that to say, the fact I’m talking about him at a press conference right now, he’s right there, we’re thinking about it, we’re working on it. I’m sure it’s coming very soon.”

Space must be cleared for Mayo on the active roster. Guys who appear most vulnerable aren’t corner infield sluggers who replicate this skills.

“We’ve got a lot of players, but him basically at the top of the list, who are producing really well in Triple-A and we’re really mindful of that,” Elias said. “And just like we’ve done with a lot of players up here, we’re very careful to not let someone who’s playing as well as he is in Triple-A stay there too much longer. But there’s also a major league team here that’s playing games every night that has 13 really good position players on the roster and a lot of guys with different defensive profiles and defensive abilities. And a player’s got to fit into that in order to get into the lineup.

“He’s in an exceptionally good spot. We talk about him all the time. He’s very close. He’s going to help us this year. It’s just about the right moment and the right opportunity and the right runway for something like that to happen, and there’s moving parts, and there’s a lot going on here in July, too, with the deadline and everything. I’ll leave it at that. But he’s somebody who is a big part of our day-to-day discussions.”

Mayo’s defense always is part of the conversation.

“I think he’s doing a good job at third base, and I think when he comes up to the major leagues, he’s going to be able to offer help at third base,” Elias said. “And he’s also able to play other positions too.”

The grand vision for the second half includes Mayo and Jackson Holliday in the same lineup. Exactly as you would expect.

Holliday, the No. 1 prospect in baseball per MLB Pipeline, is restricted to work as the designated hitter with Norfolk after being sidelined due to right elbow inflammation. But he’s on a throwing program and Elias expects him to return to second base shortly after the break.

“It’s hard for me to talk like this. We’ve got 13 players up here who are doing well. But the reality is, somebody, God forbid, gets injured, whatever, we’re gonna need all these guys,” Elias said.

“I think both of those players have a very good chance of contributing heavily to the 2024 Orioles, and I could see them doing it at the same time, too.”

They aren't here now and Hyde is looking for anyone to provide what he called "a spark."

"We're just having a tough time getting any sort of traffic on the bases," he said.

"We're expanding a little bit, we're a little overly aggressive early in the count on balls that we can't drive, and it looks like we're just a little bit in between and having a tough time putting rallies together."

"This is one of the best lineups in baseball," Rodriguez said. "There's no question about that. So anytime you pitch for this team, with an offense like that, it makes your job easier. I think here of late, that's not going to continue. I think our guys our going to be able to pull out of this."

"We'll get through this," Mountcastle said. "We're a really good team, got a really good lineup one through nine, and it's one of the best in the league. We'll get it going soon and it's going to be fun to watch."