Tony Mansolino carried his own lineup card to home plate this afternoon, decked out in orange from chest to ankles. His first game as a major league manager, and the Orioles put him in an alternate uniform from the early ‘70s. Brightly lit on a dark day after Brandon Hyde’s dismissal.
The alternative for Mansolino would have been to stay in his role as third base coach, but the Orioles fired Hyde this morning and left him in charge of a team that lost 17 of its last 23 games.
As it turned out, only the vantage point changed.
The first six batters reached against Kyle Gibson, with a wild pitch and misplayed line drive dumped into the mix. The Orioles fell behind by six runs after the Nationals batted around, rallied late and lost 10-6 before an announced crowd of 28,208 at Camden Yards that voiced its displeasure in the same manner as before.
Jackson Holliday hit a three-run homer off Zach Brzykcy in the ninth, but the slide has reached five games in a row and 11 of 13 to leave the Orioles' record at 15-29. The Nationals will try for the sweep on Sunday before the Orioles fly to Milwaukee.
The first loud cheer for the Orioles came on Dylan Crews’ strikeout in the opening inning. Gibson faced nine batters in a start that began with a double, RBI single, walk, RBI double, two-run single and single. He retired only two batters, threw 47 pitches and watched his ERA rise to 16.78 in four outings.
James Wood followed CJ Abrams’ leadoff double with a ground ball into left field at 83.7 mph to give Washington a quick lead. Keibert Ruiz’s double came on a line drive that cleared Cedric Mullins’ head after he froze on the ball and broke late. Luis García Jr. had a two-run single. Josh Bell singled and raced to second base when right fielder Heston Kjerstad’s throw went to third.
José Tena had a sacrifice fly and Jacob Young ended Gibson’s day with a triple to right.
Charlie Morton might have put himself back into the rotation conversation by allowing one run and two hits in 4 1/3 innings, with one walk and six strikeouts. He struck out the side in the fourth.
The Nats expanded their lead to 7-0 in the second on García’s two-out, RBI double after Wood walked and stole second base. Morton retired the last six batters and 10 of 11, and Mansolino replaced him after 62 pitches, 47 for strikes. His ERA is down to 7.68.
Cionel Pérez retired all eight batters faced in his longest outing as an Oriole. He threw 19 of 23 pitches for strikes. Mansolino clapped his hands during most of his walk to the mound to remove Pérez in the eighth and gave him an aggressive smack on the backside.
The Nationals delivered a few more blows in the ninth, scoring one run off Yennier Cano and two off Seranthony Domínguez. Jorge Mateo collected his first RBI with a pinch-hit single in the bottom of the ninth after Mansolino lost his designated hitter in the seventh by batting for catcher Maverick Handley. Holliday followed with his shot to right-center field.
Holliday had a leadoff double against Jake Irvin in the first inning and was stranded. Certain weaknesses carry over from one manager to the next.
Kjerstad singled in the second and Ryan O’Hearn walked in the third. Irvin retired 10 in a row before Adley Rutschman led off the seventh with a double and scored on Ramón Urías’ single. Kjerstad reached when first baseman Nathaniel Lowe dropped an easy throw from Irvin, and Ramón Laureano followed with a double to center field that caused Young to slam into the fence and stay down on the warning track. Alex Call replaced him.
Irvin held the Orioles to two runs in six innings on Aug. 13, 2024 at Camden Yards. He was a smidge better today with two runs in 6 1/3.
Mansolino came out of the dugout and wanted a challenge on Laureano’s ball, hoping to get it changed to a home run, but the call stood.
He’ll now be in charge of getting the Orioles back on their feet.