The Orioles entered Tuesday coming off a 10-0 shutout win over the Boston Red Sox but ended it with a position player pitching the ninth inning as they waved the white flag in a 10-0 loss to the Seattle Mariners.
In a game that mirrored Monday night’s contest in Boston — only with Baltimore on the losing end this time — the Orioles trailed immediately, dug themselves in a deep hole by the third inning and eventually lost in front of an announced crowd of 8,074 on a 92-degree evening at Camden Yards.
Right-hander Bryan Baker opened the game on the mound for the Orioles, just as he did earlier this month in St. Louis, when he pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings. This time, however, he wasn’t as effective.
His first pitch over the plate was a foul ball that was nearly a home run, and he finished his night allowing three earned in 1 1/3 innings. Zac Lowther, called up Monday from Norfolk after posting an 8.26 ERA at Triple-A, then made his season debut with the Orioles, who are without injured starting pitcher Spenser Watkins and just finished a four-day, five-game series in Boston that relied heavily on the bullpen.
“We wanted to add a guy that’s at least built up to give us some innings,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said before the game.
But Lowther, like Baker, was hit hard, allowing four runs in the third inning to put the Orioles behind 8-0. He settled down after that, posting three straight scoreless innings before the Mariners added a run in the seventh on a single by No. 8 hitter Taylor Trammell, who finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs.
Marcos Diplan then pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings before the Orioles gave the ball to utility fielder Chris Owings, who allowed two hits and one run in the ninth in his second major league appearance on the mound. His first pitch was clocked at 49 mph.
Rookie catcher Adley Rutschman, following a two-hit game in Boston, went hitless against Seattle starter and fellow 2019 first-round draft pick George Kirby, who pitched six scoreless innings and struck out eight to earn his first major league victory.
Rutschman nearly hit his first major league home run in the sixth inning when he pulled a pitch deep towards right field, but it carried foul. He finished the day 0-for-4 with three strikeouts, including on a controversial check swing call in the first inning that the Orioles’ dugout disagreed with.
Had the Orioles won, they would’ve finished May with a 15-15 record, which would have marked their first .500 or better month since July 2019. With the loss, however, they fell to 14-16 on the month and 21-30 on the season.
This story will be updated.
MARINERS@ORIOLES
Wednesday, 7:05 p.m.
TV: MASN2
Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM
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