Orioles manager Craig Albernaz knew that consistency wasn’t necessarily going to be Anthony Nunez’s strength as a first-time major league reliever.

The stuff is really good. The attitude is right. But Nunez is going to experience his share of ups and downs over the course of the season.

They also can appear in the same game.

Nunez replaced starter Trey Gibson last night with two outs in the fifth inning and the score tied 1-1. He inherited two runners, walked Julio Rodríguez on five pitches to load the bases and surrendered a grand slam to Josh Naylor.

The next batter flied out, and Nunez retired seven in a row before Albert Suárez took over in the eighth.

Nunez has been scored upon in five of his last nine outings and his ERA has risen from 3.68 on May 19 to 5.29. He allowed four earned runs in 15 1/3 innings and struck out 18 in his first 14 games leading into May, a month when he posted a 10.03 ERA and 1.800 WHIP in 13 games.

Last night marked his 30th appearance, the most on the team. A combination of early success and circumstances have made him one of the high-leverage relievers only a few years removed from being a position player.

“Just inconsistent right now,” Albernaz said. “Like tonight’s outing in particular, where he walks the first hitter, yes, gives up the big blow, but then after that, he just showed who he’s capable of. That’s the roller coaster we have to ride with young pitchers.

“He’s shown that he can pitch in those situations. He can close games. He can go multiple innings. It’s just the inconsistency of throwing strikes and getting ahead, and that’s where, like, obviously the walk is the biggest thing that jumps out.”

Left-handers were batting .185/.254/.369 against Nunez before Naylor stepped to the plate. Nunez got a called strike with a sinker and tried to get a 94.8 mph fastball past him.

“I wish that Nunez would have leaned on his strengths a little bit there,” Albernaz said. “I’m not saying his fastball isn’t one of his strengths, but he has an elite changeup, you know, you’re ahead, and he has the sweeper, as well. It’s not saying that it was a bad pitch by any stretch, but a changeup would’ve been awesome there.

“To try to sneak the fastball there, I can see it, but also just Naylor got enough of it.”

*Some lineup changes and a hot bat conspired to move Colton Cowser into the cleanup spot last night for the series opener against the Mariners at Camden Yards.

Cowser hadn’t batted fourth this season after doing it 11 times since he debuted with the Orioles in July 2023. The Mariners were starting right-hander Emerson Hancock, the lineup didn’t include catchers Adley Rutschman and Samuel Basallo, and Cowser was 18-for-50 (.360) with a double, six home runs and 15 RBIs since May 17. He had a pair of walk-off homers in two days.

An impressive stretch from the former first-round draft pick also included an RBI in four consecutive games to tie his career high. Pete Alonso is the only other Orioles hitter with a streak of the same length.

No one on the team produced an RBI in five straight games since Gunnar Henderson in August 2024.

Cowser had his chances last night, leaving a runner on base in the first inning, two more in the third, three in the seventh and one in the ninth to conclude a 6-3 loss. Luke Raley made a leaping catch at the right field fence to rob him in the first.

“Colton’s been working tirelessly,” Albernaz said earlier in the day. “I think he would say, if anyone knows Colton, the start of the season wasn’t results like he wanted and the player that he was, but to Colton’s credit, he kept working. He knows that he was close and we kind of talked about it after the Kansas City series about him getting closer, and right now you’re just seeing the byproduct of all the work he’s putting in and who Colton is. And he’s an impact player.

“The power’s real, he can run the bases, he plays an elite outfield defense. He can bunt. He does little things right. He’s a great teammate. So it’s seeing him put the work in, and getting the results right now is awesome to see. And he’s doing it at a time where obviously the home runs he hit here were huge for us to win the game with walk-offs.”

Cowser was 5-for-11 in the weekend series in Toronto and he homered in back-to-back games, giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead Sunday in the fifth inning.

“Kevin Gausman, he was really good that day, you know?” Albernaz said. “Gaus is one of the best pitchers in the league, and for him to set the tone there with that home run in that inning was huge. And the same thing with Trey (Yesavage). Trey set the world on fire in the postseason, he got to show the world the pitcher who he is, and for Colton to do that, as well, was big.

“Colton’s not only performing, but he’s performing in some key spots against some really good pitching.”

Handling breaking and off-speed pitches is a key. Cowser was 12-for-30 (.400) against those pitches in his last 20 games before last night, with a double, three homers and a 25.8 percent strikeout rate. He was 4-for-48 with no extra-base hits and a 47.1 percent strikeout rate on those offerings before his current stretch.

Cowser’s six homers have traveled an average distance of 418 feet, the furthest in the majors with a minimum of five. Cowser began yesterday ahead of the Astros’ Cam Smith at 417 feet.

*Albernaz wasn’t going to guarantee a win last night, but he knew that his players wouldn’t experience any sort of carryover effect from the weekend losses in Toronto and the controversies that defined Sunday’s game.

Asked whether he had any concerns, Albernaz removed his cap, raised his arms and said, “What’s different from anything that happened this season?”

“This whole year has been like that, you know? And I think our group has shown it’s a resilient group. We’ve been hit in the face a bunch of times, me in particular once really good, and our guys continue to step up. That’s what our guys do.

“When I got the job, everyone that I talked to – fans, people around Baltimore – they kept on saying they want a team that embodies this city, and I think this team embodies this city and what we do. It’s never easy. We’re gonna get hit in the mouth, we’re gonna get back up and we’re gonna keep on moving. And that’s why our guys have that Day 1 mentality. Every time we show up, it’s Day 1. It doesn’t matter what happened before. We can’t look ahead. We just have to focus on today, try to win today.

“Yeah, those losses in Toronto sucked. Just like those losses in New York sucked, just like those losses at The Trop sucked. But our boys keep bouncing back, and that’s all that matters is playing today and winning today.”

Or maybe tonight.