Orioles can't hold late lead and lose 3-2 in 10 innings (updated)

Corbin Burnes finished the first inning, shook his head in frustration - at least partly with the plate umpire’s strike zone but more at himself - and walked to the dugout. Catcher Adley Rutschman met him along the first base line and could have been invisible.

On a night that the Orioles optioned top prospect Jackson Holliday, the veteran right-hander needed his own reset before returning to the mound. Shea Langeliers homered on a first-pitch cutter with two outs, the fifth run surrendered by Burnes in the first inning this season. But Burnes regained control of his start and did his usual ace-like work. His troubles seemed to disappear.

Unfortunately for the Orioles, so did their slim lead. And that was the most frustrating part.

Closer Craig Kimbrel, trying for a 425th career save that would have tied him with Kenley Jansen for 5th place on the all-time list, failed to retire any of the five batters faced in the ninth, the only out coming on a play at the plate. He left with the bases loaded and the score knotted and Keegan Akin prevented the go-ahead run from crossing, but the Athletics won in 10 innings 3-2 before an announced crowd of 22,965 at chilly Camden Yards.

Jacob Webb let the go-ahead run score after a 5-2-5-3 fielder's choice removed the automatic runner. Brent Rooker doubled to left field to give Oakland the lead.

Mason Miller and his triple-digit fastball entered in the bottom half of the inning, and Jordan Westburg didn't make it past third base. Miller struck out two more to give him 25 in 12 1/3 innings.

The Orioles are 16-9 overall and 13-2 when leading after the eighth.

Abraham Toro doubled in the top of the ninth to score Rooker, who led off with a double and held his ground as JJ Bleday walked. Defensive replacement Ryan McKenna couldn't run down Toro's ball in right-center.

Bleday raced home on a pitch that got past Rutschman, but Kimbrel covered the plate, applied the tag and eventually recorded the out call after a challenge. Former Orioles farmhand Darell Hernaiz and Lawrence Butler walked, and Kimbrel was removed.

No shaking of the head. He just kept it lowered.

"Three walks in an inning, that's going to mean your command's off," Kimbrel said. "Obviously, after such a well-pitched game from the whole team it's not a very pretty inning. I expect better out of myself. Just tonight wasn't my night.

"There are nights you don't have your best stuff and you can work through it. It doesn't matter if I have my best stuff out there or if I don't have it, I've got to figure out a way to make it through. Tonight I just wasn't able to make the pitches when I needed to. I had opportunities, I just didn't make the pitches."

Akin struck out Seth Brown and Ryan Noda popped up to keep the score tied, Mitch Spence notched his third scoreless and hitless inning, and the game moved beyond regulation.

Cedric Mullins hit a tie-breaking homer in the fourth, snapping an 0-for-13 skid, and Burnes held the Athletics to one run in six innings, but Kimbrel allowed his first earned run since April 1. Nothing over the next 10 except for an unearned run Wednesday in Anaheim.

Ryan O’Hearn singled in the first inning and again with two outs in the third, tying the game after singles by Colton Cowser and Rutschman. Mullins put a 1-2 changeup from Ross Stripling onto the flag court in right field for his sixth home run.

Stripling didn’t give up anything else and left after 5 2/3 innings with the Athletics down 2-1. Former Orioles left-hander T.J. McFarland stranded Anthony Santander, who doubled with one out.

Burnes walked two batters after Langeliers’ home run and didn’t allow another hit until Max Schuemann’s single with two outs in the fifth, retiring 11 of 12 batters. He walked Bleday in the fourth and picked him off.

Former Oriole Tyler Nevin singled in the sixth, stole his first career base and was stranded. Burnes allowed three hits, walked three, struck out six and lowered his ERA to 2.55.

"Just not an executed pitch there to Langeliers," Burnes said. "Just kind of a night we had to grind through and battle through not having our best stuff. But you have to first be able to miss some bats and get enough weak contact to get through six there and give us a chance to win."

Pitching coach Drew French visited the mound in the first.

"More of just a breather," Burnes said. "I was frustrated. I think they could see that from the dugout. I don't like giving up homers. Solo homers, I guess, are better than two- and three-run homers, but I keep giving up early homers. I'm not executing pitches. Got to do a better job of that and get after it, but I think they could sense some frustration there."

Burnes doesn't give himself high marks for his body of work with his new club.

"Happy with how I've grinded through it and got through a good month now to try to figure things out," he said. "I feel like I've had maybe one game where stuff has been where I want it to be, so that's obviously a little frustrating. Six starts in, only having your best stuff one time. But the good part is we've grinded through it and we've given ourselves a chance to win every time we've gone out there. Just have to keep after it and know the work we're putting in, it's going to turn and good things are to happen and we're going to throw the baseball the way we want."

The bullpen got busy with Burnes at 97 pitches. Yennier Cano, making is team-leading 13^th appearance, struck out Brown to end the seventh after Butler doubled off Danny Coulombe. Cano retired the side in order in the eighth and passed the baton to Kimbrel.

"That was huge for Akin to come in there and get us out of that inning and give us an opportunity," Kimbrel said. "But again, this game's really on me. Everybody did everything they needed for us to get a win except for me locking it down. Just going to have to put this one behind us and come out tomorrow and try to get another W."

"It was just an off night," said manager Brandon Hyde. "Just didn't have his best command, and it's going to happen. He just had an off night tonight."

Burnes has never struck out fewer than three batters in 112 career starts, the second-longest streak to begin a major league career behind Yu Darvish’s 124, per STATS.

"We did some good things on the mound," Hyde said. "Coulombe, Cano bridged it there. They did a nice job. Akin gets two huge outs for us. I think you've got to give credit to their pitchers. ... We just had a tough night at the plate."

Burnes didn’t have much of a cushion tonight with the Athletics able to contain the Orioles’ prolific offense.

“Listen, this is a good team,” Hyde warned earlier today. “Watching them in that Yankee series, it’s a tough team to play against. They gave the Yankees everything they could handle. They’re playing their butts off. Credit to (manager) Mark Kotsay and his staff. It’s going to be a tough team for teams to play all season long because of the style of play and how much they’ve improved.”

The Orioles played their first game after optioning Holliday.

“He’s a really special person, he’s an incredible, incredible kid, and I thought how he handled everything, I admired it,” Hyde said.

“I admired the maturity, how he handled tough at-bats, how he stayed engaged defensively, how you couldn’t tell he was down in any way. He came to the park ready to play.”

The necessary adjustments will be made at the plate, but Hyde just wants Holliday to play. To have fun again.

“That’s the most important thing right now,” Hyde said.

“I admire how he’s so mature even though he’s so young. You forget that a little bit because he’s so talented. And how he’s handled everything has been incredible.”

The rebuilding Orioles might have been more inclined to lengthen the rope.

“It may be easier,” Hyde said, “but I think what you’re thinking about is what’s the right thing to do for the kid, what’s the right thing to do for the team? And we feel like the right thing to do for the kid is for him to go play without as much pressure, make some adjustments offensively.”

* Austin Hays said this afternoon that his left calf muscle isn’t as sore, noting the improvement in a strain that forced him on the 10-day injured list Monday.

“It’s doing good,” he said. “We started the beginning of the rehab recently where we’re actually moving around on it. Feels good so far.

“It’s good that it’s just mild, it’s not a pull or a tear or anything like that. Just got to see over the course of these next few days when we do the running stuff. But as far as walking and planting and moving around on it, it’s feeling a lot better. Before, I could feel it when I would walk. I’m not feeling it walking now, which is good. Just got to see how these next few days go and then we’ll have a better feeling of when I can start running. We’ve just got to test it.”

Hays said the discomfort gradually became worse, and he came out of Saturday’s game in Kansas City after returning to left field in the seventh inning.

“I didn’t really have one instance where I felt like a pop or a pull, which is a good thing,” he said. “If you have an instance like that, it’s pretty significant. It’s just kind of something that came on slow. I thought I was going to just be able to treat it, play through it. Unfortunately, it just got a little bit worse when we were in Kansas City. The ball that (Jorge) Mateo hit up the middle and I went first to third, that’s when I felt like, man, that’s the first time that I’ve pushed it to 100 percent and I just didn’t feel like I could get to that point, so I didn’t think it was good for the team for me to be in there if I’m playing that big outfield and I can’t get up to 100 percent and be able to run the bases and play defense. Unfortunately, it just got a little bit worse.

“I had felt it and I was hoping it was more of a cramp, but then I got back to the dugout and was walking around and I started jogging out there and it still didn’t feel good.”

* Kyle Bradish started at Norfolk and allowed one run and five hits in five innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. He threw 77 pitches, 49 for strikes, and his fastball mostly was in the 92-94 mph range.

Justin Armbruester tossed four scoreless relief innings with one hit allowed and six strikeouts.

Kyle Stowers hit a two-run homer in the first inning, raising his total to eight. Michael Pérez hit his second home run and had two RBIs. Coby Mayo tripled for the second time this season.

Double-A Bowie’s Trace Bright allowed one run in five innings and struck out six batters.

The Baysox were no-hit for eight innings before Frederick Bencosme led off the ninth with a single, and TT Bowens delivered a two-run double to prevent the shutout.

High-A Aberdeen’s Creed Willems hit a three-run homer. Juan Nuñez shut out Jersey Shore on three hits in five innings.

Single-A Delmarva starter Luis De León allowed an unearned run and one hit over 5 2/3 innings, walked one and struck out eight. Moisés Chace replaced him and earned the save with four scoreless innings and only two hits allowed.