SAN FRANCISCO – The first batter that Tomoyuki Sugano faced today was denied a hit on Colton Cowser’s sensational diving catch of a sinking line drive. The second batter found the solution by launching a fastball over Cowser’s head and the center field fence.

Rafael Devers gave the Giants an early lead and the Orioles unraveled in the fourth in a 13-2 loss before an announced crowd of 39,220 at Oracle Park.

The Orioles followed a 1-7 homestand by going 1-2 in San Francisco to leave their record at 61-76. They fly to San Diego for another three-game series.

Catcher Alex Jackson made his pitching debut in the eighth, walked the first two batters and allowed three runs. Third base coach Matt Williams held runners in an attempt to limit the embarrassment.

That horse already left the barn, but the gesture was appreciated.

A 15th shutout loss was averted when Daniel Johnson led off the ninth with a gift double after right fielder Luis Matos turned the wrong way on a liner and it clanked off his glove. Johnson scored on Jackson Holliday's double and Gunnar Henderson had an RBI single.

Sugano was charged with seven runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings. He saw Cowser rob leadoff hitter Heliot Ramos, but also Jeremiah Jackson’s throwing error on a bouncer from Christian Koss in the fourth and Drew Gilbert’s fly ball to left field that followed and led to two more runs scoring when Johnson slipped and fell as he approached it.

The bleeding wouldn’t stop. Ramos had an RBI single, Devers doubled to get within a triple of the cycle, and the only out was recorded earlier when catcher Samuel Basallo threw out Matt Chapman trying to steal after a leadoff single.

Seven batters came to the plate and seven reached before interim manager Tony Mansolino removed Sugano. Kade Strowd stranded two runners in scoring position.

“There are obviously games that the defense has my back, but today (that) wasn’t so much the case," he said via interpreter Yuto Sukurai. "I wanted to throw a little bit more, making sure I get out of that inning. Yeah, there are games like this.

“It’s nothing I can control during that inning so I just try to alleviate all the misses from myself and believe in my defense.”  

The seven runs and 10 hits off Sugano match his career highs in the U.S. His ERA rose from 4.06 to 4.41.

"We put him in a bad spot today," Mansolino said. "I don't think Sugano threw the ball bad at all. Devers got him in the first inning, yanked a fastball, supposed to be up and away. Outside of that, some singles, a swinging bunt by Drew Gilbert right there to kind of get that one inning going. But to me, Tomo was fine. We just kind of let him down behind him."

The Giants scored twice in the third and tested Cowser again, an unintended infatuation with him.

Gilbert reached on an infield hit with one out, Heliot Ramos singled to center and Devers followed with a liner to left-center that Cowser trapped while attempting another diving grab. Cowser played the short hop on his stomach and threw back to the infield from his knees.

Willy Adames’ sacrifice fly – to Cowser, of course – increased the lead to 3-0.

Cowser appeared to take body inventory while pitching coach Drew French and Sukurai went to the mound. He squatted with his head lowered and flexed his left elbow before rising. The Giants’ broadcast kept going back to him for updates.

The fourth was a disaster. Koss was credited with an infield hit and RBI, and Jackson skipped a throw past Ryan Mountcastle. Johnson tracked Gilbert’s ball, reached for it and lost his footing. The series featured sloppy play in Friday’s loss and a much crisper performance in yesterday’s win. Today should be stricken from the record.

Dominic Smith had an RBI single off Corbin Martin in the sixth inning after Jackson booted a ground ball, and another unearned run scored with two outs when Luis Vázquez did the same at shortstop. Yennier Cano replaced Martin and issued a bases-loaded walk.

"I think for me as I’m watching this on a day when we have a chance to win the series against a team that’s been playing good baseball, you see some of the guys make mistakes, the initial reaction is to be frustrated," Mansolino said. "But then, for me, I look at the guys making the mistakes and it’s guys who are kind of fighting for their careers in a lot of ways, you know? And they’re trying to prove that they’re major league players and they’re not Triple-A guys. So my emotions go from frustration to more empathetic, I guess, for those guys because they don’t want that to happen, because that affects them as much as it does the team in the moment.

"I just try to put myself in the players’ shoes and understand how difficult the game is and how it feels in the scenarios that they’re in for their careers when they make those mistakes. And I think when you kind of take that outlook on it, your feelings and your emotions do change a little bit.”

The Orioles faced 42-year-old Justin Verlander, who made his major league debut in July 2005. Holliday was born in December 2003 and Basallo was born in August 2004.

Verlander and Basallo provided the largest gap in age involving an Oriole since Darren Oliver (42 years, 342 days) faced Manny Machado (21 years, 69 days) on Sept. 13, 2013.

Five rookies were on the field for the Orioles today – Sugano, Basallo, Jackson, Vázquez and Dylan Beavers. They had six on Sept. 25, 2021 with Mountcastle, Jahmai Jones, Kelvin Gutiérrez, Nick Ciuffo, Ryan McKenna and Chris Ellis.

Maybe in September.

Verlander shut out the Orioles on two hits over four innings but also threw 94 pitches, contributing to the lackluster pace of the game. Manager Bob Melvin sent him back out for the fifth and he stranded two runners after Holliday walked and Jackson singled. Henderson was his ninth strikeout victim and Mountcastle was his 10^th  to establish a season high.

Fans gave Verlander a standing ovation as he returned to the dugout after throwing 121 pitches. He induced 23 swings-and-misses, the most against the Orioles this season.

Today marked the 73^rd double-digit strikeout performance from Verlander. The last before today was Oct. 4, 2022 against the Phillies.

Basallo struck out on a high fastball in the fourth, on the ninth pitch, yelled at himself walking back to the dugout and slammed the bat on the ground.

The 20-year major league veteran struck out the side and five of seven batters. He had eight through the fourth, one shy of his season high on April 9, and blew past it.

"Well, it was a little bit of old bull, young bull today as I kind of watched that," Masolino said. "He throws (121) pitches, five innings, and my initial reaction was we took good at-bats today. But then as I looked up and saw we punched out 10 times, my feelings on that changed. I think it's a guy that took what we gave him, which was off-speed and spin and changeups and the whole deal. And we had a bunch of young bulls out there who were trying to get what they wanted, so they kind of (took) what he was going to give him, which was the off-speed.

"So I think with a lot of young hitters, they've got to kind of learn and recognize when pitchers are pitching a certain way. And instead of trying to kind of force a square peg through the round hole, take what the pitcher gives you, which might be a breaking ball or a sweeper or changeup, sit on it and go get it."

The Orioles have lost by 10 or more runs seven times. 

* Holliday walked three times to raise his total this month to 21. He ranks second behind Rickey Henderson’s 29 in September 1980 for most walks by a leadoff hitter in a month at age 21 or younger.

* Dylan Cease starts for the Padres on Monday night, followed by Yu Darvish Tuesday and Nestor Cortes Wednesday. The Orioles are going with Kyle Bradish, Tyler Wells and Cade Povich.

* Jorge Mateo went 0-for-3 with two walks today with Triple-A Norfolk. Trey Gibson allowed four runs and seven hits in three innings. Chayce McDermott allowed two hits and struck out a batter in a scoreless inning.

Class A Delmarva’s Keeler Morfe tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings and Denton Biller had 3 2/3 scoreless innings with one hit. Cobb Hightower collected three hits.