Middle Of Orioles Lineup Craters Again In 6-5 Loss To Seattle

The Orioles would prefer the media default to naval-gazing about potentially blown calls in Toronto or, even documenting the daily ineptitude they serve up on the diamond, rather than probe the bizarre things team officials say and do in running this franchise into the ground.

And we’ll get to the gory details of Tuesday’s 6-5 defeat (including more outlandish low IQ antics like Leody Taveras striking out to lead off the 9th on a pitch-clock violation and sluggers Gunnar Henderson and Pete Alonso systemically unable to deliver with the bases loaded - in that same 9th inning this time - and Henderson possibly not going all out for second base on a key force out late in the game and, predictably, Tyer O’Neill striking out to end it all with two on.)

But the real story with a team intent on being a non-factor yet again this season, is the charades they are playing with their catching situation. A rookie skipper who has proved to be a fairly inept game-manager to this point took aim at a 21-year old catcher on Sunday – his best hitter since May 1 – who is dealing with a wrist and abdominal ailment, while skirting any commentary on why his oft-slumping and always-rested 28-year-old former first-overall catcher, Adley Rutschman, hadn’t put the gear on since Saturday and wouldn’t play yet again in this contest.

You see, on Tuesday, manager Craig Albernaz waited to reveal his lineup until after meeting the media pre-game. This after shaming Samuel Basallo on Sunday for not forging through “nicks” and “adversity” sufficiently, and then revealing on Monday that Basallo had an (apparently painful) growth on his wrist acting up that he’s dealt with for years. As for Rutschman, the very face of this failed rebuild from a player perspective as baseball demagogue Mike Elias’s first ever draft pick, he spent most of 2024 and 2025 in a prolonged tailspin despite being publicly babied and coddled throughout; no one dared question his fortitude.

Albernaz was forced to finally address Rutschman's absence all after the game – you can’t make this stuff up – and it was the opposite of his performance art about his other catcher. (perhaps the irony of it all not lost on him). We found out, barely, in the press conference that Rutschman has “some left hamstring tightness” according to Albernaz and is “day to day” and he did workout today and “we want to make sure we stay on top of that.”

The fact that amid all their deep organizational failures – this franchise couldn’t even keep the game broadcast over the air on MASN Tuesday, with the announces having to guess what might be wrong with Adley and whether he could pinch hit (warrior that he is, he did not) – Elias and Albernaz still managed to target Basallo is mind-numbing and totally on brad for Elias.

And it’s rich after Elias enabled a frat-house culture of overhyped prospects to the point he finally got shamed into spending some money on “an adult” like Alonso this offseason. Problem is the Mets might have been right about his age and declining bat speed and Alonso isn’t doing anything with men on base (Check "The Daily Flock" link below with great insight from basbeall analyst Joe Sheehan on just that).

Maybe that’s just the baseball gods telling the Orioles suddenly-invisible and slumbering owners to fire these imposters already.

What About The Game, Jason?

Oh yeah, it was vintage Orioles June 2024-June 2026, except for that 10-game homestand where they had three walk-offs. Opening Day starter Trevor Rogers didn’t fool anyone, again, because he can’t and his outpitch (change-up) has been figured out. He can’t strike out more than three batters a game, because he doesn’t get swing and miss. He also gets no groundballs without that change working (three groundball outs in 5 2/3 innings) and with a terrible defense behind him, that’s a problem.

Rogers didn’t get a call he wanted in the fourth and melted down, utterly predictable, and a back-up catcher who is all glove no bat (Mitch Garver) bashed a 400-foot, three-run homer, like that kid from Toronto making his major league debut two weeks ago. That’s the real Rogers, whose given up nine homers already.

Albernaz will keep making excuses for him ‘cuz that’s what his boss wants, like the game against Toronto where he was good for six inning before totally falling apart (good news: MASN got through all nine of that game loss without reverting to “Wall To Wall Baseball”). Rogers has a 6.15 ERA with 44 Ks and 69 hits allowed in 60 innings. Believe what you want about him.

Mariners starter Logan Gilbert had nothing going early and couldn’t throw strikes and gave up three hits (including a double) and two walks in the first two innings. Taveras, absolutely vital to whatever occasional success this team has, drove in one with a sac fly. That was all they got vs Gilbert. They left 10 on base Monday and five in the first two innings Tuesday.

Of course Gilbert ended up leaving the game retiring the last 14 he faced, with a 3-1 lead. When an error gifted the Orioles a shot at a rally in the 7th, inevitably O’Neill, who makes $19M a year but would be vastly overpaid if making the MLB minimum, ended any chance of that by hitting into a double play. Seattle manufactured a run for a 4-1 lead and the O’s added one on a wild pitch.

Coby Mayo continued his ascent, hitting a homer in the 9th after Taveras’s bizarre pitch-clock strikeout; O’Neill hit a ground rule double and Basallo made just enough contact to force a run home to tie the game. Reliver Jose Ferrer was laboring, throwing more than 40 pitches in the inning, and walked the bases loaded, but Henderson and Alonso – consistent rally-killers who could learn something from that Basallo kid in thioe spots– both grounded out to send it to extra innings

Henderson has not been good at the plate or in the field or on the bases, including a bang-bang play at second Tuesday,. But rest assured the shortstop will always get verbally caressed and cradled by the manager, every word painstakingly considered, because his agent Scott Boras wants it that way.

“Knowing Gunnar, he would always say there is something more he can do,” is what the manager concocted at one point to try to talk about the truly growing problem with his lineup.

Oriole killer Randy Arozarena led off the 10th with a home run off normally impenetrable Rico Garcia (a cheapy just over the right field scoreboard) because he owns the O’s (.950 career OPS and 17 homers in 61 starts). And Taveras cut it to 6-5 with a clutch hit – because he’s the rare Oriole who excels at that – and the Orioles couldn’t get the ball past infielders after that.

“Extremely frustrating on a lot of counts,” Albernaz said, while also launching into his typical loser talk about how hard his 31-37 team fought and the “bad bounces” that didn’t go their way (boo-hoo; not very tough, skip! How's Sammy gonna learn that way?).

The entire spectacle ended with O’Neill, who any real GM would have bought out by now, striking out with two on to a guy who was just added to the roster this afternoon due to injuries in a bullpen that was spent.

Because the baseball gods are screaming that Elias shoulda been out of here a long time ago. But is anyone in The Warehouse listening?

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