The 2026 Orioles have played plenty of dumb, bad baseball. But the 10th inning of this 7-6 loss to the Angels on Wednesday afternoon in Anaheim may take the title for the absolute worst moment of the entire season. It also completely changed the tone of the now-concluded west coast road trip, which saw the Orioles lose five of nine and go home on a supremely sour note.
Let’s get right into that 10th inning because that ended up being the whole ballgame.
The two teams were knotted at five runs apiece
after regulation. The Orioles began the 10th with Blaze Alexander as the Manfred runner at second base. Taylor Ward opened the frame with a single to put runners on a corners. A Gunnar Henderson swinging bunt sent Alexander towards home, but he would be tagged out, a call which was upheld after review. After Leody Taveras flew out for the second out of the inning it seemed like the Birds might not score at all. But Pete Alonso came through with a clutch single to score the one crucial run and give the bullpen a lead to work with in the bottom of the inning.
Keegan Akin was called on for the 10th in a game that saw the Orioles empty their bullpen. The only reliever that did not pitch in this loss was Albert Suárez. And while Akin would carry some blame for the loss, it wasn’t his pitching that was at fault.
Akin struck out Zach Neto to open the frame, and then got a fly out of Vaughn Grissom for the second out. Things were going well! All that stood between the Orioles and a winning road trip was Nolan Schanuel.
Kudos to Akin for getting Schanuel to hit a weak grounder to the right side for what should have been the final out of the game. But that is where everything fell apart. It seemed like both Akin and Alonso were unsure of who was covering first. Jeremiah Jackson tossed the ball over anyway and Akin did just beat the runner there, but he also fumbled the catch and then Schanuel accidentally kicked it into right field. Not only did that allow the Manfred runner to score and tie the game, but it pushed Schanuel all the way around to third base.
The Orioles still could get out of the jam with one final out. And again, Akin induced weak contact. In fact, the batter, Logan O’Hoppe, didn’t even fully swing the bat. But he made contact anyway, leaving a dribbler in front of home plate. Samuel Basallo sprung up to collect the ball, but Schanuel was off with contact, evaded Basallo in the base path to score. Basallo never even looked for the force out at first base, but it’s unclear if he really had a chance there either. After that comedically calamitous inning, the Orioles had lost 7-6.
This fate could have been avoided altogether if the Orioles bats hadn’t fallen asleep after the third inning. But that is exactly what happened. José Soriano was removed after the third, and the Orioles did next to nothing against the Angels bullpen. Four relievers combined to toss six shutout innings, allowing just one hit in the process, walking one, and striking out five.
Prior to that, the Orioles were tearing into Soriano. Basallo hit a pair of two-run homers; one in the second inning and one in the third inning. Both times it was Alonso on board. Alonso had the team’s two other RBI. His first came on a double in the third and the other was the aforementioned extra-inning ribby. The only other Oriole hitter that did much of anything was Taylor Ward. He had two singles and scored on the Alonso double. The rest of the order was missing all afternoon.
Trey Gibson did start this game, but lasted just four innings as Craig Albernaz figured he could mix and match with his entire bullpen considering they have the day off on Thursday. That strategy worked until the late innings when everyone melted down.
Gibson himself was pretty good. The two runs he allowed came on one Jorge Soler swing in the first inning. His final three innings were scoreless, and he struck out five in the process. The rookie has room to grow, but the improvements are noticeable each time to the mound.
Albernaz had his entire bullpen on a short leash. Grant Wolfram came on to work the fifth inning. He got two outs and then an error by Gunnar Henderson pushed the skipper to bring on the right-hander Tyler Wells to face Soler. Wells got out of that inning and stayed on for a clean sixth inning.
Yennier Cano was picked for the seventh inning. He walked two and struck out two before Albernaz opted for the currently scuffling Rico Garcia. Garcia was able to wrap up the seventh without issue, but his troubles would pop back up in the eighth inning.
Donovan Walton doubled to begin the inning. Garcia followed up with back-to-back outs. But he couldn’t quite get to the finish line. Grissom pinch hit and singled in the Angels’ third run of the day. Schanuel walked to put two runners on. That was end of the line for Garcia and start of the day for Andrew Kittredge. He was no better. Kittredge walked Denzer Guzman to load the bases and then coughed up a game-tying single to Wade Meckler.
And we already covered what happened from there. Ryan Helsley tossed a 1-2-3 ninth inning, which is important. The team needs him to be good. But everything came crashing down in the 10th inning for Akin and the rest of the Orioles.
This is an all-too-common experience for this baseball team. The bats go quiet. The bullpen falls apart at the worst time. And in the highest of pressure situations it seems like they always lose their heads. The Orioles should have won this baseball game for several different reasons. The roster is more talented than what the Angels are trotting out there. This should have been a winning road trip. And yet, it wasn’t. And maybe that’s all you need to see to truly understand this team and their outlook.
Jackson Holliday also played, making a late pinch hitting appearance in which he struck out. So apparently he won’t be going on the IL. And if he does, the Orioles can’t back date it any longer. Just pure brilliance on display.
We will all be spared the Baltimore Orioles experience on Thursday. They have the day off. Then they open a weekend series with the Nationals on Friday night. Good luck, Birdland.
