SAN DIEGO – The season moved into a new month today, the last before the Orioles can board flights home and begin to put it behind them. They will use it to give Kyle Bradish innings in preparation for a normal offseason and spring training. They will keep evaluating rookie Jeremiah Jackson and whether he can be a piece moving forward in a role that fits. They will expose Dylan Beavers to major league pitching, reap the rewards, and be careful to keep his rookie status intact for 2026.

Bradish’s second post-surgery start lasted four innings, a step back results-wise but still encouraging as he retired the last seven Padres batters and turned up the heat on his fastball. Jackson singled twice and homered to keep suggesting that the bat might play at this level.

Wins have been in short supply, but the Orioles eked one out today, getting a tie-breaking single from Beavers off Robert Suarez in the seventh inning to defeat the Padres 4-3 before an announced crowd of 45,586 at Petco Park.

Rico Garcia retired the side in order in the eighth and Keegan Akin stranded a runner in the ninth for the save, improving the Orioles’ record to 62-76 with their third win in 12 games.

"We hung in there, man," said interim manager Tony Mansolino. "Listen, we’re just trying to piece this together. I’ve told you guys there’s gonna be days where it works and there’s gonna be days where it doesn’t. We’ve got guys kind of pitching up in terms of like roles they’re throwing and today it worked out. I’m proud of the guys. They did awesome, and we were kind of due for a good one, so happy for that.”

Bradish allowed two runs and struck out 10 Red Sox over six innings on Tuesday. He threw 81 pitches, threw fewer than tonight, when he surrendered two runs and four hits with two walks and five strikeouts.

“Obviously that first start was a lot better," Bradish said. "I felt like I was just battling command. I was getting ahead in counts and letting them back in or I was pitching behind in counts and letting them foul off a lot of balls. It’s a good hitting team. Obviously, I didn’t have my A stuff today, but I was able to battle through four, gave up two runs."

"I think, and we’ve seen it with a lot of guys coming back from surgery that he had, that there’s going to be days where the command isn’t quite there," Mansolino said. "It’s usually the last thing to come. I do think we are going to cruise at times and I think there’s going to be a couple hiccups along the way and I think that’s pretty normal."

The velocity was exceptional early, with 19 pitches clocked at 96 mph or higher over the first two innings – third most in any of his starts. A sinker to Luis Arraez in the second touched 98. But it dipped to 93.2 when he struck out Bryce Johnson to end the fourth.

"I’m happy where it’s at," Bradish said. "I think as the rest of the year goes on, I’ll be able to carry the velo throughout the outing, but it’s just a testament to the hard work I put in over the last 14 months with our training staff and strength coaches.”

Jackson homered off left-hander Adrian Morejon in the fifth to break a 2-2 tie, a first-pitch slider leaving his bat at 109.5 mph. He committed two errors at third base yesterday in San Francisco and moved back to right field today, but he keeps hitting.

Morejon surrendered one home run in 61 2/3 innings before tonight, to Mariners All-Star catcher Cal Raleigh on May 15. He had a 1.75 ERA in 64 appearances.

"Just had a plan," Jackson said, "trying to see something in the heart of the zone, just tried to be aggressive early and if he made a mistake, just try to hit that pitch, and that’s kind of what happened and I was able to get a good swing off.

"Professionally, this is the best I’ve felt. The mechanics are there. I think the main part is just competing in the box and not trying to do too much and just try to do my job and help the team win."

The third hit for Jackson was a single against All-Star reliever Jason Adam in the seventh inning that tied his career high. Gunnar Henderson reached on an infield hit, a grounder past the mound that caused Adams to turn and his left leg to buckle. He was helped onto a cart and driven off the field with a ruptured left quadriceps tendon.

Suarez, a two-time All-Star, struck out pinch-hitter Colton Cowser, but Beavers lined a changeup into right field for a 4-3 lead.

Dylan Cease also lasted only four innings, allowing two runs and five hits and striking out seven. He threw 91 pitches before manager Mike Shildt turned it into a bullpen game, usually a smart strategy given the Padres’ deep and talented group of relievers.

Left-hander Dietrich Enns replaced Bradish in the fifth and the game was tied again. Enns committed a throwing error on Freddy Fermin’s bunt, and former Orioles Ryan O’Hearn and Ramón Laureano came through with a two-out walk and RBI single.

Six of the first 10 batters reached against Bradish and a 2-0 lead disappeared. He worked around a pair of singles in the first inning, bailed out by a strikeout/caught stealing, but opened the second with back-to-back walks that preceded Bryce Johnson’s one-out RBI single. Arraez tied the game with a two-out single, winning a nine-pitch battle with his second opposite-field hit.

Arraez also singled in the seventh for his 1,000^th career hit.

"I think every start from here until the end of the year is probably going to be up and down, learning a lot about where I’m at, just physically and mechanically after taking 14 months off," Bradish said, "but I was pleased to be able to grind through that, only giving up two runs there.”

Beavers ignited a two-run second inning by beating out a bouncer to veteran shortstop Jose Iglesias, who tapped his glove with the ball before making the late throw. Beavers was flying up the line and Iglesias didn’t adjust his clock.

Dylan Carlson walked, the runners moved up on a wild pitch and Samuel Basallo doubled into right-center field at 110.2 mph for a 2-0 lead.

"Maybe I'm feeling more comfortable, like, taking more at-bats," Basallo said. "I feel like I've been working a lot with things I was doing, like, not bad, but I can do better in the first couple games. Yeah, just been feeling more like me lately.

"That was what I was doing down in Triple-A, taking more pitches. I'm going to be aggressive. Like, that's how I am. But at the end of the day, I have to start getting more pitches. That's how you start, like, slowing the game down, and I feel like that's what I've been doing lately. So, yeah, it's going to come, and I just need to keep doing what I've been doing lately."

Jackson Holliday led off the third with his 20^th double of the season and Jackson singled. Jackson broke for second on a ball in the dirt and was thrown out, preventing Henderson’s walk from creating a bases-loaded, no-out jam. Emmanuel Rivera and Beavers struck out.

The Orioles were 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position Sunday and stranded 12. They were 2-for-8 after Basallo doubled again with one out in the fourth and Cease struck out Coby Mayo and Alex Jackson for the second time.

Rookies drove in all four runs today, "which was pretty cool," Mansolino said.

"Basallo looked good today swinging the bat. He seems to be really kind of trending in the right direction right now. For me, it’s not four at-bats, four 0-0 swings. He’s starting to work counts, he’s starting to see more pitches, he’s gaining confidence. Really excited about him, obviously."

* Albert Suárez finally made it back onto the active roster after injuring his right rotator cuff on March 28. He got to visit with his brother before the game.

“He's one of the unsung heroes from 2024,” interim manager Tony Mansolino said earlier today. “I know we talked about him a lot, but it feels like it was a different season that he pitched for us. It doesn't feel like he got hurt in 2025 because he's been gone so long.

“He was a really important piece of this coming in, kind of a swing man that can throw out of the ‘pen and spot start for you and be a really good spot starter. There's some leadership there, there's some maturity. It's a grown man in the clubhouse. We're really young right now, so Big Al is going to help us in a lot of ways.”

Suárez probably won’t make a start unless it’s in an emergency, but he can work in bulk relief or get high-leverage opportunities like everyone else.

“I think just however we need him,” Mansolino said. “We're obviously not shy to try to figure out who should go where. We're still trying to figure that out. I think we know who some of our better and more trusted relievers are down there. Now, a couple of them are left-handed, so that gives you a little bit of a quandary in terms of matching up against right-handed type teams. But with Big Al, I think we do want to protect some of the length that he's built up, given that we’ve got two guys in the rotation that are coming off extensive Tommy John rehabs.

“We need to keep some type of build-up on him, but if we need him to throw one inning to win a game, we'll do that, too.”

Suárez just wants to pitch.

“It’s been a while,” he said. “I’m happy to be back, to be able to help the team, especially to be healthy to help the team.”

Suárez didn’t think he’d miss this much time.

“I was like, it’ll probably take a couple of months, but it was a little worse than what we thought,” he said. “I’m glad I’m healthy and ready to go now.”

* Maverick Handley was recalled today to serve as a third catcher until Jorge Mateo returns from the 60-day injured list. Handley suffered a concussion and right wrist injury in a violent collision with the Yankees’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. on June 22 in the Bronx.

Handley moved up the third base line to catch left fielder Colton Cowser's throw. Chisholm tried to avoid the tag and barreled into Handley, who went airborne and spun around.

“Honestly, it’s kind of a daze,” he said, unable to recall all of the details. “I just remember trying to read the ball, and it took me into the line trying to make a play. Next thing I know, I’m doing a 360. I saw some pretty crazy graphics of how my feet were in the air. But yeah, don’t really remember it that much.

“I think the wrist, I kind of knew the next day after I woke up and it was really, really sore. Didn’t expect for it to take as long as it did. But it was the throwing hand and it hurt.”

The Orioles have used a franchise-record seven catchers. Handley, Adley Rutschman, Chadwick Tromp and Gary Sánchez were sidelined within a span of 15 days.

“I think somebody put a hex on us. That’s what I was thinking,” Handley said. “It was kind of hard for me to process. I was really just trying to control my symptoms from my concussion, but yeah, what a crazy little period that was, huh?”