Chris Bassitt Pulled After Just Two Innings, Orioles Swept by Pirates

It wasn't an ideal Easter Sunday for Chris Bassitt and the Baltimore Orioles, who lost 8-2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates to complete a sweep of this three-game interleague series.

The 37-year-old starting pitcher - who was signed by the Orioles as a free agent this past offseason to a 1-year, $18.5 million contract - has struggled mightily in his first two starts with his new team.

On Monday's home game against the Texas Rangers, Bassitt threw 100 pitches but recorded just 13 outs. He allowed four earned runs on six hits, and walked four batters while striking out just three. It was not great, to say the least, and Bassitt was brutally honest about his poor performance that day.

But at PNC Park against the Pirates today, it got a whole lot worse.

On the first batter he faced today, Bassitt plunked Oneil Cruz. A few batters latter, former Oriole Ryan O'Hearn took Bassitt deep to center field, a two-run homer to open the scoring.

In the second inning, with the score still 2-0 Pirates, Bassitt loaded the bases before recording a single out. Cruz then got his revenge on the O's lanky righty, smoking an 111.8 MPH grounder right back at Bassitt. Bassitt was shaken up, but stayed in the game. With the score now 3-0, the bases were still loaded and the Orioles still hadn't recorded an out in the inning.

Oneil Cruz just drilled Chris Bassitt with a 111.8 MPH comebacker oh my goodness.

Bassitt is staying in the game but he was shaken up 😬 pic.twitter.com/pAVpkYfViK
— js9innings (@js9inningsmedia) April 5, 2026

A Bryan Reynolds sacrifice fly drove in another Pirates baserunner, but the dam broke when a 2-out double from (you guessed it!) Ryan O'Hearn drove in another two runs, padding the Pittsburgh lead to 6-0. Bassitt beaned another Pirate for good measure, this time Nick Yorke, before $140 million top prospect Konnor Griffin mercifully ended the second inning with a flyout.

Bassitt was yanked from his second start as an Oriole by manager Craig Albernaz after just two innings. His final line reads 62 pitches thrown, six earned runs surrendered, two batters walked, and no strikeouts. It was a nightmarish outing for the veteran hurler.

Ryan O’Hearn goes yard as the Pirates look to sweep the Orioles and win their fifth straight! pic.twitter.com/Tfv1hmvbE1
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 5, 2026

Just two outs later, in the top of the third inning, Albernaz unloaded on the home plate umpire in defense of Blaze Alexander, earning his first ejection as Baltimore's new skipper.

Here's the full clip of Craig Albernaz's first ejection as Orioles manager: https://t.co/hHCHcI9uRB pic.twitter.com/x1hPm9XYHP
— Jake Rill (@JakeDRill) April 5, 2026

Ever since he joined the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023, Bassitt has ranked around league average in key pitching statistics such as ERA, WHIP, and strikeout-to-walk ratio (SO/BB). This sample size of three full seasons rightfully characterizes Bassitt as a durable, dependable veteran starting pitcher who can eat innings.

But the Baltimore Orioles need that version of Chris Bassitt to show up sooner rather than later if the team is to flip the script on their rough start to the 2026 MLB season. This is the 20th time in team history that Baltimore has started 3-6 or worse, and they made the playoffs just once (1979) in those instances.

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