What does a rapidly growing retailer geared toward teenagers have in common with the Baltimore Orioles? They are both Five Below.
For the O’s, they now sit five games below .500 after a demoralizing four-game sweep by the American League-best New York Yankees. They are also nine games behind New York and just one game away from overtaking the Boston Red Sox for last place in the AL East.
After a very uncompetitive series, Baltimore has now earned a new franchise record for most consecutive losses by five or more runs after being outscored by the Yankees 39-10 and losing their previous series finale to the Houston Astros 11-5.
With nine straight days of baseball left on the schedule before the team’s first off day since April 27, including another three-game stint against the Yankees, the Orioles are extremely eager to move on from their second time being swept in four games since the 2021 season.
But, we still need to talk about it.
Baltimore displayed a concerningly low amount of fight against New York, allowing seven or more runs in each of the four games. The opposing 9.8 runs per game by the Yankees mark the most the O’s have allowed in a series since April 20, 2025, when they allowed 24 runs in a single game to the Cincinnati Reds.
The series opener saw a measly three-hit performance from the Orioles as they fell 7-2.
Left-hander Cade Povich looked to stack a third consecutive quality outing after allowing just three earned runs in 12 ⅓ innings through his first two big league appearances of the season. Instead, the 26-year-old allowed five runs in the first two innings of the game, including two second inning homers.
Baltimore’s bats seemingly threw in the towel after that as they scored just one run on two hits after the second inning.
Better luck tomorrow? Nope.
The O’s dropped the second game of the series 9-4 after another shaky Kyle Bradish outing paired with a four-hit performance from the plate. Bradish allowed five earned runs, six hits and four walks in just four innings, notching his fourth loss of the 2026 season.
Baltimore scored its first run in each of the first two games on a Pete Alonso solo shot, making him our Player of the Series.
Alonso sure did select a wonderful time to get hot from the plate. The 31-year-old, who was stationed at designated hitter for half of the series, logged a four-game hit streak in his return to New York. He finished the series hitting 5-for-14 (.357) with two homers, a double and two walks.
The O’s offense was otherwise abysmal in game two, scoring five or fewer runs for the third consecutive game.
No surprise there, though. They would add another game to that streak with an 11-3 loss in the third game of the series.
Sunday marked the debut of one the farm system’s top arms Trey Gibson, who pitched nicely, all things considered. The 23-year-old tossed 4 ⅔ innings of baseball, allowing three earned runs on four hits to one of the league’s top offenses.
Unfortunately, Gibson failed to receive efficient run support as Baltimore would score its final run of the game in the fourth inning.
New York led 4-3 heading into the eighth, and after a quick top of the inning, veteran reliever Andrew Kittredge entered the game to allow seven runs to the Yankees in the bottom of the inning. Hit after hit scorched off the New York bats as the O’s conceded double-digit runs for the third time in as many games.
Baltimore continued its habit of making history in all the wrong ways after they allowed double-digit runs in consecutive games for the first time since July 18, 2025, fittingly ending this abysmal series in the Bronx with a 12-1 loss on Monday.
After his best outing of the season against Houston, right-hander Shane Baz allowed six runs, five hits and five walks in 5 ⅔ innings to the Yanks. Baz has now allowed four or more runs in three of his last four starts.
Against the current AL Cy Young Award favorite Cam Schlittler, Baltimore was expectedly unable to scratch runs across the plate.
Though they accumulated seven hits on the standout righty, capitalization once again proved a major issue as they drove in just one run through Schlittler’s 5 ⅔ innings. When he exited, the game was 3-1 and well within reach.
But, a scoreless performance from New York’s bullpen in addition to a six-run outburst in the eighth inning by newcomer Lou Trivino made for yet another uncompetitive Yankees victory.
Baltimore is now 1-6 with just 3.4 runs scored per game to 9.1 runs allowed per game in division play thus far. To Birdland’s dismay, New York is also the next division opponent on the upcoming schedule with a date between the two squads in Camden Yards starting May 11.
As the Orioles approach the conclusion of the first quarter of their season, they sit at a 15-20 record, meaning to achieve 87 wins—the win total of the lowest AL Wild Card team a season ago—they will need to finish the 2026 season 72-55.
Is that doable for a team that is 3-9 in its last 12 games? Maybe these takeaways will help you find out.
Key Takeaways
Baltimore just can’t hang with the big dogs yet.
Simply put, Baltimore is not a playoff competitor.
That is not to say they can’t still become one. The goal is not to write off the 2026 Orioles.
But, when faced with one of the juggernauts of the MLB, the O’s faltered. And for the majority of the series, it looked like Baltimore laid down and accepted defeat.
The team batted 26-for-129 (.202) with 19 of those knocks coming in the final two games of the season. While run support was lacking, the pitching staff also struggled immensely with their most runs allowed in a single series this year.
Manager Craig Albernaz referenced a reporter “jumping ship” in a postgame press conference. “If you want to jump ship, you can jump ship, but don’t ask to come back on,” Albernaz said on Monday.
It is important to note that Craig Albernaz directed this quote at a reporter in a joking manner.
He was *not* talking about the fans when he said this. https://t.co/ASFYTBmqkb pic.twitter.com/5XHDQOJ0T3
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) May 5, 2026
Hopefully Baltimore’s skipper realizes we are just painfully waiting for Mike Elias to win his first playoff game in eight years as the general manager of the team. But, as of now, they are in no position to do that.
We need to talk about Gunnar Henderson.
Former Orioles shortstop Mike Bordick hit the nail on the head with his Monday rant about Gunnar Henderson’s swing and miss tendency in 2026 on the Glenn Clark Radio Show.
Orioles Hall of Famer @MBordick joined us this morning and divulged into an EPIC rant about Gunnar Henderson, the Orioles current struggles and their organizational approach to the game:
“I’m just really frustrated.” #Birdland pic.twitter.com/JyEXctMZCQ
— Glenn Clark (@GlennClarkRadio) May 4, 2026
“Make your adjustments and be the good hitter you are,” Bordick said when referencing Henderson’s home-run-or-nothing approach at the plate.
Baltimore’s star shortstop ranks seventh in the MLB in strikeouts at 49, making him on pace to reach 227 by season’s end.
Henderson missed a start for the first time this season on Sunday.
His nine home runs have been exciting to watch, but maybe something needs to change in the plate approach, including more focus on winning games instead of leading the team in long balls.
The bullpen is finally upon its reality check.
Baltimore’s bullpen was among the best in the league for most of April.
But, a rocky two series against Boston and Houston paved the way for a total collapse against the Yankees.
The O’s relief unit allowed 20 of New York’s 39 total runs in the series.
Some of the team’s strongest arms at the beginning of the year, including Anthony Nunez and Grant Wolfram, have seemingly fallen flat.
Could this be a product of playing the two most efficient offenses in the AL? Possibly, but just before that, the Orioles conceded 17 runs in a single game to the Red Sox, including 10 in the ninth inning.
The recent veteran additions of Kittredge and Trivino have actually proven detrimental.
As they navigate the month of May without their standout closer, Baltimore’s bullpen needs to return to its early season form if they want to account for their seemingly nightly sluggish offensive performances.
