Orioles fall behind early and can't recover in 10-3 loss (updated)

SAN DIEGO – Jack Flaherty recorded the last out in the first inning tonight, glanced twice at plate umpire Laz Diaz on his way to the dugout and didn’t break stride.

Diaz didn’t check Flaherty’s hands for a sticky substance until the Orioles were done batting in the top of the second. After Gary Sánchez hit a grand slam as part of a five-run outburst. After Flaherty walked three consecutive batters and threw 34 pitches.  

The Orioles didn’t hold any advantages tonight.

Diaz forgot to do it or yielded to the absurdity.  

Flaherty couldn’t find his command early in his third start since the trade deadline, and the Padres evened the series with a 10-3 victory at Petco Park.

Cedric Mullins had two hits, including an RBI single in the sixth, and Austin Hays homered in the ninth, but the Orioles failed to secure their 75^th win. They remain three games ahead of the second-place Rays, who lost 7-0 in San Francisco.

Backup catcher James McCann made his first career pitching appearance in the eighth and didn’t allow a run, stranding Fernando Tatis Jr. after a single and José Azocar after a double. Three Padres hit ground balls. McCann threw an arm around Adley Rutschman’s shoulder as he reached the third base line.

McCann followed scoreless innings by Shintaro Fujinami and Mike Baumann.

"I was happy he got the ground balls and got out of the inning there," said manager Brandon Hyde. "When I kind of gave him the nod, like, are you willing to do it, I didn't sense the excitement. But he had a smile on his face coming off the mound, so that was nice.

"That was the best part of the game."

There weren't many challengers.

Gunnar Henderson lined an RBI single to center field with two outs in the ninth to delay the formation of the Padres' handshake line. They had lost seven of their last eight games.

Manny Machado’s fly ball to left with two outs in the second fell for a two-run double, skipping past Hays and giving the Padres a 7-0 lead. Flaherty received another visit from pitching coach Chris Holt. Nick Vespi started to warm.

This wasn’t going to be Flaherty’s night.

He lasted three innings, an 11-pitch third leaving him at 84. The veteran right-hander allowed seven runs and four hits, with four walks and three strikeouts.

"His command just wasn't there from the start a little bit," Hyde said. "Tough time landing his breaking ball. Seemed like a lot of breaking balls were down and out of the zone, and everything was to the extension side. They got enough of the bat on the ball. A lot of the damage with two outs. A tough time commanding his pitches."

After his last start, Flaherty said he wasn't satisfied with going five innings and keeping the Orioles close. His job is to work through the sixth at a minimum and spare the bullpen.

His first inning tonight limited the chances of providing any sort of length.

"You try to go out and make pitches," Flaherty said. "Started the second out there pretty good and it turned into a long one. But the goal is to, still got a lot of ground to make up for and just didn't do a good job there in the second. Was able to do that in the third, but at that point it was already, I threw a lot of pitches in a short amount of time."

Sánchez has hit 21 homers against the Orioles, his most versus any opponent. He delivered the Padres’ first slam in 2023, in their 120^th game.

Ha-Seong Kim led off the first with a double, but Flaherty retired the next two batters, with Juan Soto flying to the left field fence. Machado and Xander Bogaerts walked to load the bases, and Jake Cronenworth worked the count full before drawing his walk and forcing in a run.

Sánchez drove a 94.4 mph fastball to the opposite field for his 16^th home run since May 31.

The second inning began with a pair of fly balls to left, but Tatis doubled, Soto walked and Machado followed with his double.

Flaherty threw 39 pitches to increase his total to 73. He retired the side in order with two strikeouts in the third, and Hyde brought in Vespi.

"It was a bad night," Flaherty said. "Just didn't execute. That happens.

"Not executing against guys like that, things happen. It wasn't just one thing. I didn't do a good job on the mound."

Flaherty can't easily dismiss a poor performance.

"I don't believe in flush and forget," he said. "I take it. And it doesn't mean you have to reinvent everything. You just understand what happened and what went on, and make adjustments from there. But it's not always about reinventing the wheel."

The Padres kept rolling. Three of their seven doubles came against Vespi in the fifth, when they scored three more runs to lead 10-0.

Padres right-hander Michael Wacha, reinstated from the 15-day injured list and making his first start since July 1, tossed five scoreless innings with three hits.

"It's the same Wacha we saw last year," Hyde said. "He's always had a great changeup from his Cardinals days, and he's got a nice cutter now. He can reach back with his four-seamer and get in the mid-90s. He knows how to pitch.

"He came off the IL today but he's been having a really good year. A bunch of good starts before he went on the IL. We had a tough time with him like we did last year."

The Orioles loaded the bases with one out in the fourth and didn’t score. Ryan Mountcastle singled to extend his on-base streak to 22 games. Mullins, who was 8-for-17 with two doubles, a triple and two home runs lifetime against Wacha, struck out swinging. Hays took a third strike.

Ryan O’Hearn doubled off reliever Steven Wilson in the sixth and scored with two outs on Mullins’ bloop single to center. Hays doubled to send Mullins to third base, but they were stranded.

The Orioles are 3-2 on the trip. Flaherty and Kyle Gibson, the two veterans in the rotation, combined to allow 16 runs.

* Triple-A Norfolk’s Chayce McDermott allowed one run and struck out seven over five innings. Noah Denoyer didn’t retire a batter in the sixth and was charged with three runs on two hits and three walks.

Former Oriole Drew Rom, now pitching for the Memphis Redbirds, tossed six scoreless innings with one hit and eight strikeouts.

High-A Aberdeen’s Trace Bright allowed one run and two hits in 5 1/3 innings, and he struck out eight.

Ryan Higgins hit his fifth home run. Frederick Bencosme went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, and Samuel Basallo went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Jacob Teter had two hits and two RBIs, and Elio Prada finished with two hits and two runs scored.

Single-A Delmarva center fielder Enrique Bradfield Jr., the Orioles’ first-round pick, went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two stolen bases. Jalen Vasquez had the Shorebirds’ other two hits.

Edgar Portes struck out seven in three innings but also allowed four runs. Joe Kemlage followed and tossed three scoreless and hitless innings with no walks and four strikeouts.

Double-A Bowie catcher Silas Ardoin had three hits and two runs scored. Dylan Beavers went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

I wrote earlier that John Means was charged with four runs and three hits, with two walks and four strikeouts in 1 1/3 innings. He threw 45 pitches, 30 for strikes.