BALTIMORE -- Saturday night began with the Orioles’ annual team Hall of Fame ceremonies, attended by a collection of honorees and former honorees who serve as reminders of what the club can be at its best.
Then came the game, an 11-3 loss to the Athletics at Oriole Park at Camden Yards that served as a reality check on where the O’s are now: attempting to weather the departure of seven veterans at the Trade Deadline and a season-long barrage of injuries.
“Just with where the roster is at, there’s going to be good nights, there’s going to be bad nights,” said interim manager Tony Mansolino. “You start to think of the Opening Day roster and how many of those guys are still here. But a lot of the guys that are here now started in Triple-A. So they weren’t in the big leagues, because they have things to work on. And now they get thrust into the big leagues. So with that, once they get here, there’s going to be some tough nights.
“There’s going to be some really good moments, and we’ve seen that since the roster kind of turned over. And then there’s going to be nights where they get beat up. And that’s just going to be part of the deal here for a little bit until they get more experience and until they get more time and are able to slow the game down a little bit.”
Gunnar Henderson is one of those who broke camp with the Orioles and still remains, and he briefly staked Baltimore to a 3-2 lead on Saturday with a three-run shot off Jack Perkins (1-2) in the bottom of the first.
One of those still learning on the job is rookie starter Brandon Young (0-6), who gave his shortest start of the season, allowing six runs on six hits and two walks over three innings.
“Just disappointing, letting the team down almost every time out,” said Young, whose ERA spiked nearly a run to 6.70. “I’m not sure, like, specifically the challenges I was facing. I was just falling in bad counts, leaving balls over the middle, and they were making me pay for it.”
Young had shown signs of stabilizing recently even as he continued to struggle with walks, allowing seven runs (five earned) on 15 hits and seven walks over 15 innings in his previous three outings.
But after Young issued a free pass to Saturday’s first batter, the second, Shea Langeliers, punished him for leaving a 2-2 cutter over the middle with his 23rd home run, a Statcast-projected 401-foot shot to left.
Two innings later, Brent Rooker sent Young’s 0-1 splitter to a similar spot for a three-run blast. Before the inning ended, Darell Hernaiz’s sacrifice fly made it 6-3 Athletics.
“Honestly, I’m going to try to forget it as quick as possible, really,” said Young, who labored through 74 pitches (48 strikes). “I feel like I’ve been dwelling on the past few, but now this one, it’s like, you know, I’ve just got to get it out of my head.”
The visitors never looked back from there, piling on five more runs in a fifth inning powered by three doubles and a throwing error from O’s reliever Yaramil Hiraldo.
The more worrying sign for the Orioles may have been an offense that for a second straight night managed only one hit and no runs after the first inning.
Perkins recovered from Henderson’s shot to retire the next 15 batters he faced before Jackson Holliday drew a walk.
Ryan Mountcastle finally got Baltimore’s fourth hit in the ninth inning in his second game back from a 10-week stay on the injured list with a right hamstring strain.
“I just think where the roster is at and where the lineup is at, there’s a lot of pressure on those first five guys, and they’re going to live up to it [some nights], and they’re going to have their nights like they did tonight,” Mansolino said. “You’ve got to tip your cap a little bit to the A’s pitching. Listen, they’re not names that are familiar by any means. But it’s good stuff.”