As rivalry weekend draws to a close, the Washington Nationals come out with a clean sweep of the Baltimore Orioles.
The Orioles’ recent struggles continued at home this past weekend. Baltimore dropped the entire three-game series to a subpar Nationals team. The Orioles sit at the bottom of the American League East standings, posting a .333 win percentage with a current six-game losing streak.
This weekend’s homestand was eventful for the O’s in more ways than the scorecard. The team relieved manager Brandon Hyde of his duties Saturday, naming third base coach Tony Mansolino interim manager in his place. The decision came after a 4-3 opening loss to the Nationals on Friday.
“I’m in disbelief, honestly,” Hyde noted in his post-game conference on Friday. “I thought we took really good at-bats until we had multiple runners on base against [MacKenzie] Gore.”
Hyde’s comment referenced Baltimore’s fifteen runners left on base during Friday’s game. The Birds’ inability to capitalize on scoring chances led to the Nats outscoring them 24-13 over the weekend. Washington put up two consecutive 10-pieces on Saturday and Sunday.
For a team that racked up 91 wins in 2024 and an AL-best 101 in 2023, the recent turbulence in Birdland is raising the heat under Baltimore’s players and management. Following Sunday’s loss, Gunnar Henderson explained his thoughts for the rest of the O’s season.
“It just takes one good month to get going, and it starts with one win. Get one win, and see what happens,” Henderson said in a conference with MASN Sports.
The Orioles will travel to Milwaukee to take on the similarly struggling Brewers of the National League Central on Monday.
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