BALTIMORE–What happened? Many losses the Orioles have suffered have signature plays. On Sunday, it was the non-interference call on Toronto’s Ernie Clement that led to another disheartening loss. On Monday, it was Blaze Alexander trying to tag up and advance from first to second as Jackson Holliday was trying to score on a deep fly ball by Samuel Basallo in the eighth inning.
Alexander was out at second base and was tagged before Holliday touched home plate. Instead of trailing by two runs, the Orioles’ eighth ended down by three.
In a game where Pete Alonso left eight runners on base and Colton Cowser left seven as the third and fourth batters in the lineup, the Orioles dropped their third straight game — a 6-3 setback to the Seattle Mariners before 12,377 at Camden Yards.
The Orioles trailed 6-2 heading into the eighth. Leody Taveras singled against Eduard Bazardo. Holliday walked. After Coby Mayo filed to center with Taveras taking third, Alexander singled to score Taveras. Basallo, hitting for Sam Huff, filed to deep center, and Holliday and Alexander tagged up.
Holliday appeared to score, but when Alexander was called out at second, Seattle called for a review. It was ruled that Alexander’s out was recorded before Holliday scored, and Seattle led, 6-3.
“I love the aggressiveness, but like I told Blaze, and him being an infielder, he knows the cutoff and how it gets aligned and configured,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “And first base is vacant by position, so there’s no one at first. So him tagging up and then running is the right play, but he has the ability to read the throw, and you can stop and just walk back to first, and that’s what we talked about.
“Once you see the throw online, and we all know [centerfielder Julio] Rodríguez can throw, like he’s a premium defender in center field, it surprised me that he kept going. But it’s one of those things. I love the aggressiveness. It’s just smart aggressiveness and knowing and reading the throw and getting back. And Holliday did an outstanding job of running hard through home.
“He tagged up, and he didn’t let up running hard through home. So Holliday did an outstanding job on that. It’s just, Blaze just has to read the throw and just get back to first.”
Holliday was told by third base coach Buck Britton to tag.
“He was like, ‘make sure we run hard through the base there,’” Holliday said. “He kind of informed me, I guess. I knew that could be a possibility. We made an aggressive play, and they made a good throw.”
Early Monday afternoon, the Orioles announced that starting pitcher Chris Bassitt was headed to the 15-day injured list with lower back discomfort and that Trey Gibson was being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk to start against the Mariners.
Gibson made his third start and it went well enough for four innings.
Carrying a 1-0 lead, Gibson gave up singles to Dominic Canzone and Jhonny Pereda in the fifth. Canzone scored on Ryan Bliss’ sacrifice fly. After Cole Young singled, Anthony Nunez replaced Gibson (1-1).
Nunez walked Rodríguez to load the bases, and Josh Naylor hit a grand slam, putting Seattle (35-32) ahead 5-1.
The Orioles (31-36) scored a run without a hit in the third. Emerson Hancock (5-2) hit Alexander with a pitch and walked Taylor Ward and Gunnar Henderson to load the bases. Alexander scored on Alonso’s sacrifice fly. Cowser flied to dep center to end the inning.
Hancock allowed one run on three hits in five innings.
The Orioles again had a marvelous scoring opportunity in the seventh, but got only one run.
Mayo walked against Cooper Criswell. Alexander singled. Both runners moved up on Huff’s infield out. Mayo scored on a wild pitch by Matt Brash, who hit Ward with a pitch. After walking Henderson to load the bases, Alonso was called out on strikes after a challenge. Cowser grounded to second, and the Orioles trailed 5-2 after seven.
The Orioles left 10 on base and were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
Albert Suárez allowed a tack-on run in the eighth on Randy Arozarena’s RBI single.
Andrés Muñoz pitched a hitless ninth for his 10th save.
Was this an especially difficult loss? Albernaz patiently explained how this game was lost.
“We left a lot of guys on base,” Albernaz said. “We know coming in with Seattle, pitching is their strength, it always has been, and Emerson’s having a great year, throwing the ball extremely well. Their bullpen has always been a force.
“And so going into it, we knew we had to grind and really force them to work, and we did that. We just couldn’t come through with the big blow. But it’s one of those games where you’re proud of how they fought, because every opportunity, our guys could have folded, but they kept on fighting and giving themselves an opportunity.
“It’s just that big knock that eluded us. We hit some balls hard and well that I was actually kind of surprised that they didn’t leave the yard. Cowser’s, in particular, and then Basallo, the one that we’re talking about with that play. I thought all those would have a chance to leave the yard, they just didn’t.”
How did Gibson pitch? Gibson was removed after just 68 pitches.
“With the pitching on their side, we knew runs were going to be at a premium,” Albernaz said. “Gibson was falling behind guys, the inning before he fell behind every single hitter he faced. He was giving up some loud contact as well. That inning where they tied the game up, it kept going, got to Julio, and I decided that we needed to stop the game there to give ourselves a chance.
“The leadoff walk, the walk to Julio, was the biggest thing that hurt to kind of set up Naylor. I think that’s where, with Nunez, he throws strikes. And so it was uncharacteristic of him. Like, our relievers are going to give up hits. It happens. But I think walking the guy that you’re trying to get is the biggest thing.
“We just had to make a decision there to try to stop the game and to give ourselves a chance, because we know that runs are going to be at a premium with that bullpen, and that was the decision we made.”
With Bassitt hurt, Gibson might get his first chance at making multiple starts.
“Yeah, for sure. I’m looking forward to that, but obviously nothing’s set in stone so we’ll see where we go tomorrow,” Gibson said.
What does it mean? The Orioles have a tough stretch with three more games against the Mariners and three with the Padres before going to the West Coast for nine games. They’ll need to start winning again.
What’s the stat of the day? 13. The Orioles made 13 outs on fly balls.
What’s the word? “The play’s in front of you, you can see it develop, and like I said, when the throw is online, you can see it. Just get back to first. Yeah, that one hurt.”-Albernaz on the Alexander play.
What’s next? Trevor Rogers (3-6, 6.29) will start against Logan Gilbert (4-4, 3.79) at 6:35 p.m. on Tuesday.
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