Orioles reliever Yennier Cano stood with his hands on his hips. He did it once, twice, as if in a state of disbelief.
He had no other reaction. The season hadn’t prepared him for it.
Cano surrendered his first earned runs in 13 appearances and his first homers, with the Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino going back-to-back to break a tie in the seventh in an 11-6 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 31,956 at Camden Yards.
Kansas City began the series ranked last in the majors with 15 homers, but they set the club record with seven today and have 10 over the past two games. The Orioles hit four, including a pair from Jackson Holliday, and fell way short, lowering their record to 13-20 as they ready for their next road trip following an off-day.
Every homer today was a solo on Star Wars Weekend until Michael Massey’s two-run shot off Matt Bowman in the ninth. The jokes write themselves.
“Yeah, that was a tough day,” said manager Brandon Hyde, whose club lost its first series to the Royals since 2019. “I thought we swung the bat well, happy about that, but we had a tough time on the mound keeping the ball in the ballpark.”
Royals starter Michael Lorenzen surrendered a career-high four, his entire total for 2025 before today. Bryan Baker replaced Orioles starter Kyle Gibson in the fifth and Jonathan India greeted him with a tie-breaking homer. But this game wasn’t meant to be knotted.
Cedric Mullins led off the bottom of the fifth with his team-leading seventh and Ryan O’Hearn matched him later in the inning by launching a curveball into the splash zone for a 5-4 lead.
Or maybe it was meant to be, since Baker faced Maikel Garcia leading off the sixth and another home run tied the game 5-5.
Cano struck out India to begin the seventh and was burned twice. Luke Maile went deep against Charlie Morton in the eighth and Witt added an RBI double. O’Hearn doubled in the eighth and scored on Ryan Mountcastle’s single, but the Orioles failed in their attempt to win consecutive series for the first time since the final two in 2024.
The Orioles allowed seven homers for the fourth time and the first since April 20, 2019 in Game 2 against the Twins. The record is 10.
Morton couldn’t keep the margin at two. His ERA is 9.76.
“We were down two. (Seranthony) Domínguez pitched last night and I gave him the bottom of the order and he got two quick outs and went 3-0 to the No. 9 hitter,” Hyde said.
“He’s gonna continue to get opportunities. We’re gonna try to figure this thing out.”
Holliday delayed his second trip around the bases. If you’re going to hit the ball that far, don’t be in such a rush to jog away from it. Take in the view.
Holliday delivered two game-tying home runs against Lorenzen, in the second and fourth innings. He lined a fastball to the fencing atop the out-of-town scoreboard at 107 mph and reached the back of the flag court 422 feet away at 109.6 mph.
The second homer made Holliday 10-for-25 in his last nine games with an at-bat and 13-for-38 in his last 14. At 21 years, 151 days old, he’s the third-youngest Orioles player with a multi-homer game after Manny Machado and Boog Powell.
“I’m just trying to go up there relaxed and confident,” he said. “I think being in a position when I’m ready to launch and being confident and feeling free has kind of been the biggest change for me going up there. Not trying to move the ball forward, but just trying to put good swings on it, and however I feel when I’m feeling smooth and free to deliver a good swing is kind of how I’ve been going about it.”
Gibson pounded his fist into his glove and yelled today, and it wasn’t the frustration of a four-homer first inning. He’s moved past that debacle.
Gibson reacted to a strikeout of Pasquantino in the third that stranded a runner after a leadoff walk. He was building momentum, but it vanished with a two-run fourth that gave the Royals a brief 3-2 lead.
Adley Rutschman broke a tie in the third inning with a run-scoring double, but the Royals scored twice in the fourth on Drew Waters' double into left-center. Gibson ran the count to three balls on Hunter Refroe, who doubled to move Salvador Perez to third base, and to Waters. Maile flied out on another full count to leave Gibson at 81 pitches.
Hyde made the switch, with Gibson allowing three runs and five hits with one walk and three strikeouts over four frames. His ERA in two starts is 14.09.
The Yankees belted five home runs off him and scored nine times with 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings. Today’s outing was an improvement.
“I think my stuff was a lot sharper today,” Gibson said. “Felt like I was in command of the zone a little bit better, had a couple counts where I got behind but felt a lot better about where everything was. Would like those two pitches back in the fourth inning there. I thought I had the right pitch against Renfroe and Waters. The ball that, man, just barely out of Coby (Mayo’s) reach or we're out of the inning there. But just one too many soft pitches to Waters and he was able to get that single.
“They make you work on the mound. They don't give you easy outs and they kind of wore me down there in the last couple innings with a couple long at-bats.”
Garcia led off the second inning with his first homer of the day, but Gibson retired eight of 10 before Renfroe’s double. The assumption is that he stays in the rotation and starts again in Anaheim.
“I don’t necessarily think when I was warming up or the feeling was that the ball was pushing that way, but it was clearly a little breeze going toward that left-center gap,” Gibson said. “There were a few hitters who got it up in that today. But we took advantage of it as well and swung the bat really well today. They’re a team with professional hitters, good approaches. I know my mistake to Garcia was a cutter down the middle in a 2-0 count. Those are going to get hit pretty well.”
Gibson knew that he wouldn’t get it all back at once after signing in March. This is going to be a process.
“I think that’s something that this group understands,” he said. “I’m sure that the veterans that have been here have been talking to guys about that. Everybody knows that you sign up for 162, not 30 or 40. That’s just how you have to play. I think it’s something that doesn't necessarily need to be expressed with these guys.
“We went through tough spots in ‘23 when I was here. I’m sure they went through tough spots last year. But it is definitely hard for a team when maybe you feel like a group of you is struggling hitting, a group of us struggling pitching and you’re losing. Yeah, it’s tough to overcome, but nothing this group can’t handle.”
The Orioles are listing Cade Povich, TBA and Dean Kremer as starters for the Twins series that begins Tuesday in Minnesota. Kremer, who was drilled on the right thigh Friday by a line drive, is pushed back a day.
A starter is needed for the middle game, which could give Charlie Morton another opportunity if he’s available after throwing 24 pitches. Zach Eflin made his first injury rehab start today at High-A Aberdeen, tossing four scoreless inning with two hits over 58 pitches, and he won’t have sufficient rest.
The Twins are listing right-handers Pablo López, Simeon Woods Richardson and Joe Ryan.
“We’re kind of still figuring things out right now,” Hyde said. “We’ve got an off-day tomorrow. We’ll let you guys know.”
The Orioles optioned pitcher Chayce McDermott to Triple-A Norfolk after reinstating him from his rehab assignment and the 15-day injured list. He can’t be recalled until he’s down for 15 days unless replacing an injured player.
Left-hander Trevor Rogers started today for Norfolk in Charlotte and allowed three runs and four hits with no walks and four strikeouts in three innings. He also surrendered a home run. Rogers threw 61 pitches, 40 for strikes.
Gunnar Henderson extended his hitting streak to nine games with a double into left-center field in the first inning. The Orioles did their early damage around plate umpire Dan Merzel’s called third strikes on Mullins and Mayo on balls out of the zone.
Mayo went 0-for-3 with a walk, but he fielded a sharp grounder from Pérez in the fifth and started a double play.
The game went back and forth before the Royals pulled away.
“They did a good job of bouncing back, and I thought we did, too,” Holliday said. “It was kind of like everyone was throwing punches, and they just happened to kind of run away with it at the end. But I thought we swung the bat great, and we tried to keep us in it as long as possible, but they did a good job.”
* Reliever Andrew Kittredge replaced Eflin at Aberdeen and allowed one run and two hits with two strikeouts in an inning. He threw 14 pitches, 11 strikes.
* Jud Fabian homered twice for Norfolk.