​  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 s      ​Read More