Orioles manager Craig Albernaz made the slow walk to the mound tonight with the bases loaded and two outs in the sixth inning. The three Red Sox runners expected a pitching change, a logical assumption, and jogged to the dugout. Chris Bassitt didn’t budge.

Albernaz was sticking with his veteran starter in a scoreless tie. They didn’t talk for long. Bassitt had thrown 88 pitches and wanted the chance to clean the mess that he created.

Eli White slapped a sinker into left field at a mere 69.1 mph, perhaps breaking his bat from the sound of it. Either way, the damage was undeniable.

A third run scored when Connor Wong singled off reliever Rico Garcia, and the Orioles absorbed another harsh blow to their playoff hopes with a 5-0 loss before an announced crowd of 32,207 at Camden Yards.

A fifth consecutive loss leaves the Orioles with a 69-74 record. The Guardians also lost to keep the Wild Card gap at three games.

Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s two-run double off Albert Suárez with two outs in the seventh inning lengthened a margin that already felt insurmountable.

“Obviously, I want to finish the inning,” Bassitt said. “You know how much the bullpen’s run down. So yeah, I want to finish that inning.

“I made my pitch. He made a good swing. I mean, that’s literally it.”

“Those decisions keep you up at night,” Albernaz said. “Like, I’m not going to sleep tonight. That’s part of it. You make your decision, and you go with it. You try to make the best decision at hand with all the information at hand. Bassitt, throwing a shutout in the sixth, throwing the ball well, pitch count was low. Bullpen is taxed still. … We decided to trust Bassitt to get that out. He made a good pitch, but those are the decisions that keep you up at night, and you can’t dwell on it.

“If there’s a lesson to be learned, learn the lesson from the event, but ultimately with all the information you have at hand, you just have to make the best decision.”

Sonny Gray blanked the Orioles on three hits over seven innings and their scoreless streak has reached 18 innings after back-to-back shutouts. Samuel Basallo thought he homered in the seventh, watching his fly ball until it was caught near the fence and extending his arms in disbelief.

The Orioles loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth and Greg Weisssert struck out Pete Alonso on three pitches.

Excluding extra innings in Colorado, the Orioles have tallied 12 runs in their last six games. The same team that battered the Cardinals for 28 has been shut out six times this season.

“They’ve got really great pitchers,” Alonso said. “Sonny pitched really well tonight. He was moving the ball in and out really well to both righties and lefties. Executed pitches when he needed to. I think, again, they’re making pitches and to their credit. But also for us, I don’t think we’re necessarily capitalizing the most when we get pitches in the zone. It’s really frustrating for sure.

“That’s just getting back to basics, focusing on shrinking the zone in offensive counts, not giving the pitchers anything and, also when they do come over the heart of the plate, don’t miss the mistakes. And I feel like it’s not like we’re having a ton of weak contact. I feel like we’ve done a good job of hitting the ball hard. It’s just not at a good enough consistent rate. So when they come over the heart of the dish, you’ve got to make them pay.”

Trevor Story and Nick Sogard singled with one out in the sixth and Jarren Duran drew a two-out walk to instigate the mound conference.

“I just want to see where Bassitt was physically,” Albernaz said. “Just to make sure he was in the best spot because the way he was throwing the ball, he was throwing the ball really well all night. Bases loaded, 0-0 game, two outs, we like the matchup of him against Eli White. I just want to make sure like empty the tank on this guy. Then also making sure we have the plan right. And Bassitt was up for it and stuff and he made a really good pitch, jammed him, broken bat, and line drive over the third baseman’s head.”

Bassitt escaped a bases-loaded jam in the first inning. Isiah Kiner-Falefa grounded out on the first pitch after Sogard walked with two outs. Bassitt struck out Story on a nasty 74.1 mph sweeper before Sogard reached base.

White struck out on that same pitch, at 75.2 mph, to strand two runners in the fourth. Bassitt also struck out Story and Duran with four-seam fastballs. In between were Sogard’s single and Isiah Kiner-Falefa’s walk.

The game was delayed after Basallo took a foul ball off his mask.

The Orioles are taking too much punishment.

“We’ve always got to be better,” Bassitt said. “That’s it. We’ve got to be better. Literally, you can try to point fingers, try to put blame on stuff. It is what it is. Yeah, we’ve got to start winning games. There’s not many games left. We’ve got to start winning.”

“We’ve been here before, and for our guys it’s just regrouping, trusting each other, playing for each other,” Albernaz said. “Passing the baton. That’s when we’re at our best, when we’re playing that team approach, nine versus one against the starter.”

Asked what must be done for the team to regroup, Alonso replied, “Win tomorrow, win tomorrow. Got to turn the page. Obviously, losing the series, it’s a big series. Tough. But we have to win tomorrow and I know Cleveland, obviously that’s a big series as well. They’re just as much in the hunt as we are and I think, again, the only way to kind of regroup and move forward is to win.”

Turning Gray

The best part of the first inning for the Orioles was forcing Gray to throw 25 pitches.

Gray came into the game with a 16-4 record and 2.82 ERA in 25 starts. The Red Sox were down a few relievers with Garrett Whitlock and Aroldis Chapman pitching in the first two games of the series.

Gunnar Henderson doubled with two outs on a fly ball that landed on the left field line. Duran tried to make a sliding catch, and a foul call was overturned. Alonso drew an eight-pitch walk, but Basallo grounded into a force.

Gray needed eight pitches to retire the side in order in the second.

Contact play

Colton Cowser hit an opposite-field double down the line leading off the third inning and hustled to third base on Jackson Holliday’s fly ball to right field.

The productive out from Holliday was received with enthusiasm in the dugout.

Blaze Alexander grounded to Sogard, Cowser broke for home and Wong applied the tag. Cowser was going on contact.

Cowser walked in the fifth and made the final out at second base after trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt.

The offense teased but didn’t come through in the clutch.

“I think one of the first things is it’s Sonny Gray and Ranger (Suárez) are on both nights. But also, seems like our guys are offensively pressing a little bit, trying to do too much,” Albernaz said.

“Not everyone and it’s not every single at-bat. It’s just, you just see they’re trying, they know where we’re at. They’re trying to come through for the team and come through for the rest of the boys, and sometimes it works out where they put together some good swings. We just couldn’t get anything going offensively.”

Blaze of defensive glory

Alexander produced back-to-back outstanding plays in the fifth inning to keep the bases clean for Bassitt.

With one out, Alexander made a sliding backhand stop of Roman Anthony’s ground ball. And he topped that gem by robbing Mickey Gasper with another backhand grab and leaping throw from the edge of the grass.

Bassitt was back in the dugout after only five pitches.

The ball found Alexander again on Wilyer Abreu’s 102.1 mph grounder leading off the sixth. Another backhand stop and throw.

Etc., etc.

Heston Kjerstad singled with two outs in the fourth inning for his first major league hit since June 4, 2025 … Holliday struck out looking three times … Félix Bautista tossed a scoreless inning with Triple-A Norfolk. He walked one and struck out one. Cade Povich allowed eight runs and seven hits with four walks in five innings. Infielder Luis Vázquez came out of the game with right hamstring discomfort … Wehiwa Aloy hit his ninth homer for Double-A Chesapeake, and Patrick Reilly allowed two runs in seven innings … High-A Frederick second baseman DJ Layton went 5-for-5 … 2026 first-round draft pick Eric Booth Jr. had three hits with Class A Delmarva, and Stiven Martinez’s 14th home run was a grand slam.