Orioles shut out for eighth time in 10-0 loss (updated)

The Orioles didn’t find their mojo tonight.

Talk earlier of getting on a roll proved to be well-intended but hollow. The Orioles were down after two pitches from Albert Suárez, fell further behind in the second inning and lost to the Giants 10-0 before an announced crowd of 23,967 that sat through periods of light rain at Camden Yards.

The club can’t find cover from a steady shower of poor performances.

Their record fell to 84-67 with eight losses in the last 11 games, and the deficit behind the Yankees grew to four.

Craig Kimbrel allowed a season-high four runs in the ninth before leaving the game on a groundball single, uncontested stolen base, wild pitch, walk, fielder’s choice RBI bunt by Brett Wisely with a late throw to the plate, 12-pitch walk, two-run single by LaMonte Wade Jr. and Heliot Ramos’ RBI double. It got worse. Matt Bowman let both inherited runners score on Michael Conforto’s single, leaving Kimbrel with a career-high six runs. He hadn't surrendered more than four in his 15-year career.

Kimbrel has been scored upon in 11 of his last 19 appearances and his ERA is 5.33.

"I had a tough time trying to find a spot for him on the road trip," said manager Brandon Hyde. "He didn’t pitch for a week. I think as the inning got along and got tired. I didn’t want to use anybody else. I was hoping he could just get out of the inning, and unfortunately there was some fatigue there at the end. The velo started getting down a little bit. Normally, he’s not out there for that long. In that type of game, I just didn’t want to use anybody else at that point, so I had to get Bowman up. That wasn’t his normal stuff there at the end."

Players changed their walk-up music in an attempt to bust out of their slump. Leadoff hitter Austin Slater switched to Barry Manilow’s “Copacabana.” Gunnar Henderson chose “Magic Stick” by Lil’ Kim and 50 Cent.

The Orioles aren’t swinging them. Giants left-hander Blake Snell tossed six scoreless innings with one hit allowed and 12 strikeouts.

"I thought the energy was great in our clubhouse, like it normally is," said Hyde, whose club stayed 2 1/2 games ahead of the Royals for the home wild card. "Thought our guys were prepared. We had a really good hitters' meeting. We just faced one of the better pitchers in the game and we didn’t swing the bats well against him. We had a tough time tonight."

One of Mike Elias’ first trades as executive vice president/general manager, and the first player-for-player transaction, was sending minor league outfielder Mike Yastrzemski to the Giants on March 23, 2019 for pitcher Tyler Herb, who never reached the majors. This wasn’t a revenge game, but Yastrzemski hit a leadoff home run tonight and delivered an RBI single in the second.

Suárez allowed four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings in his shortest start since July 23 in Miami. He was facing the team he pitched for in 2016-17 before his career journey took him to Japan, Korea and eventually the Orioles.

“Not executing the pitches, throwing too many pitches not in the strike zone, so I think that was a big issue today," he said.

The Orioles are three games below .500 since the break. A team that held the best record in the American League is trying at the minimum to hold off the Royals for the first Wild Card but ideally wants to secure a second consecutive division title.

“We’ve been accustomed to winning,” Elias said this afternoon. “We went more than a calendar year without getting swept. Just things like that, the mojo that we’ve had, it just has drifted away from us the last few months. And obviously, there are reasons for it that are obvious. But I do think a lot of it is we’ve got people here that are experiencing a downturn, whether it’s themselves or the team, for the first time together in this group as this context.

“A lot of the people doing so are young and inexperienced. A lot of the people are pressing to make up for other people’s absences or their own slumps. Baseball is not kind to you when you try harder sometimes. Players can talk about it better than I can. It’s a game that can backfire on you when you get out of yourself. It’s been a difficult period, but I think we’re all sick of it and we’re ready to get it behind us. I really believe that we’re going to rally here down the stretch, kind of get our identity back and hopeful that we’re able to put together a really good appearance in the playoffs.”

Elias pointed out that the Orioles have to get there first.

The cart can’t go before the horse.

“This is a group that has accomplished a lot together up until very recently,” Elias said, “and it certainly hasn’t shaken my belief in any of them.”

Yastrzemski’s home run traveled 416 feet onto the flag court in right field. An infield hit and two walks loaded the bases with one out in the second inning, and Wisley’s sacrifice fly and Yastrzemski’s single increased the Giants’ lead to 3-0.

Cedric Mullins committed his first error of the season in the third when he dropped a fly ball after calling off Livan Soto and taking a quick look to make certain they’d avoid a collision. A single and stolen base by Grant McCray in the fourth, followed by Donovan Walton’s run-scoring single and Wisely’s fly ball, ended Suárez’s night after 82 pitches. He threw 32 in the second.

Keegan Akin threw 2 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings. He walked one and struck out three. Burch Smith retired all six batters faced and struck out three.

Snell, the two-time Cy Young Award winner who threw a no-hitter in Cincinnati this season, let only three Orioles reach base. He’s registered a 1.33 ERA since returning from the injured list on July 9 and stayed on a roll that eludes the Orioles.

Emmanuel Rivera’s soft single with two outs in the second inning was the only hit against Snell. Fourteen of 15 batters were retired before Mullins walked and stole second base with two outs in the fifth. Coby Mayo struck out – the 10^th for Snell.

Soto drew a leadoff walk in the sixth, but a force out and two more strikeouts got Snell back in the dugout at 98 pitches.

"Didn't really seem to miss over the plate today," said Henderson, who struck out three times. "He's just got obviously electric stuff. He showed that tonight."

Heston Kjerstad, who received a standing ovation in his return from a concussion while the ballpark deejay played “I Can See Clearly Now” by Johnny Nash, lined a single into center field off 6-foot-11 reliever Sean Hjelle in the seventh inning. He was stranded. Kjerstad and Ryan O'Hearn singled with two outs in the ninth. They were stranded.

Colton Cowser lined a pinch-hit double into right-center with two outs in the eighth. Adley Rutschman struck out on three pitches, and the Orioles drew closer to their eighth shutout loss and the third in eight games. The 15 strikeouts were one short of their season high.

They’ve scored 21 runs in the last 11 games.

"We've been talking about it for a while. Just trying to figure out a way to get through it," Henderson said.

"We've done it pretty much the first three quarters of the year and then just kind of this last little bit it's been kind of weird. Just kind of getting out of sync it seems like. Obviously we know we've done it. They're new faces but they're all awesome players. It's kind of weird not being able to get through it but just got to keep pushing. Eventually it's going to go our way at some point."

The song remained the same tonight other than the walk-up tunes.

"Figured just change something up a little bit to get everybody in kind of a funny mood," Henderson said. "Just kind of a team pick thing. Hopefully they'll be good for us down the road. Didn't show tonight."

* Infielder Nick Maton cleared waivers again and accepted his outright assignment to Triple-A Norfolk.