Craig Albernaz says Orioles fans ‘have every right to boo’

After watching Blaze Alexander fail to field a one-hopper that scooted by him into left field, Orioles fans had seen enough.

Two runs scored on Alexander’s fourth error in his last four starts, pushing the White Sox’s lead to 8-2 in the ninth inning of Monday’s loss. Not wanting to catch the conclusion of the Orioles’ third consecutive loss — which dropped them to eight games below .500 — many fans headed for the exits.

Some of those who stayed booed.

Baltimore is not New York, Philadelphia or Boston. But the weariness of the Orioles’ dismal 2026 season has produced boos from the faithful on more than one occasion at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

Manager Craig Albernaz told reporters before Tuesday’s game that fans “have every right to boo.”

“The fans that are there,” he said, “they’re paying their hard-earned money to watch us play and win and play good baseball and competitive baseball, and they have every right to boo.

“Our job, for us, is to go out there and give the city and the fans something they can stand behind and have pride in. And right now, we’re coming up short.”

Fans have also expressed their frustration by simply not showing up. Baltimore is drawing 21,682 fans per game, 24th in baseball. That’s down a spot from last year.

Albernaz said after Monday’s loss that his players have been dealing with outside “noise” over the course of the season.

“It’s starving the distractions and feeding your focus, that’s the biggest thing for our guys so hopefully we come in tomorrow ready to go,” he said.

The first-year skipper provided more context Tuesday afternoon, saying his team has been “great” in handling everything.

“Every player, this team, every team throughout the league, every sport, there’s noise,” he said. “It’s all part of it now with social media, with people pulling at them outside the game and rightfully so. So I think it’s, for any professional athlete, it’s making sure they can block out the outside noise and be able to go out and compete that night.”

With the trade deadline just over a month away, president of baseball operations Mike Elias said he wanted to add to the current group.

“I know our record’s backwards, but apparently this is infecting a whole bunch of other teams, too. I can’t explain it,” Elias said Saturday. “The context around that’s unusual. But we’re right there. So, like I said, we’re going for it. I’ll let you know if that changes.”