Orioles swept in Wild Card round with 2-1 loss to Royals, Cowser fractures hand

The music didn't play. The reflections from the disco lights didn't bounce off the walls and ceiling. The Orioles sat in silence at their lockers or circled the room and hugged, failing to repeat as division champions and now mimicking last year’s morose elimination setting.

The losing streak in the playoffs has reached 10 games. Any chance to snap it must wait until 2025.

The Royals broke a tie in the sixth inning on Bobby Witt Jr.’s infield single with two outs that scored Kyle Isbel, and the Orioles lost 2-1 in a do-or-die Game 2 of the Wild Card series before an announced crowd of 38,698 at Camden Yards.

That’s it. Being all-in with the winter trade for Corbin Burnes and talking about avenging last year’s ouster in the Division Series in Texas led to another sweep. Too many injuries and too little offense.

And now, a lot of time to think about it.

"Feel terrible," said Ryan O'Hearn. "Feel terrible for our fans. Feel like we let them down. Just sucks. We didn't score runs and we didn't get any big hits when we needed to. Just feel terrible about it."

“We're very disappointed,” said manager Brandon Hyde. “Pretty frustrating after those couple games. But give all the credit to Kansas City. It's a first-class organization over there. They played really, really well. They pitched to us incredibly well. Scored one run in two games. Give them a lot of credit. They played better than us these two games.”

Royals closer Lucas Erceg retired the side in order in the ninth, and the Orioles’ run at the city’s first championship since 1983. Gunnar Henderson swung through a changeup and made the slow walk to the dugout with his head bowed.

“As a team we experienced a lot of highs and lows, but we continued to battle,” Anthony Santander said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Obviously, the result isn’t what we wanted, but we continued to fight and that’s all we can do.”

Henderson’s eyes were moist and reddened as media entered the clubhouse. He asked for a few minutes before speaking. Players embraced each other tightly, the only sounds in the room coming from backs patted.

"It sucks," he said. "Would have liked to make a little bit better run this year, but yeah, just didn't end up going our way. I liked our chances, I felt like we made steps in the right direction. Just not able to get it done today."

Yennier Cano was the fourth reliever used when he replaced Cionel Pérez, who put runners on the corners with two outs in the sixth. Jordan Westburg made a diving stop of Witt’s grounder up the middle, tried for the out at first and threw late to give Kansas City a 2-1 lead. Cano issued a walk that loaded the bases before striking out Salvador Perez.

Henderson raced to the bag but didn't know whether Westburg had a play there.

"I was in the hole a little bit, so I was doing my best over there to get it," he said. "Felt like whatever way he decided to go. Obviously the guy at first (Michael Massey) can run and Bobby obviously can run really well. Just tough play."

Said Hyde: "Obviously when you're on your stomach it's going to be tough to throw. He did the best he possibly could. I haven't looked at the transfer or where he was at that point, but I thought Westy did a great job of getting to the ball."

The Orioles needed a late push on their final road trip to finish at .500 after the break. The red flags made it hard to envision a pennant.

Owner David Rubenstein occupied his seat next to the dugout, perhaps making mental notes of how his first offseason as the control person should be shaped. He may order more bats. The Orioles went 1-for-13 with runners in scoring position in the series and left 16 on base. They were outscored 3-1.

"We know the type of offense that we are and it just wasn't on our side," Santander said. "We didn't succeed with runners in scoring position, and especially myself, and pretty disappointed knowing I could have done a better job for the team, but that's just the way it went with the offense."

The Orioles hadn’t scored in 13 innings before Cedric Mullins hit a game-tying home run off Seth Lugo leading off the fifth. Mullins was 0-for-12 in last year’s playoffs. He had three hits in the Wild Card.

The bases were loaded with no outs after Ramón Urías singled, Henderson walked – almost chucking his bat to the dugout railing – and Lugo misplayed Westburg’s grounder to the mound. Santander popped up, Colton Cowser struck out on a pitch from Angel Zerpa that drilled him in the left hand, and Adley Rutschman grounded out.

Seven runners were stranded last night and the Orioles matched that total by the fifth.

"We had some opportunities and we went out there and battled our butts off," Henderson said. "It was close games and just couldn't come through."

"I thought they did a great job of pitching out of trouble," Hyde said. "I thought we gave everything we had. I thought we pitched really, really well. We pitched out of traffic almost the entire game it felt like to keep the score where it was. Just a disappointing finish."

Cowser was in obvious pain but stayed in the game as long as he could. Head athletic trainer Brian Ebel stood in the outfield while Cowser played catch during a pitching change, and Heston Kjerstad went to left field in the top of the seventh. The team announced afterward that Cowser fractured his hand, adding physical pain to the mental side.

"It sucks," Cowser said afterward, his hand in a cast. "Just one of those at-bats where you kind of get yourself looking out over and kind of starts where the slider starts and it ran in. I was trying to get out of the way and I was trying to bail out, got hit."

Santander flied to center field to end the seventh after Westburg walked – perhaps his last at-bat with the Orioles. Austin Slater singled with two outs in the eighth and Ryan Mountcastle grounded into a force. Rutschman bounced out earlier and is 2-for-20 in his postseason career.

"Guys competed. Just didn't go our way," Rutschman said. "I think our coaching staff, our guys, they have a good process. We went through ups and down this season. This team is capable of a lot. I know that we've shown that time in and time out. We've had our ups and down, but I think this group is relentless and you're going to see an improved group next year. They don't take any time off. These guys will get right back to work. I know I'm gonna be excited to see what we've got come spring training."

As teammates consoled each other, Santander stood with hands on hips and surveyed the room. He's a pending free agent and wants to return, but he also understands the business. He could leave the organization that selected him in the 2016 Rule 5 draft. The Royals were soaked in champagne and beer on the visiting side. Santander soaked in the scene.

"No words," he said. "Just really happy and proud, and I thank this fan base for supporting me and this team for giving me the opportunity to play here all these years."

Zach Eflin has another year on his contract and could be the rotation’s top starter with Burnes approaching free agency. Hyde removed him after only four innings, 75 pitches and one run allowed, preventing a third trip through the order.

“It's a do-or-die game and I thought our bullpen was fantastic,” Hyde said. “Eff gave up one, we gave up one in five innings out of the bullpen. Normally you give yourself a good chance there.”

Eflin said he felt good but understood how rules change in elimination games.

"We fell just short," he said. "It stings, but you know it's going to build a lot of character in this clubhouse and we'll be ready for next year."

The bullpen gate got a workout. Hyde mentioned all hands on deck earlier today. He wasn’t kidding.

Danny Coulombe retired the first two batters in the fifth, allowed Vinnie Pasquantino’s single and exited for Jacob Webb. Pérez was hit on the elbow, Yuli Gurriel walked on four pitches and MJ Melendez struck out. A much better outcome for Webb after he served up a grand slam last fall in Game 2 of the Division Series.

Rutschman assisted Cano in the seventh by throwing out pinch-runner Garrett Hampson trying to steal. Seranthony Domínguez replaced Gregory Soto in the eighth and struck out Witt to strand a runner on second base.

Eflin was put in this position a year ago with the Rays in a must-win Game 2 of the Wild Card series against the Rangers. He allowed five runs and eight hits in five innings in a 7-1 loss.

Three batters into today’s game, the Orioles had to play from behind to stay alive.

Massey doubled down the right field line and scored with one out on Pasquantino’s ground ball through the right side. Eflin survived a walk in the second inning and two singles in the third that put runners on the corners.  His pitch count stood at 55, four more than Burnes yesterday through the fifth.

Coulombe began to warm in the fifth as Eflin was stranding Isbel after a hit-by-pitch.

The left field upper deck was mostly empty and the ballpark’s in-game host implored fans to wave their orange towels and cheer. It got loud in the bottom of the first inning when Lugo drilled Westburg on the left hand with a 94.4 mph sinker. The ball might have hit part of the bat’s knob, creating a sound heard up in the press box.

Westburg stayed in the game, but it was a harsh reminder of the July 31 pitch that fractured his right hand.

O’Hearn singled with one out in the second inning, but Lugo struck out Mountcastle and Mullins. Melendez ran down Urías’ line drive to the left field track in the third that was slicing toward the line, one day after overrunning his ball for a gift double.

Statcast calculated a home run in 27 ballparks. Orioles fans flashed back to the 2014 ALCS. And they’d do it again in the fourth.

Santander led off the inning with a single and Rutschman bounced a first-pitch fastball into right field with one out. Massey made a diving backhand stop of O’Hearn’s grounder toward the middle and threw him out.

"I can think of a few balls that could have very easily bounced the other way and we wouldn't be having this conversation," O'Hearn said. "Michael Massey made a good play on a ball I hit and it was kind of a momentum changer. Melendez caught a ball against the wall. I don't know what the catch probability was but I've never seen him make a play like that before."

Those 2014 ghosts can’t be exorcised.

The Orioles will be haunted by their inability to hit in the clutch and to meet the expectations they set after winning 101 games last season. They raised the bar and fell hard again in October.

"We didn't come into this series expecting it to be our last series," said James McCann. "We didn't come into tonight's game even down 0-1 that we were expecting it to be our last game."

“This hurt just because we had opportunities to win both games," Hyde said. "Last year Game 1 opportunity, didn't win, but then the next two kind of got out of hand. This year you felt like these were two winnable games.”

"You go all year, working super hard in the offseason and during the year just to get to the postseason, and it's a tough pill to swallow," Mountcastle said. "We've got a great team and a great core, and hopefully we can be back next year."

"We're obviously excited where this can go," Henderson said, "and we're looking forward to taking that next step and let this sit and we use this as fuel again."

They don't want to linger in their dugout again and watch the opponent celebrate. The sting of champagne in the eyes beats this pain any day.

What do they say in moments like this?

"At this point, you just tell everybody you love them," Henderson said. "We did everything we could."