Missed opportunities doom Orioles in 6-3 loss to Mariners

Chances like the one the Orioles had in the third inning don’t come around very often in a game — bases loaded, one out, middle of the order up.

Unless you’re the Orioles on Monday night, in which case they come around twice.

Presented two prime opportunities — the first to take a commanding lead, the second to cut into a four-run deficit — the Orioles failed to take advantage in a 6-3 loss to the Mariners.

A key hit in either situation could have turned the tide.

Baltimore had Seattle right-hander Emerson Hancock on the ropes in the third when they loaded the bases the first time. The O’s good speed on the basepaths — Blaze Alexander at third, Taylor Ward at second, Gunnar Henderson at first — but got just one run on a Pete Alonso sac fly to take a 1-0 lead.

The second chance came at a more critical juncture. Trailing 5-2 in the seventh inning, Alonso thought he drove in his second run of the game with a full-count walk. Instead, Matt Brash’s 98 mph sinker was reversed to a strike on a challenge that showed it barely nicked the zone. Colton Cowser followed Alonso’s strikeout with a ground out to second base, ending the threat.

Cowser, batting in the cleanup spot for the first time since August 2025, left six runners on base. The O’s as a team left 10 stranded.

The Mariners, meanwhile, made the most of their chances.

Orioles rookie right-hander Trey Gibson tossed four scoreless to start the game before allowing a sac fly to Ryan Bliss in the fifth. Still, he left the game with two outs and the score knotted at 1-1.

Anthony Nunez, charged with keeping the game tied, walked Julio Rodríguez before serving up a grand slam to Josh Naylor. The Mariners took a 5-1 lead.

Orioles pitchers have struggled with two outs all season. Entering Monday’s series opener against the Mariners, no team in baseball had allowed more runs with two outs. Baltimore had surrendered 193 hits with two down, third-worst in MLB.

Much of the Orioles’ issues with two outs can be traced back to poor defense. Nine runners have reached base on errors with two down against O’s pitchers, tied for the most in the league with the New York Mets.

But there was nothing cheap about Naylor’s slam, which was caught by an Orioles fan on the flag court. Gibson, making his third big league start, was charged with three runs on five hits.

The two runs charged to Nunez would be the only ones he would allow in 2 1/3 innings, the longest appearance of his big league career.

The Orioles were not done blowing chances, however. After Leody Taveras singled and Jackson Holliday walked to open the bottom of the eighth, both runners advanced on a Coby Mayo fly out to center field. That aggressive base running allowed Holliday to reach third on a Blaze Alexander RBI single that cut the Mariners’ lead to 6-3.

But Alexander got too aggressive when Samuel Basallo, pinch-hitting for catcher Sam Huff, flew out to center. Alexander attempted to tag up and take second base while Holliday broke for home. Holliday was initially ruled to have scored, but a Mariners challenge revealed Alexander was tagged out before Holliday crossed the plate, turning a sac fly into an inning-ending double play.

The Orioles, who went just 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, are losers of three straight.