A sweep of the lowly Mets hasn’t thrust the Orioles into more serious Wild Card contention.

They remain grounded, whether dug in or sliding backward. They’re kicking up dirt but not enough butt.

Trevor Rogers offered one of his most dominant performances today, working eight innings to tie his career high, and watched it go to waste. The Orioles were shut out for a seventh time in a 1-0 loss to the Brewers before an announced crowd of 32,663 at Camden Yards.

The White Sox won earlier today, and the Orioles (75-80) returned to their clubhouse four games behind the last Wild Card. They’re facing Jacob Misiorowski on Sunday.

The math is keeping them alive, but just barely.

Rogers allowed one hit through the sixth inning, a fly ball by Joey Ortiz in the second that Rece Hinds misplayed in right field for a gift triple. Hinds lost it in the sun, the second time it’s happened to him in a day game at Camden Yards.

Gary Sánchez grounded out and Ortiz came home on a contact play that worked.

Two former Orioles had combined to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

“He didn’t have sunglasses at all. And the sun was in right field. Pretty frustrating,” said manager Craig Albernaz.

“I mean, it was overcast to start, but it was a 4 o’clock game. I thought you would have some sunglasses.”

“Game started shady,” Hinds said, “and I just didn’t have them.”

Rogers retired nine in a row and 14 of 15 before William Contreras’ leadoff single in the seventh inning. A double play killed that threat. Rogers struck out three consecutive batters after Sánchez singled in the eighth.

One run and three hits with 10 strikeouts in eight innings normally come with a win.

“That was pretty impressive,” Hinds said. “He was dominant on the mound. They only had three hits, and the one run was the misplayed ball I played in right field. It was really impressive to watch him go out there and shove it down their throat, so awesome.”

Rogers can become a free agent after the season and his final start comes next weekend at Yankee Stadium. Today could mark his last outing in Baltimore with the Orioles.

“I would love to have Trevor,” Albernaz said. “He embodies everything that the Orioles stand for. This dude got traded over and he wasn’t his best self. He did a great job of putting the work in, crushed the offseason, came in last year, was outstanding. And then this year, too, the way he’s navigated it, it’s been a steady presence besides the hiccup when he was sick in the middle of the year. But it’s someone, you see what he did against a pretty good lineup over there, best record in baseball, and it’s pretty impressive.”

The crowd stood and cheered Rogers, who suffered his 11th loss of the season. He’s allowed three earned runs or fewer in 16 of his last 19 starts.

Rogers wasn’t concentrating on his future today. He was immersed in the present.

“It’s something I don’t even really want to think about really,” he said. “Fans were great, been great all year. The best fans in baseball. Just, it was awesome. Meant a lot to me.”

The offense showed early promise with Jeremiah Jackson’s leadoff single in the first and Gunnar Henderson’s leadoff double in the second, followed by Hinds’ walk. Christian Franklin grounded into a double play and first baseman Andrew Vaughn made a diving stop of Samuel Basallo’s grounder.

Left-hander Robert Gasser retired 11 in a row before walking Leody Taveras leading off the sixth. Gasser hit Pete Alonso with one out and walked Coby Mayo on four pitches to load the bases, but Christian Encarnacion-Strand grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

Hinds lined a double into left-center field with one out in the seventh, and the next two batters popped up. Gasser threw a career-high 107 pitches and blanked the Orioles on three hits over seven innings. They were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and stranded five while he was in the game.

Taveras led off the eighth with a walk against Abner Uribe, who retired the next three batters. Uribe got through the Alonso/Mayo gauntlet.

The Orioles are 36-41 at home, securing a losing record for the second straight year.

“Outside of our hits, Pete and Coby and Rece barreled up some balls and squared them up pretty good. Outside of that, the at-bat quality wasn’t our best by any stretch,” Albernaz said.

“Just the ability to, in a close game like that, you have to be able to move the runner, play some team baseball, get some bunts down, see some pitches when the guy is throwing five, six straight balls. The infield popups. Yeah, it was a frustrating day.”

President of baseball operations Mike Elias stated earlier today that Albernaz would return in 2027 for his second season at the helm. Both parties are hoping for much better results.

“It’s a great vote of confidence,” Albernaz said this afternoon. “Obviously, this season hasn’t gone the way I wanted it by any stretch, by how the players wanted the season to go, how the front office, how the fan base. For sure it’s definitely a disappointing year for sure. And that’s something I wear pretty heavily just because of the seat I’m in, and I don’t take that lightly. For me, all the losses I wear heavily and they fall directly on me, and so it’s up to me as a leader of that group to consistently get better, problem solve and try to put our players in the best chance to win.

“For Mike to give that confidence, it feels great, but also, I’m not a person that needs the affirmation. I’m here to do the job, and this year, didn’t do the job the way I wanted to as far as wins and losses. So for me, it’s partnering with Mike and everyone else in the front office, the players, the coaching staff, and try to figure out how to get better definitely these last eight games, because these games are meaningful. But also going into the offseason and into the 2027 season.”

One of those meaningful games ended today with the Orioles again on the wrong side. And Albernaz’s agitation was evident.

“It doesn’t make it any easier,” he said. “We’re under the mindset that we’re still in, still have a chance until there’s either an E next to our name or we’re in. Like, we still have to go out and compete. But today’s game was particularly frustrating. Some awful bunt attempts and some interesting swing selections in certain places. So yeah, today was frustrating.”

Mancini retires an Oriole

Trey Mancini signed a one-day contract and retired as an Oriole. He sat next to Elias in the interview room, spoke about his love for the organization with his family sitting in the front row, including wife Sara Perlman and daughter Sadie, and headed out to the field for the ceremony.

Chris Davis, Stevie Wilkerson, Adam Plutko and former head athletic trainer Brian Ebel stood along the orange carpet with Mancini’s family as he walked out of the dugout to a rousing ovation. Mancini stopped to hug everyone and met Sara and Sadie in front of the mound.

After a brief speech, Mancini threw the ceremonial first pitch to Mayo. The crowd cheered even louder, and the Orioles played a video of Mancini’s inside-the-park home run in his final game at Camden Yards before the 2022 trade to the Astros.

“This is one of the great honors of my life,” said Mancini, who made his return to the majors earlier this season with the Angels before quitting for good. “When I retired a couple months ago, I hadn’t reached out because I wasn’t necessarily expecting this treatment. I know that there have been players that were better players than me overall that haven’t gotten this treatment and haven’t gotten to retire with the team they came up with and played with for a long time and really identified with. So it’s something I don’t take for granted at all.

“Even after I was traded, I think there was a piece of me that was left here and always knew that I’d come back after my playing days and would always affiliate myself with this franchise. It felt like home to me from the day I was drafted in 2013, and that never stopped until I got traded in 2022. So I couldn’t have imagined starting my career anywhere else and being anywhere else, and I’m so thankful to Mike and the organization for everything they’ve done for me and for Dan Duquette and the past front office for everything they did for me and bringing me into the Orioles organization.

“Like I said, it’s one of the great honors of my life.”

Elias reminded Mancini to put his signature on the “fancy” contract. He had to make it official.

“It’s always a joy signing players, but somebody of Trey’s caliber and importance to this franchise, it’s really an honor for me to be the guy here for this moment where Trey commits himself to being an Oriole, where he belongs, for the rest of his time in baseball and for the foreseeable future,” Elias said.

“There’s a lot that we can say about him, but he has been one of the most beloved players in the history of this franchise.”