Before Tony Mansolino’s first game as interim manager, Zach Eflin said that Brandon Hyde’s firing sucked as a result of the Orioles sucking. In his first start and just a day after the dismissal of Hyde, Eflin sucked the most out of any of his starts in a Baltimore uniform.
Eflin allowed four home runs, tied for the most in his career. He gave up eight runs in 5.1 innings. The Orioles’ best and most consistent arm was anything but that against the Nationals on Sunday in a 10-4 home loss.
“If you kind of look at how hard they hit the ball and what the trajectory was, I think the wind probably helped some of the balls,” Mansolino said. “It was just a tough day. Hanging in that game as long as he did … was probably more the story for me.”
The Orioles (15-30) were swept for the fourth time this season after being swept only three times all of last year. Their losing streak extended to six games, the club’s longest since 2022. They’re 0-2 in the post-Hyde era.
In all but one of his first 13 regular-season starts as an Oriole, Eflin went at least five innings with three or fewer runs allowed. He failed to hit either mark Sunday afternoon.
The outing started as bad as can be — CJ Abrams belted Eflin’s first pitch of the day 380 feet onto the right field flag court — and got monumentally worse in the second inning.
Luis García slugged a homer off a 1-0 changeup left in the zone, just the second time in Eflin’s 14 starts with Baltimore where he’s allowed multiple home runs. Alex Call was hit by a 1- 2 fastball. Dylan Crews blasted a three-run homer on a middle-up sinker. Abrams slugged another home run for back-to-back blasts, and Keibert Ruiz singled in Washington’s sixth run of the frame shortly after.
A James Wood sacrifice fly in the fourth inning cemented Eflin’s worst outing since July 27, 2019, when the Braves scored 10 runs off him. The eight earned runs were the most allowed for Eflin since May 23, 2017, against the Rockies.
“I thought a couple balls off the plate were hit, but a lot of balls that weren’t hit very hard ended up being good for them,” Eflin said.
Eflin had been a seemingly rare instance of a successful recent move that general manager Mike Elias has made. Eflin compiled a 2.76 ERA entering Sunday as an Oriole. The rough start ballooned that mark to 3.46 and his season ERA to 5.08.
With the departure of Corbin Burnes in the offseason and injuries to Grayson Rodriguez and Kyle Bradish — neither has pitched this season — Eflin had solidified himself as the Orioles’ top starter for a rotation that holds the worst ERA in the American League.
Since the start of last year, 12 players (aside from Eflin) Elias has traded for have appeared in at least one game for the Orioles. They’ve totaled an fWAR of 0.2. Seven major league free agents signed this past offseason have combined for a -1.1 fWAR.
The three free-agent adds to the rotation are all at least 35 years old. The most recent signee, Kyle Gibson, was designated for assignment before Sunday’s game. He totaled a 16.78 ERA in four starts this year, unable to last beyond the fourth inning in any of them. The last straw was six runs allowed in two-thirds of an inning on Saturday.
Those struggles of Elias’ recent additions have meant Eflin has needed to pitch like an ace every time he takes the mound. He wasn’t close to that on Sunday, and the Orioles paid the price with their eighth straight home loss. For there to be any sort of a season turnaround, the Orioles need Eflin to pitch well.
“We’re not winning the game right now, I didn’t help that today,” Eflin said.
Outfield injury updates
Colton Cowser spoke with the media ahead of Sunday’s game for the first time since fracturing his left thumb March 30. He said he’s been swinging for a couple weeks but took batting practice on the field for the first time on Saturday.
There are no limitations right now, Cowser said, and that he’s hoping for a rehab assignment soon. Since he was transferred to the 60-day injured list near the end of April, the earliest he’s eligible to return to the big leagues is May 30.
Tyler O’Neill was placed on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder impingement before Sunday’s game, retroactive to May 16. The stint is O’Neill’s second on the injured list this season and the 16th of his career. Dylan Carlson was called up in his absence.
Ramón Laureano and Heston Kjerstad should have more consistent playing time with both Cowser and O’Neill now on the injured list.
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