On a day when Manager Brandon Hyde and Major League Field Coordinator/Catching Instructor Tim Cossins were relieved of their duties and Tony Mansolino was named interim manager, the Baltimore Orioles lost to the Washington Nationals 10-6.
About thirty minutes after the game started, the Orioles found themselves down 6-0 and on their second pitcher of the day and it just was after one-half inning. With a cloud hanging over the day, both the team and the crowd seemed deflated.
Kyle Gibson (0-3) had a complete melt down, allowing 6 runs on 6 hits with a walk, a strikeout and a wild pitch thrown in 0.2 inning. He threw 47 pitches (28 strikes) to the 9 batters he faced and took the loss, the fifth consecutive loss of the homestand.
Charlie Morton relieved Gibson and may have found the key to better appearances. Entering the game with the team down by six and knowing it would take a bizzare set of circumstances, even for this team, to tag him with the loss, Morton put forth a solid 4.1 inning effort in which he allowed 1 run on 3 hits with a walk and 6 strikeouts.
The first inning featured several errant throws and an uncharacteristic misplay in center by Cedric Mullins (0 for 4), all of which exacerbated Gibson’s struggles. The young players on the team, never having experienced this side of the business of professional baseball, understandably had that deer in the headlights look and played as such knowing what had occured ealier in the day.
Held scoreless for a combined nine innings over two games, the Orioles finally plated two runs in the seventh inning on an Adley Rutschman (1 for 4, 2B, R) double, a Ramon Urias (1 for 4, R, RBI) single and a Ramon Laureano (2 for 4, 2B, R, RBI) double.
Cionel Perez (2.2 IP, 3 K) held the Nats in check until they put the game essentially on ice by scoring 3 runs in the ninth off Yennier Cano (0.2 IP, R, H) and Seranthony Dominguez (0.2 IP, 2 R, 2 H, BB, K, HBP) combined.
The Orioles showed some signs of life in the ninth, scoring 4 runs, highlighted by a Jackson Holliday (2 for 5, 2B, HR, R, 3 RBI) three run homerun, his fifth of the season.
Heston Kjerstad went 2 for 4 with a run scored.
Gunnar Henderson went 1 for 5.
Jorge Mateo, pinch hitting in the ninth, went 1 for 1 with a run scored and 1 RBI.
Certainly not the start to his managerial career Mansolino dreamed of but now is the time to move on and try to move forward.
2025 Record: 15-29
Next Game: Sun. 5/18 @ 1:35 pm vs. Washington Nationals