Gunnar Henderson scolded himself. Kyle Bradish raised his glove to his face and vented into it.

The foul pole didn’t come into play tonight. Umpires weren’t pressed for an explanation. Anger was turned inward.

The Orioles needed to elevate their game to prevent a sweep and avoid taking a backward step in the Wild Card race, but they made another slow walk into a quiet clubhouse.

Bradish surrendered a pair of home runs in the sixth inning after a troublesome third had already threatened to wreck his start, and the offense couldn’t rescue him in a 6-1 loss to the Yankees before an announced crowd of 29,200 at Camden Yards.

Dylan Beavers homered again, this time to the flag court in right field in the fifth inning after Gerrit Cole retired 11 in a row. Luis García Jr. and Spencer Jones made their own loud noises in the sixth, Bradish was removed at 100 pitches in 5 2/3, and the Orioles lowered their record to 61-67.

They’ll host the first-place but stumbling Rays this weekend, six games below .500 for the first time since July 11 and two back for the last Wild Card.

“It’s just the consistency piece. That’s what’s been eluding us all year, just playing consistent baseball,” said manager Craig Albernaz. “Like, we keep on showing flashes and stretches, and then flashes and stretches the other way. So for us, it’s just go out there and play consistent baseball. It’s taxing mentally to do that, but also, our guys are fully capable of that.

“We’re at the point of the year where we have to lock in for every game, every pitch, to put ourselves in the position to do something cool, something special. But, also, it’s easier said than done, but our guys in the clubhouse know that’s what they have to do.”

Why does consistency elude the team?

“It’s something that, myself, I’ve been actively trying to problem-solve and put a finger on,” Albernaz replied. “Understand, I’m the manager of the team and the guy in charge, and it’s my job to figure that out and I haven’t yet. And that’s on me. That’s the biggest thing. We have to figure out how to keep our guys playing that consistent brand of baseball, and actively trying to figure that out. Right now, it’s not, and like I said, that’s just on me.”

The Orioles turned three double plays in the first five innings, but a fielding error in the third opened the door for a three-run rally that also cost Bradish 38 pitches.

Jones and Austin Wells singled to create the jam. José Caballero grounded to Jackson Holliday, who ranged to his left, spun and threw to second in an attempt at a force. Henderson stuck out his glove and missed the ball, allowing Jones to come home.

Trent Grisham grounded into a 4-6-3 double play, but Ben Rice lined a single into left field to score Wells and Heliot Ramos doubled high off the out-of-town scoreboard.

“Forehand play to Jackie and it was good heads-up play by Jackie knowing the runner at first base was Wells,” Albernaz said. “The catcher, not the overall speed demon. And Gunnar coming full-speed across the bag. Yeah, he was trying to secure the ball and then also turn a double play.”

García reached on an infield hit before Bradish got back to the dugout with his pitch count at 68. Only one run was earned.

The first two batters of the game ran the count full against Bradish. Grisham walked and Rice flied to left field. Ramos grounded into a 4-6-3 double play.

Bradish struck out two while retiring the side in order in the second. He threw 11 pitches in the fourth and 10 in the fifth, working around a one-out single and walk. García opened the sixth by scalding a first-pitch slider, Bradish retired the next two batters and Jones reached the Bird Bath in left-center.

“That error hurt a lot,” Albernaz said. “He threw a lot more pitches than he should have, and that cascading effect was real. And in the sixth, he had a lot of pitches after five, but K.B. being the competitor he is and understanding where the bullpen was at, wanted to go back out. He used the rest of his pitches because the bullpen’s running hot and saved the ‘pen, and he left that slider out over to García. And then that two-seam just left middle to Jones.”

Left-hander Grant Wolfram was summoned from the bullpen after Bradish allowed three earned runs and five total with eight hits. He shut out the Yankees on one hit in six innings in their previous meeting on May 13 at Camden Yards.

In both games, Bradish threw 100 pitches, 60 for strikes, but with vastly different results.

“I think there was a lot more negative than there was positive in this outing,” Bradish said. “Just didn’t really execute the game plan, threw some bad pitches and they put good swings on it.

“I think everybody’s aware that every game matters at this point, so can’t really think about it too much. Got to show up tomorrow and win a game, and win a few games. But yeah, we’ve just got to flush this one. Just a bad series overall. Felt like I let the team down in a big spot today. But yeah, get back to work.”

Jazz Chisholm Jr. had an RBI triple off Albert Suárez in the eighth, with García scoring after diving into second base and realizing that the ball was in the right field corner.

Cole threw 22 of 23 first-pitch strikes while holding the Orioles to one run and four hits with eight strikeouts in six innings. Ryan Yarbrough retired all nine batters he faced for the save. The Yankees were short on available relievers. It didn’t matter.

The Orioles are 2-8 against New York this season.

“Their pitching was really good all series, and also, us just shooting ourselves in the foot,” Albernaz said. “You just can’t give a team extra outs, extra at-bats, especially to a lineup like that. They do a really good job of, on the offensive side, they don’t chase, they work the count, there’s a lot of pitches and there’s a lot of slug. That was on display. And for us, it was kind of opposite of the Tampa series we just played.

“The ability to cause havoc, get guys on base, take the extra bag, move the ball forward, runners in scoring position, that just eluded us this series.”

Pete Alonso singled into right field in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games. Henderson walked, but the Orioles didn’t score.

They haven’t driven in a baserunner since Monday. They went 0-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the series.

“We just couldn’t get the big hit, and then we needed to get runners on base, we had a tough time doing that to kind of get the inning going,” Albernaz said. “That was the biggest thing. You can’t give any big league team extra outs, and that’s what hurt us today, and especially with Gerrit Cole on the mound. We knew it was going to be a low-scoring game. You have to go out there and compete and battle. We just couldn’t get it done, couldn’t get guys on base, and when we did we just couldn’t get the big hit.”

They’ll need to fix that issue because they can’t afford to be swept again this weekend. They need to get back to the way that they played at Tropicana Field.

“I think every game we play is not a desperate situation, but we’ve got to win it,” Albernaz said. “You want to control your own destiny. In an ideal world, you don’t want to be scoreboard watching and hoping for other teams to lose. You have to play your brand of baseball and compete and win and let the chips fall where they fall. But we still have an opportunity that we’re playing meaningful games, and we still control how this season goes. But ultimately, yeah, every game we play from here on out, it’s been like that for a little bit now, but especially coming into this final stretch of the season.”

Leftover from Alonso foul ball controversy

Tower Federal Credit Union and its TowerCares Foundation have an agreement this year to donate $2,500 to “Homers for Heroes,” in partnership with The Alonso Foundation, for every home run hit by the five-time All-Star first baseman. The money is used to support Maryland veterans and military families.

Alonso hit his 29th homer last night, but an apparent 30th that would have broken a 3-3 tie in the seventh inning was ruled foul. The Orioles challenged and the call was upheld.

That’s close enough for TowerCares, which is handing over $5,000.

“The official call was foul, but at Tower, we’re calling it a home run,” Rick Stafford, President & CEO of Tower Federal Credit Union and President of the TowerCares Foundation, said in a statement. “At the end of the day, this is about doing more for the veterans and military families who have given so much for our country. We saw an opportunity to turn a very close call into something positive, and we’re proud to make this additional contribution to the Alonso Foundation to benefit veterans and military families across Maryland.” 

With this additional contribution, Homers for Heroes has now generated a total of $42,500.

Down on the farm

No. 2 prospect Anthony Eyanson allowed one run and five hits in seven innings against Richmond. He walked none and struck out eight, and he’s sporting a 1.93 ERA in 14 Double-A starts.

Ty Head, the second-round pick in this year’s draft, hit his second home run with Single-A Delmarva. Harrison Kreiling, part of the return from the Mariners in the Taylor Ward trade, tossed 3 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings with four walks and five strikeouts.