Manager Craig Albernaz tried another lineup combination today, his 38th in 41 games. He started Weston Wilson at third base and Blaze Alexander at second. Jeremiah Jackson and Coby Mayo sat. Colton Cowser returned to the bench after yesterday’s two-run pinch-hit single.

Chris Bassitt was the listed starter but left-hander Keegan Akin worked as the opener, with the veteran right-hander following him.

Times might not be desperate in May, but the Orioles couldn’t keep going down the same path or they’d fall off a cliff.

Dylan Beavers concluded a nine-pitch at-bat against Luis Severino with a tie-breaking, run-scoring single in the sixth inning, Bassitt rolled with the new arrangement and the Orioles defeated the Athletics 2-1 before an announced crowd of 24,213 at Camden Yards.

The win is only the third for the Orioles (18-23) in the last 11 games, but they avoided a sweep with the Yankees coming to town. They also ended a streak of allowing three or more runs in 25 straight games. And they played one of their finest games defensively.

“Yeah, that’s what we’re able to do, you know?” said Leody Taveras. “Nothing weird for us. We know we can make those wins and we’ve just got to keep going and stay together. We’re gonna have those types of games, you know? We’ve just got to stay together.”

“I trust every single guy in this room,” Bassitt said. “I don’t care what the record says, and I genuinely mean that. I still trust this room. We just need it to be ourselves, and then everything else will take care of itself. As long as we play clean, the room’s good enough to beat anybody.”

“We’ve shown that we could play clean defense, but also, we’ve shown that we haven’t,” Albernaz said. “That’s the inconsistency of everything and that’s why our guys are diligent with their work. It’s not from a lack of prep, lack of work or lack of care. These guys, I haven’t seen a group care more than these guys about the little things.

“We show what we can do when we play this type of game, because we have to. Sometimes, where a starting pitcher is on and it’s a grindy 2-1 game, we have to play clean defense and come out on the other side. So that’s a big calling card for us.”

Carlos Cortes singled in the seventh, stole second base with two outs and tried to score on Zach Gelof’s single into center. Taveras threw home at 93.7 mph and Samuel Basallo held onto the ball through a hard collision. Basallo glared at Cortes and aggressively slapped hands with Bassitt and Albernaz, who walked onto the grass to guide his young catcher back to the dugout.

“Yeah, that was great, it was a great feeling,” Taveras said. “In that situation you have that on your mind. You anticipate those things.”

“Anytime a play happens at the plate, I’m expecting it, just so I’m ready for it,” Basallo said via interpreter Brandon Quinones. “Sure enough in that moment, it did happen, and thankfully I was ready for it and I was able to brace for impact.

“He really got the ball there in time and honestly, I think it’s one of the best throws and plays we’ve had this year.”

Albernaz felt the same way.

“It’s a tough play for both,” he said. “Leody has to read the right hop all the way out in center field and come in full speed to attack it and then gather yourself and then make an accurate throw from 250 feet away. It was a perfect one hop and then with Sammy knowing how important that run is to catch and then obviously you don’t know you’re going to get plowed over, especially with the rules nowadays you kind of assume the slide, so Sammy did an outstanding job.”

Asked why he came onto the field to greet Basallo, Albernaz said, “It’s just twofold. One, you want to make sure he’s OK, first and foremost, play at the plate. And then also, you don’t know, because it’s not like this happens all the time.

“I just always remember when I used to get trucked all the time, you just want to make sure you get off the field and you also want to make sure that nothing transpires after that with emotions running high. Everything was fine. It was just me going out there to make sure he was OK.”

Bassitt lowered his ERA to 5.21 after allowing one run and four hits in six innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. Anthony Nunez worked around a pair of one-out walks in the eighth, and Rico Garcia earned his third save after a two-out walk made possible by a successful challenge.

“Just trying to get back to myself,” Bassitt said. “I felt like the last three starts, you know, the Miami start didn’t end well by any means, but I thought the last three starts, I felt really, really good about a lot of my pitches. Yeah, so just getting it back to kind of who I am.”

Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers went a combined 4-for-7 Saturday with two walks, two RBIs and five runs scored from the first two spots in the order, and cleanup hitter Brent Rooker belted a three-run homer. Akin struck out Kurtz and retired Langeliers on a roller near the mound, and Rooker – moved up to third – also struck out in a 13-pitch inning.

The strategy worked.

Akin was an opener three times last season and responded with 3 2/3 scoreless innings.

“Very pleased with how it all worked out,” Albernaz said. “It was just, they’re a really good club. Sac, the A’s, have a really good team, great lineup and especially at top of the order with Kurtz and Soderstrom. Just have them shuffle the deck a little bit … have Akin kind of take down the top and have Bassett kind of just flip the whole lineup so he faces the top of the order only twice, and then the bottom on the order three times. And luckily, it worked out today that Bass threw the ball great.”

Bassitt fell into immediate trouble in the second, his fielding error compounding the problem after Tyler Soderstrom’s leadoff double. Cortes lined out to left field for a 1-0 lead.

A hit batter and walk didn’t hurt Bassitt in the third beyond increasing his workload. Jacob Wilson led off the fourth with a single, Cortes grounded into a 4-3 double play, and Bassitt retired nine in a row and 10 of 11.

“Bass was outstanding,” Albernaz said. “I think it’s like we talk about Bass all the time, he’s such a pro. When we approached him about this, he was all for it. We gave him a heads up that we were thinking about it and he was all for it. So that willingness from a veteran, especially an established guy like Bass, was awesome and you never know, because now you’re messing with a starting pitcher’s routine and stuff. But he handled it perfectly, and especially navigating that seventh. He was up against it.

“He did a great job of making pitches and Leody made a great throw on that play at the play and Sammy did a great job of holding on, making the tag.”

Blood spots were evident on the side of Bassitt’s uniform pants from a cut on the top of his thumb.

“Just from the ball,” Albernaz said. “He put some Dermabond on it to try to stop the bleeding and then it was kind of messing with the pitches, so he ripped it off.

“He just wanted to show everyone how tough he is and put a little blood on there, like Curt Schilling’s bloody sock. I comped it to the same thing.”

“I’ve handled it for years,” Bassitt said. “It’s just when I throw certain pitches, I cut myself on my thumb. But it’s not in a spot that gives me any problems. It bleeds and it looks bad, but it’s not a problem.”

The Orioles have scored three runs or fewer in seven of their past 10 games. Their .233 average before today ranked 24th in the majors, and their 309 hits were 20th.

They failed again today with the bases loaded in the fifth, after Alexander walked, Gunnar Henderson reached on an infield single and Taylor Ward walked to make him the first player in Orioles history to draw 40 over his first 40 games of a season.

Adley Rutschman lined out to deep left-center field at 99 mph and with a 26-degree launch angle. Soderstrom turned his back to the fence and reached above his head to make the catch.

Severino exited after Beavers’ single into left field off a 98.8 mph fastball. The rally started with Basallo’s one-out double and continued with Taveras’ single and stolen base.

“Beaves, that’s what he does,” Albernaz said. “That’s his calling card. That’s what I love about him. He grinds out at-bats, great strike zone awareness, great plate discipline and he has thump. And with Beaves having the ability just to grind out at-bats, it’s tough for the opposing pitching and then when he has a grindy at-bat, it kind of cascades down to the next group of guys.”

Wilson drew his second walk to again load the bases with one out, but Alexander and Henderson struck out against Justin Sterner.

“I think we’re doing a lot of things under the hood really well,” hitting coach Dustin Lind said this morning. “We’re taking walks, we’re getting runners on base, we’re hitting the ball hard, and for the most part we’re getting pretty good pitches to hit. So I think the biggest thing is continuing to focus in on the work habits for guys and making sure that they’re getting the work that they need at the beginning of each day, and they’re totally prepared when they go in the game.”

Henderson had a single and double yesterday, his seventh multi-hit game of the season, and it bumped his average above .200.

Batting leadoff today against Severino, Henderson lined to third base at 100.1 mph, tied the game 1-1 in the third with a gift infield single and reached on his infield single in the fifth when Wilson made a diving stop, had no play and injured his left shoulder.

Beavers had a leadoff double in the third on a ground ball up the middle that deflected off Jeff McNeil’s glove and rolled into shallow center field. Wilson walked, the runners advanced on Alexander’s bunt, and Severino was slow to cover first base on Henderson’s grounder to Kurtz, who wasn’t winning that race.

The more legit infield hit in the fifth made Henderson 9-for-12 lifetime against Severino.

Henderson’s 55 strikeouts before today ranked seventh in the majors. No. 56 infuriated him, his bat toss done with tremendous aggression.

“I think there’s some really encouraging signs with Gunnar,” Lind said. “He’s hitting the ball really hard. The biggest thing with him is just expanding the zone and not controlling the zone quite the way that he has in his best years. And so for him to get back to a more patient and stubborn approach and really keying in on the pitch that he’s trying to drive I think is going to really give him the results that we’ve become accustomed to seeing in the past.”

Falling behind in the count has become a growing issue, with Henderson seeing the second-most 0-2 pitches in baseball before today.

“I think the biggest thing with him is just to stay stubborn and really focus in on what pitch he’s trying to get and really just be willing to fail with that,” Lind said. “A lot of times guys will expand with two strikes just because they’re trying to cover the whole plate, and for him, we just want him to be laser focused on whatever he’s hunting in that particular moment.”

*Infield coach Miguel Cairo was ejected by plate umpire Carlos Torres in the third inning, after Albernaz came onto the field in a dispute that didn’t get as heated.

Basallo was denied a challenge because he thought the call was a third strike and made a motion to throw the ball to third base. Cairo stepped onto the track in front of the dugout and Albernaz hustled in front of him, trying to move him back toward the steps.

Cairo was ejected five times last season as Nationals’ interim manager.

“I challenged it because I didn’t hear him call a strike,” Basallo said. “Obviously, I thought to challenge that call, but maybe he wasn’t looking at me or didn’t or whatever, but I think that’s what happened.”

*Brandon Young is starting Monday night against the Yankees at Camden Yards.

*Garcia hasn’t allowed a hit in his first nine home games to tie Bryan Baker’s streak in 2023.

*The Orioles filled their 40-man roster today by claiming right-hander Christian Roa on waivers from the Twins and optioning him to Triple-A Norfolk.

Roa, 27, was a second-round pick of the Reds in 2020 out of Texas A&M. He made two relief appearances with the Marlins in 2025 and tossed three scoreless innings, and seven with the Astros this year and allowed five runs and 10 hits with seven walks and three hit batters in 8 2/3 innings.

The Twins claimed Roa on waivers on April 23 and designated him for assignment last week.

Roa has walked 233 batters and struck out 453 in 382 1/3 minor league innings.

*Down on the farm, Nestor German allowed an unearned run, walked none and struck out six in 5 2/3 innings with Norfolk. Creed Willems hit a three-run homer.

Jackson Holliday started at third base for Double-A Chesapeake and went 0-for-2 with a walk and strikeout. Heston Kjerstad started in right field and was 0-for-3.

Reed Trimble, Wehiwa Aloy and Ike Irish began the bottom of the first inning with home runs at High-A Frederick. Aloy homered three times.

Left-hander Joseph Dzierwa was removed from the game due to a laceration over his right eyebrow suffered on a bad hop while backing up a base.