Early lead disappears again and Orioles are swept (updated)

Austin Hays was plopped in the leadoff spot today and lined a single into right field to start the game. Freddy Galvis singled to right. Trey Mancini singled to right for his 23rd RBI this month.

The opposite-field approach was interrupted only briefly. Manager Brandon Hyde and hitting coach Don Long had to be mentally high-fiving each other.

Anthony Santander pulled a 3-0 sinker into left field for a run-scoring single and Maikel Franco doubled to right for an RBI.

Four of the first six batters to face Nationals left-hander Patrick Corbin hit the ball the other way, but the Orioles still couldn't jump back onto the right side of a final score. Correct approach, wrong result.

The lead was gone only four batters into the bottom of the first and the Nationals moved ahead after seven. The Orioles tied the game in the third inning, fell behind again in the fourth and fell 6-5 to extend their losing streak to six games.

They almost lost Franco after Josh Bell barreled into his right knee in the third inning while trying to advance on a grounder to short. Franco grimaced and held up his hand, motioning to the dugout, but stayed in the game.

Stevie Wilkerson was 2-for-2, including a single off Brad Hand leading off the ninth. He reached second base on Hays' bunt and was stranded after a two-out intentional walk to Mancini. Santander struck out.

The Hays bunt didn't meet with Hyde's approval.

"No," he said in his Zoom call. "Absolutely 100 percent no."

Conversely, the early opposite-field mentality "was awesome,"

"I think four, five hits to right field off Corbin," he said. "Our offensive approach was fantastic. Really happy with how we swung the bat. We got 13 hits today, had some other opportunities and didn't get it quite done, but I thought we did a nice job offensively today."

Alex Avila scored the go-ahead run in the fourth after a leadoff double, moving to third on Andrew Stevenson's infield hit - Galvis glanced at Avila and threw late - and scoring on Trea Turner's sacrifice fly.

Stevenson would have scored on a popup that fell in front of the plate, except Juan Soto didn't run out of the box and Pedro Severino threw him out.

Both teams sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning. The starters combined to throw 62 pitches. The Orioles were the team saddled with its 13th loss in 15 games to lower its record to 17-29.

Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer off Matt Harvey in the first to tie the game, and doubles by Josh Harrison and Avila gave the Nationals a 4-3 lead. Harvey lasted only 1 2/3 innings in his previous start and made it through 4 2/3 today before Cole Sulser replaced him with two runners on base.

Sulser walked Avila and Stevenson to force in a run, which was unearned after Galvis' throwing error.

"Trea Turner on the swinging bunt single there to lead off the game and they score three, he got some balls middle there that they were on time with, but (Harvey's) fastball velo was really good," Hyde said. "He did a nice job after that first inning. I was hoping he could get through that fifth, but we were pretty sloppy defensively, also, once again when he pitched and didn't help him out in some areas. But he did compete and it was close when he left."

Harvey slammed his glove to the dugout floor after coming out of the game at 92 pitches. He allowed five earned runs and nine hits with one walk and six strikeouts, and his ERA is 6.31. He hasn't completed five innings in his last four starts and has surrendered 18 earned runs and 24 hits in the last three.

"The way the first inning went, I think it's a step in the right direction to get in the fifth," Harvey said in his Zoom. "Obviously, I'm still not happy. In my mind, a starter goes six, seven innings, especially with how we've been going the last week, two weeks. our bullpen is being used way too early and way too often and we as a whole have to be better at that. I'm the first one to blame on all those issues. I just have to keep going out and being better and figure out a way to get six, seven innings and save our bullpen."

Corbin threw 30 pitches in the first, his only break coming when Severino swung at a 2-0 changeup that almost touched the dirt and grounded into a 6-4-3 double play. Franco followed with his double.

The Orioles squandered five-run leads in two of the past four games, leading 5-0 yesterday after the first inning and losing 12-9. The Nationals had an immediate answer today.

Runners don't usually tag up from first base on a fly ball to left field, but Turner did it in the first inning after reaching on an infield single and easily beat Ryan Mountcastle's throw. It proved to be a crucial play after Bell singled into right-center field to score Turner and reduce the lead to 3-1.

Mountcastle made the catch short of the warning track, but the Nationals challenged his arm.

Harvey's first-pitch sinker to Schwarber carried over the fence in right-center. Schwarber was 2-for-12 with five strikeouts against him before today.

"I hate losing, I hate contributing to that and I feel like I've done that in my last three, four starts and it's completely unacceptable," Harvey said. "I don't think any of us like to lose, but I personally hate it. It sucks right now. Got to figure out a way to be better. When we score runs we're not keeping runs off the board ourselves, so we have to be better as a whole and I take responsibly for that myself, the way I've been pitching. It's just unacceptable. I have to do better."

Mancini singled again into right field leading off the third, moved to second base on Santander's automatic double to left and scored with one out on Franco's sacrifice fly. Mancini produced his 24th RBI this month, and 41st of the season to lead the majors, with a groundout in the seventh following Galvis' leadoff double and a wild pitch from reliever Wander Suero.

The Galvis error in the fifth was killer because Harvey had two outs and nobody on base after Severino threw out Schwarber trying to steal. Josh Harrison singled, Harvey was removed and the walks padded the lead.

Turner led off the sixth with a single, Paul Fry replaced Sulser and the next three batters were retired. Fry tossed two spotless innings and César Valdez stranded a runner in the ninth.

"We're just in a big rut and we have a lot of younger guys who are learning a lot of things right now," Mancini said, "but it's something we've got to get through and get over that hump and get back to being able to play the baseball that I know we're very capable of playing."

Down on the farm, Spenser Watkins tossed six hitless innings today at Triple-A Norfolk. Hunter Harvey replaced him to begin an injury rehab assignment and allowed two runs and three hits with no walks and two strikeouts in two innings. Jacksonville's Eddy Alvarez hit a solo home run.

Double-A Bowie's DL Hall tossed four scoreless innings with two hits and eight strikeouts.