Same questions plague Orioles in 7-0 loss to Nationals

WASHINGTON – The pain points in the Orioles' 2025 season aren’t difficult to locate.

They were apparent in Sunday’s lopsided game and they showed themselves again tonight in a 7-0 loss to the Nationals.

“We did not play well,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “It is disappointing. Coming off a game we definitely wanted to throw away a couple of days ago, an off-day, to come out and not take great at-bats and not play very good baseball tonight, that was disappointing.”

Entering tonight’s contest against the Nationals, Orioles starting pitchers had the highest ERA in the majors by a significant margin. Dean Kremer’s outing didn’t help that figure.

“When he was in the middle part of the plate, they hit him hard,” said Hyde. “Some of the other balls that went for RBIs were just in the middle part of the plate. Just had a tough night.”

James Wood led off the game with a shift-beating double down the left field line, slapping a four-seam fastball 108.5 mph the other way. Nathaniel Lowe was next up and didn’t wait long to join the party, taking Kremer deep to right-center for a two-run home run. Just like that, it was 2-0 Nationals.

Despite a Keibert Ruiz double two batters later, Kremer escaped the first inning with just two runs surrendered.

But for an O’s offense that’s been struggling and facing a starting pitcher with a 1.85 ERA, that’s an early hole with a steep uphill climb.

Nats starter Mitchell Parker doesn’t miss many bats, but he does miss barrels. Entering tonight’s game, Parker was just in the 16th percentile in strikeout rate, but 90th percentile in barrel rate. It’s a bit of an old-school approach: not chasing the K and trying to induce weak contact.

“I thought we were a little too aggressive early in the count,” said Hyde. “Quick outs, just didn’t barrel many baseballs. Just didn’t make it tough on him at all.”

Parker showed off that prowess early and often, as Adley Rutschman, Tyler O’Neill and Jordan Westburg all recorded outs on balls in play hit under 90 mph in the first few innings.

The offense showed some signs of life in the top of the third. After Gary Sánchez just got under one, Jackson Holliday walked and Cedric Mullins hit a sharp single to left. But Rutschman and Gunnar Henderson couldn’t capitalize, and the two lefties were stranded on first and second.

“Ced got our only hit,” Hyde added. “Ced’s taking great at-bats, competing in the box, love his at-bats right now. We need more guys to take those types of at-bats.”

Kremer allowed another run in the second, but bounced back from a tough first two innings with a 1-2-3 bottom of the third. He worked out of trouble in the fourth, but his defense didn’t help him out in the fifth.

Wood ripped another double, as he tends to do, and was on second base with one away. Here was the sequence of events that followed:

Luis García Jr. hit a single up the middle, fielded by Mullins, and Wood rounded third to come home. Henderson was in the outfield to be the cut-off man and Holliday was at second base. Anticipating a throw home by Mullins, Ryan Mountcastle ran to the mound and Holliday ran to first base to take his place. Mullins, instead, threw to second, but nobody was there to cover the base. Thus, García was safe at second, and a Keibert Ruiz single scored him as a result. 

Another run was tacked on, and just like that, it was 5-0 Nationals.

“We don’t have a ton of experience defensively, and I think that shows at times,” Hyde said. “When guys aren’t hitting, especially as young players, sometimes the defense isn’t at their best. That’s definitely an area that we need to get better at.”

Kremer's night was done after allowing a sixth run on a solo home run from Dylan Crews.

“I threw some balls in the big part of the zone that got hit in the grass. That was one of the issues that I had today,” Kremer said. “I think it’s a combination of a couple of things, maybe. I’m going to have to go back and watch and learn.”

His final line was 5 ⅓ innings, 11 hits and six earned runs. Not the start the O’s were hoping for.

But the deficit didn't matter, the Orioles offense still couldn’t find any rhythm against Parker.

Struggles against left-handed pitchers have been consistent all season, and Baltimore’s slugging right fielder isn’t shy about taking accountability for it. 

“I’m a big part of that, I need to do a better job in the middle of the order, against lefties specifically,” O’Neill said. “It’s something I’m working on. It’s a work in progress just like everything else, and hopefully I’ll show up better tomorrow.”

In eight innings of offense against this young lefty, Baltimore’s lone hit came on that Mullins single in the third inning. Only three runners reached base for the O’s against Parker.

“It’s kind of a sneaky fastball, a high-release sneaky fastball, we were late on it,” Hyde added. “And then to lefties, a lot of breaking balls, and we had a tough time staying on.”

Those offensive performances aren’t going to win you ballgames, regardless of your starting pitching issues.

The problems that have been plaguing the Orioles all year both reared their ugly heads tonight: the starting pitching put them in a hole early and the offense couldn’t climb out of it.

Baltimore’s bullpen limited damage, as they’ve done all year, but the O’s couldn’t push any runs across.

In the box score, tonight’s loss wasn’t nearly as lopsided as Sunday’s. But games like this have begun to pile up for the Birds.

“We’re having a tough time letting things go,” Hyde said. “We’re letting at-bats steamroll on us a little bit, it’s showing up in our defense at times as well.

"But nobody’s going to feel sorry for us, this is the big leagues. You’ve gotta be able to bring it every night, and you’ve gotta be able to turn the page.”

They’ll look to do so tomorrow night with Tomoyuki Sugano on the mound against Trevor Williams.