The manager changed but the woes continue for the Baltimore Orioles, losing 10-4 to the Washington Nationals. Despite the change at the top, the underlying pieces remain the same. The team swaped a pair of pieces prior to Sunday’s game; out were Tyler O’Neill (IL) and Kyle Gibson (DFA) and in were Dylan Carlson (3rd call-up) and Kade Strowd (2nd call-up). Even with several prominent players expected back in the near future (Jordan Westburg, Colton Cower, Gary Sanchez and Andrew Kittredge), manager Tony Mansolino makes his lineup card from the same pool of players that Brandon Hyde did.
The numbers are ugly; Baltimore has now lost six games in a row (they went 0 for the homestand), have lost twelve of their last fifteen and have been swept for the third series this season.
The second game of the Mansolino era went much the same as the first did. The starter put the team in a huge hole, the offense showed some signs of life and the Nationals then plated some add-on insurance runs to win.
Washington struck immediately eith CJ Abrams homering on the first pitch starter Zach Eflin (3-2) threw. Eflin pitched out of that mess but by the time the second inning was over the Orioles found themselves trailing 7-0. Allowing 8 runs on 10 hits, including homeruns to Abrams (2), Luis Garcia Jr and Dylan Crews, striking out 4 and hitting a batter, Eflin gutted out 5.1 innings of work and was, in the end, tagged with the loss.
Three Orioles homeruns in three consecutive innings were key to the Orioles “comeback” in the middle innings. Cedric Mullins (2 for 4, 2B, HR, R, 2 RBI) homered in the fifth, Gunnar Henderson (1 for 3, HR, R, RBI, BB) homered in the sixth and Jackson Holliday (2 for 4, HR, R, RBI, HBP) went yard in the seventh. Holliday has now homered in consecutive days.
Jack of Clubs
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— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) May 18, 2025
Ryan O’Hearn (2 for 4, 2B, R) doubled in the sixth and scored on a Mullins’ double.
Ryan Mountcastle went 1 for 5 and Ramon Laureano went 1 for 4.
As for the bullpen, Keegan Akin struck out 2 in 1.2 innings, Bryan Baker (1.0 IP, R, H, 3 K) coughed up an eighth inning homerun and Strowd (1.0 IP, R, 2 H, K) gave up a run in his ninth inning MLB debut.
The feeling that the May schedule against weaker teams would help the Orioles turn their fortunes around has yet to come to fruition. Baltimore still owns the fourth worst record in MLB. The struggle is real.
2025 Record: 15-30
Next Game: Mon. 5/19 @ 7:40 pm vs. Brewers in Milwaukee