WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The result of this afternoon’s game had a heftier weight on the pendulum. 

If victorious, the Orioles would head back to the East Coast winners of two straight series out west and five of six games overall. Couple that with a sweep of the White Sox, and that’s eight of nine. With Jordan Westburg and Cedric Mullins potentially joining a team on a scorching hot streak next week, everything would be coming up Birds.

An impressive sweep of the Mariners bookended by taking care of business against the White Sox and Athletics. That's closing in on "we're so back" territory.  

A 5-1 loss, however, felt monumentally different. 

Entering a fresh series against the Orioles, the Athletics had lost 20 of their previous 22 games. Their rough stretch indicated the possibility that Baltimore could continue to gain some ground in the standings. 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – “When you’re talking about 10-plus guys on the IL, and now, little by little, they’re coming back. If you understand that, you know that things will turn around," Ramón Laureano said last night. 

"And that’s what we’re seeing right now.”

Things are trending in the right direction in Baltimore. 

After last night’s 7-4, come-from-behind victory, the O’s have a chance to take the series against the Athletics this afternoon. That, of course, would be the first time all season that Baltimore has won three straight series. Their series win in Seattle marked the first time they had won back-to-back series. 

Tomoyuki Sugano’s name penciled into the lineup card gives them a good chance to do it. 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Pitching has led the way for the Orioles in their recent stretch of success. 

They didn’t allow more than three earned runs in any of their games against the White Sox and Mariners, a streak that was snapped last night. They hadn’t had a blowup outing from a starting pitcher since Zach Eflin’s eight earned runs against the Nationals on May 18. 

That streak ended tonight as well. Charlie Morton allowed four runs in the first inning, and the Orioles found themselves staring at a first-inning deficit. 

Call it momentum or a mentality shift, but tonight, things were different. 

Early in the season, a start like that might have buried Baltimore. On a pleasant night in West Sacramento, though, the Birds battled back and came out on top 7-4. 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – It’s no secret that Baltimore’s recent stretch of success has been fueled by their pitching staff. 

Last night’s five earned runs marked the first time that the O’s allowed four runs or more since May 28 against the Cardinals. That’s also the last time the Orioles had lost before last night. 

Tonight, Charlie Morton looks to maintain his individual stretch of success. In his last five games, the veteran has a 1.64 ERA in 22 innings of work, striking out 24 and walking just five. That run includes his last two outings since he returned to the starting rotation, in which Morton completed six and seven innings, respectively. He allowed just two total earned runs in those two starts. 

His backstop in both of those starts was Maverick Handley, who gets another start tonight. Numerous Orioles have praised Handley for calling a good game behind the plate, and he gets another crack at it with Morton. 

“Seems to have been good,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said of the relationship between Morton and Handley. “Hopefully it continues tonight, but so far it has gone pretty well.” 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Orioles had gone two consecutive series without allowing four earned runs or more. They, of course, won all six of those games. 

Tonight, Baltimore allowed four earned runs by the end of the third inning. The offense couldn't find the right hits, and the O's fell 5-4 to the Athletics, snapping Baltimore's six-game winning streak. 

A lefty starter on the mound presented a tall task for an Orioles lineup that had been the worst in baseball at hitting southpaws this season. Perhaps some struggles evaporate in the midst of a winning stretch. 

The hometown kid got things started. 

It would take about 20 minutes for Dylan Carlson to hop in the car and drive from Sutter Health Park, the site of the O’s series against the Athletics, to Elk Grove High School, his alma mater. A late game might help him beat some traffic, too. 

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Orioles roster had a shakeup this afternoon, but it wasn’t the one that most had expected. 

Jordan Westburg has been tearing the cover off the ball in six games in Triple-A Norfolk, but his return will most likely wait until after this road trip.

“You’ll see Westy play these next couple days most likely,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “I think he’s probably the most likely one to be there Tuesday.” 

Baltimore won’t rush him. 

Instead, the honor of reinstated Oriole goes to Ramón Laureano this time around, who is back with the club after playing just two rehab games for the Tides. Ironically, he’s returning to Sutter Health Park, where he has appeared on rehab assignment before. 

The 2025 season hasn’t gone according to plan for the Baltimore Orioles.

At 19-36, the O’s have dug themselves quite a hole to kick off the campaign. Time is not their friend. 

As the calendar rapidly approaches June, expectations from the offseason feel distant. A great comeback is still possible, but Baltimore is heading toward the middle innings down a handful of runs. 

This week on “The Bird’s Nest,” Annie Klaff and I zoomed in. Expectations, hopes and goals must be modified as circumstances change. The standings are what they are, and now, pose a new question: what does a “successful” rest of the year look like? 

That’s the question we attempted to tackle. With a quick rundown of our thoughts here, you can find more in-depth analysis in our latest episode: https://masn.me/c9bhmg4f 

MILWAUKEE – Baltimore was right there. The losing streak was over. 

The Tony Mansolino era had its first victory in the palm of its hand. 

For the first time this season, Baltimore could come back to win a game after trailing entering the seventh inning. They found clutch situational hits when they needed to. Their former All-Star closer was on the mound with a chance to seal things in the ninth. 

Baltimore was one strike away. 

In a 2-2 count, American Family Field erupted at the sight of a Caleb Durbin RBI single to tie the game at three runs apiece. 

MILWAUKEE – There haven’t been very many positives to point to in the brief Tony Mansolino era. Today, there’s one in plain sight. 

Andrew Kittredge, who the O’s signed to a one-year, $10 million deal with an option for 2026 this offseason, was reinstated from the injured list today. Kittredge missed a chunk of spring training and the beginning of this season after undergoing “knee debridement” surgery. At his healthy best, he’s one of the best setup men in the game. 

“I definitely wasn’t expecting to have surgery during spring training,” Kittredge said this morning with a laugh. “That was kind of out of my control. So, I just attacked the rehab and feeling good, and just excited to be back now, even though it wasn’t the beginning of the season that I hoped for. Excited to be back.” 

Kittredge made 74 appearances for the Cardinals a season ago, top-10 among pitchers’ games played. He posted a 2.80 ERA, a return to form in his first full season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2022. 

Having previously gone through a long rehab, Kittredge knew the drill this time around. 

MILWAUKEE – The story of the O’s first two games in Milwaukee has felt eerily similar. 

The starting pitching didn’t take them out of it but wasn’t stellar, the bullpen was adequate but not great, and some late life from the offense wasn’t enough to push Baltimore ahead. 

Any way you slice it, it added up to the Orioles’ eighth consecutive loss, this time 5-2. The Orioles haven’t won a series against the Brewers since 2003. 

The first turn around the order was incredibly uneventful for both teams. If you like pitching and defense, the first 18 plate appearances were right up your alley. Three walks between both teams, with the most excitement coming in a Sal Frelick fly out to the warning track. 

Batter No. 18 was a Chayce McDermott three-pitch strikeout of Joey Ortiz. It was the 19th batter that presented the first sign of trouble. 

MILWAUKEE – Mike Elias isn’t a stranger to addressing the media in the midst of a losing season. 

Since taking the reins of the O’s front office in November 2018, Elias oversaw tough years in the win and loss columns from 2019 to 2021. 

The caveat there, of course, is that Baltimore was rebuilding. Soon, players like Adley Rutschman, Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and more would join the fold to propel the Orioles to a 100-win season and division title, and back-to-back postseason appearances. 

A stranger to this type of address? No. Just a bit unfamiliar. 

His next one just came much sooner than anyone expected. 

MILWAUKEE – The first two innings haven’t been kind to the Orioles in the Tony Mansolino era. Late deficits haven’t been kind to Baltimore all season. 

In the first game of their new series against the Brewers, the Orioles beat both trends. But they couldn’t beat the Brewers, falling 5-4 in Game 1. 

Yesterday, the ever-reliable Zach Eflin allowed seven earned runs in his first two frames against the Nationals. On Saturday, Kyle Gibson and Charlie Morton combined to do the same. 

The Orioles, on the other hand, found their earliest runs of those two games in the fifth inning. 

Tonight’s deficit of 3-1 after two innings wasn’t quite 7-0, but it still wasn’t the start the Orioles were looking for.

MILWAUKEE – It’s been quite the 72 hours in Birdland.

Tony Mansolino found out that he would be the Orioles' interim manager on Saturday morning. Without much time to settle and adjust, Baltimore had two afternoon games against the visiting Nationals. 

“Being totally honest, just an absolute ton of anxiety Saturday and Sunday,” Mansolino said today. “Didn’t sleep a whole lot. Just going through the information and getting my mind prepared for what the job is. I slept last night, which was a really nice feeling waking up today.” 

Now the Orioles find themselves as visitors in Milwaukee for a three-game series, the first in which Mansolino has found himself at the helm from the jump. 

“Last night, getting on the plane, I pulled out the advanced binder, and I was able to just start looking at what’s going on in terms of the strategy of the game," he said. "I was able to pull out my computer and start looking at lineups and players and things that would help us get ready for the next day. I think that exercise, just kind of strangely, settled me down.”

So how about those minor leagues, eh? 

Without much going the O’s way up in the big leagues, let’s take some time to highlight some prospects who are thriving down on the farm. 

Braxton Bragg

How about starting with a pitcher that isn’t even currently ranked in MLB Pipeline’s 30 best Orioles prospects?

Bragg has been utterly dominant in 2025, splitting time between High-A Aberdeen and Double-A Chesapeake. In his first seven games of the season, Bragg has a ridiculous 0.80 ERA with 47 strikeouts in just 33.2 innings. 

ANAHEIM – The Orioles needed a bounceback in the worst way. 

After being swept in three games in Minnesota, the Birds flew to Anaheim in search of answers. Perhaps they found some in a 7-3 victory that wrapped up a series win. 

The sun was shining brightly on a beautiful Mother’s Day in Anaheim. It was a bit too bright, perhaps, for Taylor Ward. 

Gunnar Henderson led off the game with a left-on-left double into the right-center field gap. A few batters later, it appeared as if the O’s had stranded another runner in scoring position when Adley Rutschman flew a ball with a 99 percent catch probability to left. Instead, Ward lost the ball in the Sunday sun and it dropped safely onto the outfield grass for a Rutschman triple. Henderson scored, and the Birds had given Zach Eflin an early 1-0 lead. 

That advantage quickly dissipated. 

ANAHEIM – It hasn’t been the start to the season that the Orioles’ offense was expected to have. 

The Birds have scored five runs or more just a dozen times in the 38 games they've played so far in 2025. They’re 10-2 in those games, an almost maddening statistic considering the fact that five runs isn’t an incredibly high bar to reach. Baltimore has just struggled to get there. 

“Unfortunately, the start of the season had been more down than up,” hitting coach Cody Asche said today. “There’s no hiding behind that.” 

Entering this afternoon’s Mother’s Day rubber match against the Angels, the Orioles rank 27th in baseball in hits, 28th in walks, 26th in batting average, 26th in on-base percentage and 20th in OPS. 

None of those numbers are incredibly encouraging, especially considering the talent in this lineup that has produced much better numbers in the past.

ANAHEIM – The Orioles started their series in Anaheim hot, with three runs in their first two offensive frames. 

Tonight, though, it was the Angels’ turn, as Baltimore fell 5-2. 

Los Angeles recorded three straight singles to start the game, and in the blink of an eye, it was 2-0 Halos. After a few more baserunners and nearly 30 pitches, Kyle Gibson worked out of the remaining trouble, but the early damage had been done. 

The O’s did the same to veteran Kyle Hendricks last night. But after three early runs, Hendricks settled in, because “that’s what a veteran pitcher does,” as Brandon Hyde noted last night. Gibson did the same for tonight's second and third innings, but ran into trouble in the fourth. We’ll get back to that. 

"I think the teams have been pretty aggressive," Gibson said of his recent first-inning struggles. "So, best way to combat that is maybe use a little off-speed a little bit earlier or just execute a few pitches here and there a little bit better."

ANAHEIM – Kyle Gibson hasn’t been off to a perfect start on the mound. 

The 37-year-old, signed too late to have a Spring Training, has made just two starts to begin the year after his ramp-up. His ERA, after allowing four first-inning home runs to the Yankees in his first start, is all the way up at 14.09. 

His second start was much improved, and he’s looking for another step in the right direction against the Angels tonight. 

The ERA will settle down, and Gibson hopes to provide some stability in the back of the O’s rotation.

But the value that the veteran brings can’t be quantified by his ERA. 

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Entering tonight’s game against the Angels, the Orioles had gone 16 consecutive games without scoring a first-inning run. 

That changed on a 1-0 count to Gunnar Henderson. 

Kyle Hendricks, better known for his days with the Cubs, threw a changeup that caught too much of the plate, and Henderson drove it 400 feet to right field. An early lead became a 4-1 victory, and behind a stellar start from Tomoyuki Sugano, the Orioles got back in the win column.

“He’s got the art of pitching down,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “The way he changes speeds and moves the ball around, super unpredictable, keeps hitters off balance. And we played really good defense behind him tonight. When we needed it, Tomo stepped up for us.”

Thanks to Henderson, Sugano entered the bottom of the first frame with a lead, a luxury they haven’t had often in 2025. The MLB newcomer went 1-2-3, and the O’s were off and running. 

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Zach Eflin’s return to the big league mound has been grabbing most headlines. For a rotation in search of stability, the veteran right-hander provides just that. 

The rotation, however, hasn’t been the main culprit of the Orioles’ recent woes. That has been Baltimore’s lineup, which has plated more than three runs in just one of their past six games. 

A healthy Tyler O’Neill, and his career OPS just shy of .800, could be the shot in the arm that Baltimore needs. 

The outfielder, activated to the active roster today after missing time with a neck injury, wasn't hitting like himself to begin the 2025 season. O’Neill hit just .215 with a .385 slugging percentage and .668 OPS, all some of the worst numbers of his career. 

That neck injury, as it turns out, had been an issue for O’Neill throughout much of the season and had a big impact on what he was able to do at the plate.