BALTIMORE -- Here’s the good news for the Orioles: They won’t play the Twins again in 2025. The bad news? Minnesota already did its fair share of damage in contributing to Baltimore’s early-season struggles.
The Twins completed a three-game sweep of the O's for the second time in a little more than a week, extending their winning streak to 11 by handing the Orioles a 4-0 loss on Thursday afternoon at Camden Yards. Over a span of 10 days, Minnesota went 6-0 vs. Baltimore, dominating the season series by a combined score of 37-14.
The O’s (15-27) now sit 12 games below .500, their lowest point since finishing the 2021 season at 52-110.
“This is frustrating. Losing sucks. It’s not fun,” designated hitter Ryan O'Hearn said. “Nobody in here is having a good time, and I promise you nobody cares more than the guys in this clubhouse.
“With that being said, we have to keep fighting. There is no other option. You have to keep fighting. You can’t give up. You can’t give in. I believe in the guys in this clubhouse. We have talented players. We just have to keep fighting. There is no other option.”
In between these sweeps, the Orioles won two of three games against the Angels in Anaheim, a series in which they felt the season could finally be moving in the right direction. But every time the team seems to take a step forward, it is followed by two (or more) steps back.
“You’ve got to be optimistic. I don’t ever show up to the ballpark thinking that we’re going to lose,” O’Hearn said. “It was a good series in Anaheim, and this feels like a kick in the [pants], for sure.”
This isn’t an insurmountable hole for the Orioles to dig out of, even if it would make team history.
It’s the ninth time the franchise has posted 15 or fewer wins through its first 42 games since relocating to Baltimore for the 1954 season. The only instance in which the Orioles went on to finish with more than 67 wins was ‘99, when they ended up 78-84 -- still short of the postseason.
But an O’s appearance in October wouldn’t make MLB history. This type of early-season adversity has been overcome before.
For example, there were the 2005 Astros, who were also 15-27 at this point (and then fell to 15-30). They rallied to finish 89-73 and pushed their way to a National League pennant and an appearance in the World Series. Plus, each league had only one Wild Card berth at the time, as opposed to the three apiece in the present-day format.
In more recent history, the 2018 Dodgers started 16-26 before finishing 92-71 and winning the NL West. The ‘22 Mariners started 17-25 and ended up 90-72, reaching the postseason.
The optimism coming out of the 2025 Orioles’ clubhouse isn’t unreasonable. A path to the postseason remains, especially with no teams pulling way out in front in either the American League East or the AL Wild Card standings.
“I actually think about it every day, how to get out of this, but I’m pretty sure all the guys are thinking about the same thing,” right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano said via interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “I don’t try to think about how to fix this. But I just try to work on things on a day-to-day basis. …
“I believe we can turn things around.”
For weeks, Baltimore players have expressed that belief. They’ve spoken about not having panic. They’ve stressed the importance of not trying to do too much, knowing they can’t improve their record by 12 games and return to .500 in one day.
Now, it’s becoming time for the O’s to have their play match their words. May is halfway over and the calendar is getting close to reaching a point that can no longer be described as “early.”
The Nationals come to Camden Yards on Friday for Rivalry Weekend, and the Orioles will again try to get going.
“I think we’ve been pretty good at flushing the past, going out, trying to win a game any way we can,” veteran center fielder Cedric Mullins said this week. “There’s multiple ways to do it. Sometimes, it’s slugging. Sometimes, it’s pitching. Putting that all together is what we need to get it consistent.
“So that’s what we’re fighting for.”
And as long as there are games left on the schedule, these O’s plan to keep fighting.