The Orioles (61-67) open a three-game home series against the Tampa Bay Rays (76-51) on Friday at Oriole Park at Camden Yards, looking to snap a four-game losing streak that just cost them a series they controlled a week ago. Baltimore took three of four from these same Rays last weekend; instead of building on it, the Orioles were swept by the Yankees, scoring five total runs across the three games and falling to six games under .500 for the first time since July 11.
Baltimore's offense simply went cold at the wrong time, finishing 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position across the series — 0-for-6 in each of the first two games and 0-for-4 in the finale. Thursday's series-ending 6-1 loss carried a defensive gut-punch on top of it. With runners on first and third and nobody out in the third inning, Jackson Holliday fielded a grounder and threw to Gunnar Henderson at second, but Henderson was already turning to make the relay throw to first and complete the double play — and in trying to turn two, he never secured Holliday's throw cleanly. Everyone was safe, a run scored, and Kyle Bradish — who needed 38 pitches just to get through that inning — never fully recovered, allowing three earned runs and two unearned across 5.2 innings. Henderson made up for it a few batters later, cleanly turning a conventional double play on a Trent Grisham groundball, but the damage from the missed catch was already done: Ben Rice and Heliot Ramos followed with an RBI single and an RBI double that put New York up 3-0 in the same inning.
"That error hurt a lot," Albernaz said afterward. "[Bradish] threw a lot more pitches than he should have, and that cascading effect was real."
Dylan Beavers supplied Baltimore's only run of the game with a fifth-inning solo homer off Gerrit Cole, his second solo shot in as many days, but Cole otherwise cruised, and Luis García Jr. and Spencer Jones both went deep off Bradish in the sixth to end his night. The sweep dropped Baltimore two games behind the Minnesota Twins in the race for the final AL wild-card spot, just days after the Orioles had held that position outright.
Albernaz didn't dodge the bigger-picture question when asked why the level of play looked so different against New York than it had against Tampa Bay the weekend before.
"That's what had been eluding us all year, just playing consistent baseball," Albernaz said. "We keep on showing flashes and stretches, and then flashes and stretches the other way. So for us, it's just go out there and play consistent baseball. It's taxing mentally to do that, but also our guys are fully capable of that. We're at the point in the year where we have to lock in for every game, every pitch, to put ourselves in position to do something cool and something special. But it's easier said than done."
Asked directly why that consistency has been so hard to find, Albernaz put the responsibility on himself. "That's a great question — it's something that, myself, I've been actively trying to problem-solve and put a finger on," he said. "I'm the manager of the team, the guy in charge, and it's my job to figure that out, and I haven't yet. That's on me."
He also pushed back on the idea that Baltimore is playing from a place of desperation, even six games under .500 with a crowded field of teams ahead of it in the wild-card race. "Every game we play is not a desperate situation, but we have to win it," Albernaz said. "In an ideal world, you don't want to be scoreboard-watching and hoping for other teams to lose. You have to play your brand of baseball and compete and win, and let the chips fall when they fall. We're still in an opportunity where we're playing meaningful games, and we still control how this season goes."
Tampa Bay arrives still holding the American League East lead and the best record in baseball, and enters looking for a measure of payback after dropping three of four to Baltimore last weekend. RHP Freddy Peralta (5-10, 5.27 ERA) starts for the Rays. LHP Trevor Rogers (8-8, 4.15 ERA) takes the ball for the Orioles, who need the kind of consistent, clean baseball Albernaz described just to keep pace in a wild-card picture that isn't waiting for them to figure it out.
Probable Starters
Tampa Bay Rays: RHP Freddy Peralta (5-10, 5.27 ERA)
Baltimore Orioles: LHP Trevor Rogers (8-8, 4.15 ERA)
Where to Watch/Listen
First pitch: 7:15 PM ET at Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Weather: 80°F, Overcast
TV: Apple TV
Radio: 98 Rock (97.9 FM) and WBAL NewsRadio (AM 1090 / FM 101.5)