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 had 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 with a groundout 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 Orioles as a team left 10 stranded.

“Going into [the series], we knew we had to grind and really force them to work, and we did that,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “We just couldn’t come through with the big blow. But it’s one of those games where you’re proud of how they fought, because every opportunity, like we talked about pregame, our guys could have folded, but they kept on fighting and giving themselves an opportunity. It’s just that big knock that eluded us.”

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

Orioles rookie right-hander Trey Gibson tossed four scoreless innings 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.

Albernaz provided his rationale for pulling Gibson after just 68 pitches.

“With the pitching on their side, we knew runs were going to be at a premium,” he said. “Gibson was falling behind guys; the inning before he fell behind every single hitter he faced. He was giving up some loud contact as well. That inning where they tied the game up, it kept going, got to Julio, and I decided that we needed to stop the game there to give ourselves a chance.”

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 with the New York Mets for the most in MLB.

But there was nothing cheap about Naylor’s slam: a flag-court shot by the left-handed first baseman.

With the benefit of hindsight, Albernaz wished Nunez, who was already up 0-1 in the count, didn’t throw his fastball in that situation.

“I’m not saying his fastball isn’t one of his strengths, but he has an elite changeup, you know, you’re ahead, and he has the sweeper as well,” Albernaz said. “It’s not saying that it was a bad pitch by any stretch, but a changeup would’ve been awesome there. You can hindsight from the dugout on pitch calling, doing it as a catcher, like, I get it. And Nunez, like I said, the walk is the one that hurt him. To try to sneak the fastball there, I can see it, but also just Naylor got enough of it.”

Gibson, making his third big league start, was charged with three runs on five hits. He did not strike out any batters Monday, but walked just one.

“One of the biggest things I feel like I’ve seen about myself or learned about myself since coming up to the bigs is just kinda getting ahead to two strikes,” he said. “I’m the type of pitcher that likes to pitch to ground balls and I feel like I did a decent job of getting those tonight.”

The 24-year-old could be in line for a longer run in the big leagues with starter Chris Bassitt landing on the 15-day injured list before the game with lower back discomfort. The veteran is getting a second opinion on his back.

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. After lowering his ERA to 3.68 on May 19, the rookie has allowed 10 earned runs in his last nine outings.

“Just inconsistent right now,” Albernaz said of Nunez’s recent skid. “Like tonight’s outing in particular, where he walks the first hitter, yes, gives up the big blow, but then after that, he just showed who he’s capable of [being]. That’s the roller coaster we have to ride with young pitchers. He’s shown that he can pitch in those situations. He can close games. He can go multiple innings.”

The Orioles were not done blowing chances. 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 an RBI single from Alexander 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.

Albernaz had no issue with Alexander’s decision to tag, but reminded the utility man after the play that he “has the ability to read the throw, and you can stop and just walk back to first.”

“Once you see the throw on line, and we all know Julio can throw, like he’s a premium defender in center field, it surprised me that he kept going.”

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