ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Orioles were cruising toward ending their West Coast road trip on a high note with back-to-back series wins.
Then disaster struck in the eighth and 10th innings. The Orioles’ bullpen (and defense) blew the game, losing 7-6 to the Angels in extras to make for a sour end to the road trip and an uncomfortable cross-country flight home.
“Yeah, really disappointing,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “To have it end that way is tough.”
Here’s the play. It’s ruled an error on Keegan Akin, but Pete Alonso broke for the ball and wasn’t able to make it to the bag in time. https://t.co/0ylJCnYwBI pic.twitter.com/HCVRuuZBNA
— Jacob Calvin Meyer (@jcalvinmeyer) June 24, 2026
Relievers Rico Garcia and Andrew Kittredge squandered a three-run lead in the eighth inning, but in the 10th inning, an unlikely hero was called upon to rescue the ballclub. Keegan Akin, who has been used mostly in low leverage this season, entered the 10th inning with Baltimore clinging to a one-run lead. With two outs and the tying run on third, Akin got what should’ve been a game-ending groundout to second base.
But first baseman Pete Alonso, who was playing deep, first broke for the ball instead of toward the bag, and the left-handed Akin barely got to the base in time for Jeremiah Jackson’s throw. Akin dropped the low throw, and runner Nolan Schanuel kicked the ball down the right field line. The tying run scored, and the potential game-winning run was now on third base.
“In that instance of the game, you’re playing a big infield, you’ve got to do whatever you can to keep the ball in the infield there,” Alonso said. “I took this really hard step and a half into the hole because I thought he hit it a little bit better than he did. … By the time I committed to the ground ball, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s not hit as hard as I initially thought.’ That’s why I wasn’t able to get there.”
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Logan O’Hoppe then hit a dribbler in front of home plate. Instead of going to first base, catcher Samuel Basallo tried to tag Schanuel, but the runner avoided the tag to score the winning run, giving the American League’s worst team the walk-off win.
“We didn’t help ourselves at all, three errors on the day. We also had seven walks,” Albernaz said. “That’s not a good recipe to win a baseball game.”
After the game, Akin and Basallo both took ownership of the final two plays.
Akin said he “probably should have covered the base a little bit better,” even though the replay shows he immediately broke toward the bag after the ball was hit. The reliever also said he wishes he had helped Basallo there and told his catcher to throw the ball to first base on the final play of the game. Basallo, meanwhile, said that he “messed up” on the last play, though replay shows it would’ve been unlikely for him to get the out at first either.
“That was an instinct play there,” Basallo said through team interpreter Brandon Quinones. “That was my instinct to go for the tag there. Sometimes, you’re going to mess up, and I think I messed up on that play. I don’t think the game should have gotten to that point. I think that’s a game we should have won easily. It was a mental error. But it was a game we should have won earlier. It shouldn’t have gotten to that point.”
Everything the Orioles said about defensive collapse vs. Angels
The loss ends Baltimore’s nine-game West Coast trip with a 4-5 record. The Orioles (38-44) dropped two of the first three to the defending American League runner-up Seattle Mariners. Then, after bouncing back with an impressive series win over the Los Angeles Dodgers, they couldn’t do the same against their neighbors in Anaheim.
“The fact of the matter is we didn’t capitalize when we should,” Alonso said. “We should’ve put them away much earlier. … We kind of let them hang around, and we got caught.”
After the Orioles fell back to Earth in Tuesday’s 5-1 loss, it looked like they’d continue their fall early in Wednesday’s rubber match. Shane Baz allowed a two-run homer in Tuesday’s first inning, and Gibson did the same Wednesday, this one to Jorge Soler.
But Basallo then almost single-handedly carried the Orioles’ offense in the second and third innings. He clobbered a two-run homer off Angels starter José Soriano in the second that traveled 434 feet to tie the game. An inning later, after Pete Alonso’s RBI double put Baltimore ahead, Basallo gave the club a 5-2 lead after another two-run blast off Soriano.
Baltimore Orioles’ Blaze Alexander, below, is tagged out by Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe, top, as he attempts to score on a fielder’s choice by Gunnar Henderson after pitcher Chase Silseth, center, tossed the ball to O’Hoppe during the 10th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Baltimore Orioles’ Blaze Alexander, center, attempts to score on a fielder’s choice by Gunnar Henderson as Los Angeles Angels pitcher Chase Silseth, right, tosses the ball to catcher Logan O’Hoppe to tag him out during the 10th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Baltimore Orioles’ Blaze Alexander, left, is tagged out by Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe as he tries to score on a fielder’s choice by Gunnar Henderson during the 10th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Baltimore Orioles pitcher Trey Gibson throws to the plate during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Baltimore Orioles’ Samuel Basallo, right, gestures as he scores after hitting a two-run home run as Los Angeles Angels catcher Tyler Heineman stands by during the second inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Baltimore Orioles’ Samuel Basallo hits a two-run home run during the second inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels, Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Los Angeles Angels’ Nolan Schanuel, left, scores on a walk-off single by Logan O’Hoppe as Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo is unable to tag him. (Mark J. Terrill/AP)
Los Angeles Angels’ Nolan Schanuel, left, scores on a walk-off single by Logan O’Hoppe as Baltimore Orioles pitcher Keegan Akin watches during the 10th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Baltimore Orioles’ Blaze Alexander, below, is tagged out by Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O’Hoppe, top, as he attempts to score on a fielder’s choice by Gunnar Henderson after pitcher Chase Silseth, center, tossed the ball to O’Hoppe during the 10th inning of a baseball game Wednesday, June 24, 2026, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
The offensive performance is perhaps the best of the 21-year-old catcher’s career, tying his high with four RBIs. The Orioles are relying heavily on Basallo, who twice in the past two series has caught a day game after a night contest, with Adley Rutschman on the concussion injured list.
“It was awesome,” Albernaz said of Basallo’s performance. “Without Sammy hitting those two home runs, we wouldn’t be in the game. So yeah, Sammy did a really great job offensively, especially against Soriano, [who] is a really tough pitcher.”
With the bullpen fresh after Kyle Bradish’s gem Monday and Albert Suárez’s three innings of relief Tuesday, Albernaz elected to treat Wednesday’s contest almost like a playoff game. Gibson settled in after his rocky first inning, striking out five through four innings. But with the top of the order due up a third time to begin the fifth, Albernaz went to his bullpen to cover the final five innings.
Grant Wolfram, Tyler Wells and Yennier Cano did their jobs, combining to strike out seven of the eight batters they retired while combining to toss scoreless frames in the fifth, sixth and seventh. Cano got into trouble in the seventh, but Rico Garcia escaped the jam to keep the Orioles’ lead at three with six outs to go.
“Yeah, fresh bullpen,” Albernaz said about why he pulled Gibson early. “Trey was grinding in the early innings and then kind of turned it on the last two. We had the fresh pen, and it was lining up toward the top of the order with their lefties, and we had Wolfie ready to go.”
That’s when the pseudo-bullpen game started to go south. Garcia struggled in the eighth inning, allowing an RBI single to Vaughn Grissom with two outs. Albernaz then went to Andrew Kittredge, but the veteran righty couldn’t back him up, walking the first batter he faced and allowing a game-tying single to Wade Meckler.
All three runs in the eighth inning were charged to Garcia, who has allowed at least one run in five of his past eight appearances after doing so in only two of his first 28 to open the season. Garcia, once an All-Star candidate, has a 10.29 ERA over his past eight outings.
Closer Ryan Helsley had allowed five runs in his two outings since returning from the IL last week, but he returned to his dominant form Wednesday, retiring the side to send the game to extra innings.
Before Alonso’s defensive miscue that led to the loss, he appeared to be the hero in the top half of the 10th with a two-out RBI single to put Baltimore up 6-5. That was the lone run the Orioles scored in the final seven innings of the game. It looked like a dribbler earlier in the 10th was going to give the Orioles a lead, but Angels reliever Chase Silseth made an incredible glove flip to nab Blaze Alexander at the plate.
In the end, it was two grounders that the Orioles couldn’t get outs on that made the difference.
The Orioles will return to Camden Yards on Friday to begin a favorable stretch in the schedule before the All-Star break. Twelve of their next 15 games are at home against the Nationals, White Sox, Cubs and Royals.
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