10th-inning error spells another Orioles disaster in 7-6 loss to Angels

ANAHEIM, Calif. — For a team that spoke of fundamentals for much of spring training, of a “New Oriole Way” coming to Baltimore, far too frequently have calamitous errors stood in its way.

Calamity struck the Orioles again in the 10th inning of this 7-6 walk-off win for the Angels. The Orioles were on the verge of finishing this lengthy West Coast road trip with a win, but they snatched defeat from the mouth of victory and did so in an all-too-familiar manner.

Only a few days ago at Dodger Stadium, a late-game blowup cost the Orioles a win. And, on Wednesday at Angel Stadium, another face-creasing display will lead to more introspection and few answers.

“If we look at this road trip, overall, there’s a couple innings that beat us,” first baseman Pete Alonso said. “Obviously, that one inning at Dodger Stadium, and this one here. And if you do a two-game swing or whatever that is, that’s 6-3 as opposed to 4-5.”

The Orioles (38-44) aren’t at a point in this season where they can afford to throw away games. But here they were, throwing away a game.

With left-hander Keegan Akin on the mound in extra innings because most of Baltimore’s other relievers had been used earlier in a pseudo-bullpen game, a new disaster left the Orioles bewildered.

Nolan Schanuel hit a potential game-ending ground ball with a runner on third to second baseman Jeremiah Jackson. Alonso, who hit an RBI single in the top of the 10th to put the Orioles ahead, wasn’t near first base because he ran to his right after the grounder. Akin, covering the bag, couldn’t catch Jackson’s flip, and the ball was kicked into right field.

The runner on third scored to tie the game, and Schanuel ran all the way to third on the error.

There were two errors earlier in the game, but this last one was magnified by the situation.

Akin said he “probably should have covered the base a little bit better, got there a little bit earlier. So I guess that one’s on me.”

Alonso said he broke to his right after the grounder and couldn’t reverse course in time. “That’s why I wasn’t able to get there,” he said.

From manager Craig Albernaz’s vantage point in the dugout, “it looked like, as Akin was closing to the bag, Pete was closing to the bag as well. So Akin, looked like he slowed up a little bit, not knowing who was going to be there. Then obviously he missed the ball, and Schanuel kicked it down there.”

That mistake set up for a dribbler from Logan O’Hoppe down the third-base line. Catcher Samuel Basallo, whose pair of two-run home runs earlier should’ve been part of an offensive onslaught, ran after the ball. O’Hoppe’s speed would’ve made it a difficult play at first, so Basallo tried to swipe at Schanuel.

Schanuel eluded a tag but didn’t leave the basepath, and he scored the winning run.

“That was an instinct play there. That was my instinct to go for the tag there,” Basallo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones, although, in truth, he probably wouldn’t have gotten the out at first.

“Sometimes, you’re going to mess up, and I think I messed up on that play,” Basallo continued. “I don’t think the game should have gotten to that point. I think that’s a game we should have won easily. It was a mental error. But it was a game we should have won earlier. It shouldn’t have gotten to that point.”

On the latter point, Basallo is absolutely correct.

Earlier, much had gone well. Basallo hit a pair of two-run home runs against right-hander José Soriano, and Alonso recorded two RBIs, with one in the third inning and another in the 10th. But for six innings against the Angels’ bullpen, the Orioles’ offense went down quietly.

“We should’ve done a better job of not giving away at-bats,” Alonso said. “We should’ve found a way to tack an extra run on when we’re up 5-2, whatever it was. ... We should’ve put them away much earlier. We did a great job of having great at-bats and scoring in extras right there, but we didn’t do it offensively when we needed to, after Soriano got out. We kind of let them hang around, and we got caught.”

The Angels scored three runs off right-handers Rico Garcia and Andrew Kittredge in the eighth (all charged to Garcia) and then won it in the 10th when Baltimore reverted to bad baseball.

The trickle-down effect of pulling right-hander Trey Gibson after four innings was that Akin was on the mound in the 10th. Akin, who is not a high-leverage arm this year, almost stranded the ghost runner at third. He recorded the first two outs, and if he had caught the ball at first — or if Alonso had covered the bag — the game would’ve been over.

Albernaz said he pulled Gibson after 66 pitches because the bullpen was fresh and Gibson ran into early trouble. Although his fourth inning went cleanly, a left-handed pocket set up well for left-hander Grant Wolfram.

The bullpen’s middle relievers worked until the eighth inning, when Garcia returned from recording the final out of the seventh.

Garcia fell into trouble immediately. Donovan Walton doubled, and after Garcia recorded the next two outs, pinch-hitter Vaughn Grissom plated Walton with a single.

After a two-out walk, Kittredge replaced Garcia, and he loaded the bases with another walk. That set up Wade Meckler’s game-tying two-run single.

Albernaz used closer Ryan Helsley in the ninth inning to preserve the tie and send the game to extras. When asked why he didn’t send Helsley out for the 10th, Albernaz said: “You can make the same argument to bring him in in the eighth, have him go four outs. But him coming off the IL somewhat recently, just want to not be reckless there.”

Helsley only recently returned from elbow inflammation, and his first two appearances weren’t crisp, with two earned runs against him in each. So Akin took the mound in the 10th. He recorded two quick outs. But, on a play at first, disaster struck.

And then the dribbler came, which Akin said he doesn’t think O’Hoppe “could have honestly rolled that ball better” than where it settled down the third-base line. It was slow motion, almost.

What occurred was another mess of a game. And now the Orioles will board a long flight home, pondering how a few innings this road trip could’ve changed plenty.

“As a group, we just need to execute,” Alonso said. “That’s it. Execute, play simple — do the simple things well. That’s really it. We have to execute. We can’t let the game get away from us. We just have to execute. Simple as that.”

This article has been updated.