In order to convince the front office that they are capable of making an aggressive playoff push and to keep the clubhouse intact, the Orioles can’t afford back-to-back series losses and to get stuck deeper in the mud.

The wheels spin and forward movement is stalled. Worse is the feeling of going backward.

After losing two of three games to the last-place Angels in Anaheim, the Orioles did the same against the Nationals after dropping today’s rubber match 6-4 before an announced crowd of 27,626 at Camden Yards.

Luis García Jr. homered twice, doubled and drove in five runs, Kyle Bradish tied his career high with five walks and didn’t record an out in the fifth inning, and the Orioles fell to 39-46 with the White Sox coming to town.

Jackson Holliday followed Colton Cowser’s two-out single off left-hander Mitchell Parker in the seventh inning with his fifth home run to cut the Nationals’ lead to 6-4. Parker walked off the mound with an athletic trainer after walking Taylor Ward.

Holliday was 2-for-14 against lefties before facing Parker.

Left-hander PJ Poulin retired the side in order in the eighth and got the first out in the ninth. He walked Coby Mayo, and pinch-hitter Leody Taveras grounded into a double play.

The Orioles went 2-4 against the Nationals this season.

“I mean, every loss is difficult, but last night, tying the game and then ultimately losing it in the 10th was a tough one,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “Again with our guys, we got into closing the gap to get into a two-run game. Holliday with a big two-run shot. But yeah, we just came up short. Every loss is difficult, but these two for sure.”

Gunnar Henderson went 0-for-4 and is batting .221 with a .291 on-base percentage. He’s 1-for-19 in his last four games.

“Gunnar is, like we’ve talked about, just not getting the results he wants,” Albernaz said. “That’s it. I mean, he had great swings today. … It’s just, nothing’s falling for him right now.”

“Today felt pretty good,” Henderson said. “We were working through some stuff yesterday, and today felt pretty good. But I mean, it’s just been, I don’t even know how to describe it. Probably one of the most frustrating things I’ve ever been through. I mean, come in and work my butt off every day. You don’t want to think about results, but it’s hard not to when crap doesn’t show up for so long. So it sucks, it’s baseball.”

Rutschman and Beavers back on roster

Orioles assistant hitting coach Brady North called Adley Rutschman the “stabilizer” of the team’s lineup earlier today, voicing how an entire organization felt about getting back its starting catcher.

Rutschman marked his return from the concussion injured list with a two-out single in the first inning, and Pete Alonso followed with a 437-foot home run to center field.

Alonso leads the team with 19 homers and he destroyed a full-count slider from Zack Littell, hopping out of the box on contact. He’s the 10th player in Orioles history with 19 or more home runs in his first 85 games with the club.

Today’s blast is Alonso’s second-longest this season after a 439-foot shot against the Mariners.

Littell is prone to giving up the long ball, entering today with 21 to lead the National League.

The rally started with Rutschman, who hadn’t played since being hit on the side of the helmet while running to first base in a June 18 game in Seattle. Rutschman drew a two-out walk in the third inning and lined out to right field in the sixth and eighth.

“We’ve seen how good this team is when Adley’s in there daily, and you can see when his absence is felt when he’s not in there,” North said. “So we’re really excited to have him back.”

Rutschman said the first couple days were “tough” after being hit, but he started trending in the right direction.

“Definitely a different feeling,” he said. “I never had a concussion before. Had a lot of hard hits in high school football and being behind the plate, but nothing quite like that. So it was a little different sensation. Just really weird, to be honest. But just glad to be back.”

Dylan Beavers also returned today after his stint on the 10-day injured list with a strained oblique. He led off the second inning with an 11-pitch walk, fouling off six pitches. He was 1-for-20 on his rehab assignment but walked five times.

Beavers hadn’t played for the Orioles since May 10. He struck out twice after the walk and Tyler O’Neill pinch-hit for him in the ninth.

Good at-bats constantly,” North said. “Makes good enough contact consistently. So really excited to get him back in the lineup.”

Wild side of Bradish

Kyle Bradish retired the first eight batters but ran into trouble in the third after issuing back-to-back walks. Garcia worked the count full and lined a two-run double to left-center field, and Mayo bounced a throw past first baseman Samuel Basallo to give the Nationals a 3-2 lead.

Mayo bent over in frustration, and Henderson gave him an encouraging pat on the leg while walking past.

Bradish walked two more batters in the fourth to give him four and tie his season high. Cowser ran down Keibert Ruiz’s ball in left-center to strand them.

A leadoff walk to James Wood in the fifth finished Bradish. Tyler Wells entered the game and Garcia hit a two-run homer to give Washington a 5-2 lead. Wells threw two changeups and watched the ball land in the seats in right-center.

An odd final line for Bradish included only one hit allowed in four-plus innings, but also three earned runs and four total to go with his five walks. His ERA grew from 3.64 to 3.77.

“He just didn’t have command,” Albernaz said. “He battled and competed, but he just couldn’t get count leverage or just dominate the strike zone like he usually does.”

Bradish was magnificent in his two previous starts on the West Coast, with one run allowed and 21 strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings, but the sharpness was missing today.

“Bad day,” he said. “Didn’t really swing and miss at anything, didn’t really chase out of the zone. I wasn’t really in the zone.

“I felt good pregame bullpen, got out there. I mean, first inning was pretty good, second inning was pretty good, and just kind of got out of the zone. Fastball command was obviously not as good as it has been as of late, and like I said, they did a good job not chasing any curveballs that were decent pitches. They just waited me out.”

Wells hadn’t allowed a run this month in 9 1/3 innings. Cowser made a leaping catch at the center field fence to rob Dylan Crews in the fifth and force Curtis Mead back to second base after a double. Wells raised his cap in the air.

Cowser had another defensive gem in the tank, running down Ruiz’s single in right-center field with two outs in the sixth and throwing him out at second base.

“That catch robbing a home run was pretty spectacular, and then also the throw as well, off balance, off platform, making that throw and dropping a dime at second base,” Albernaz said. “Yeah, Cowser had a great game.”

Said Cowser: “It’s something that I’ve really worked on, and I think it’s something, you can contribute out there, even if you’re not contributing at the plate. And so, it’s something I take a lot of pride in.

“I always felt pretty comfortable out there. I think it’s something I did, obviously, in the minor leagues. I’ve gotten a lot of reps here, especially in ’24, was thrown out there a little bit too, and last year. So yeah, pretty comfortable out there.”

Even Cowser had no chance at Garcia’s 109.9 mph line drive home run off Albert Suárez in the seventh that gave the Nationals a 6-2 lead.

Explaining the Jackson option

The Orioles sent down Jeremiah Jackson this morning and kept three catchers after reinstating Rutschman.

“The hardest part about the job is those decisions and those conversations,” Albernaz said. “He has an option. He plays second base. Holliday’s there. Get him more regular reps in Triple-A. The thought process was to carry the third catcher with Adley coming back from the concussion list. Then also, with Sammy, too, both of those guys are always in the lineup. Just give us some coverage behind the plate if something happens.

“With J.J., it was nothing on performance. It was just one of those things where looking at the roster, he was just a casualty of it.”

Filling up the 40-man

The Orioles had an opening after designating catcher Sam Huff for assignment. It didn’t stay that way for long. They claimed right-hander Yosver Zulueta on waivers from the Cubs and optioned him to Norfolk.

Zulueta, 28, was designated for assignment last week after posting a combined 7.54 ERA in 22 games with Triple-A Tacoma and two with Triple-A Iowa. He’s averaged 5.6 walks and 11.4 strikeouts per nine innings in 175 minor league games.

Zulueta appeared in 19 games with the Reds in 2024-25 and registered a 5.32 ERA in 23 2/3 innings. His four-seam fastball averaged 98 mph last season.

Down on the farm

Norfolk outfielder Jud Fabian was removed from Game 1 of today’s doubleheader in the second inning following a collision on defense.

High-A Frederick first baseman Yasmil Bucce hit his fourth home run. Wehiwa Aloy had two hits.