Orioles spoil Kyle Bradish's 1st gem of season in 4-3 loss to Athletics

BALTIMORE - The Orioles have been waiting for a Kyle Bradish outing like this one.

Bradish entered Friday's game against the Athletics with a 5.03 ERA over his first seven starts, a far cry from the right-hander's Cy Young Award-caliber production. He returned to form in front of a packed crowd at Camden Yards, striking out 10 over seven innings of three-run ball.

However, it wasn't enough for the win.

With an announced attendance of 39,311 on hand for the highly anticipated Tupac bobblehead night, the Orioles logged just four hits off left-hander Jacob Lopez and the Athletics' bullpen in a 4-3 loss to open the series. Baltimore (17-22) dropped its second straight game and seventh in its past nine to match the club's season low of five games under .500.

It's been a disastrous start to the season for the Orioles' rotation. Four of their starters are currently on the injured list, while those remaining have struggled to keep runs off the board and pitch deep into games. Bradish finally came through on both fronts. A three-run fifth highlighted by Nick Kurtz's two-run triple was the lone rally the Athletics managed to put together against him as Bradish recorded double-digit strikeouts for the first time this season.

Pete Alonso and Adley Rutschman each hit solo home runs to account for the only Orioles offense of the evening. Baltimore struggled to get runners on and took just five at-bats with runners in scoring position - going 1 for 5 in those opportunities and stranding five runners on base. Lopez had also gotten off to a poor start with a 6.60 ERA, but the Orioles' struggles against left-handed starters continued as he allowed two runs with five strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings.

Though Rutschman's home run in the sixth chased Lopez from the game and pulled Baltimore to within one, the Athletics' late-inning relievers bridged the game to the ninth without allowing another base runner. The Orioles then rallied to score on an RBI single by Samuel Basallo down to their final out, but an eighth-inning insurance run allowed by top pitching prospect Trey Gibson - a starter pitching in relief for his second career MLB appearance - proved to be the difference.

Leody Taveras followed Basallo with a walk to put the tying run in scoring position. That brought up Jeremiah Jackson to face Athletics left-hander Hogan Harris, who struck him out swinging to end the game.

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 7:29 PM.