Orioles pitchers allow 7 home runs in 11-6 loss to Royals to drop series

Jacob Calvin Meyer, The Baltimore Sun on May 4, 2025

Published in Baseball

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BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles and Kansas Royals love playing low-scoring games at Camden Yards. Entering Sunday, the two teams combined to score only 23 runs across their previous six contests in Baltimore, including Kansas City’s postseason sweep in October.

So, naturally, the Orioles and Royals combined to blast 11 homers — 10 of which were solo to cap Star Wars Weekend — and tally 17 runs Sunday.

Jackson Holliday, the youngest and most powerful slugger on Sunday, blasted two long balls to lead Baltimore’s bats, but it was Kansas City’s loud lumber that won the day. Orioles pitchers gave up seven homers to spoil the offense’s outburst in an 11-6 loss.

Baltimore entered this weekend looking to win consecutive series for the first time this season after it took two of three from the New York Yankees earlier in the week. The Orioles defeated the Royals on Friday but dropped the final two games of the series to fall to 13-20 on the season.

The 11 combined homers on Sunday are the most home runs in an MLB game this season. The game was just the third in MLB history with 10 solo homers. The Royals’ seven long balls marked a franchise record.

Orioles starter Kyle Gibson was much better than his season debut Tuesday versus the Yankees when he surrendered nine runs in 3 2/3 innings. Gibson gave up three runs (and only one homer to Maikel Garcia) in four innings as manager Brandon Hyde went to his bullpen early with a day off Monday.

Baltimore’s bullpen, which has been perhaps the Orioles’ lone strength this season, betrayed them Sunday, allowing eight runs and six homers. Bryan Baker allowed a solo shot to Jonathan India in the fifth and opened the sixth by giving up another long ball to Garcia. Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino both homered off Yennier Cano in the seventh for the first earned runs allowed off Cano this season.

With the Orioles down two runs entering the eighth, Hyde went to struggling starter Charlie Morton, who allowed a solo homer to Luke Maile and an RBI double to Witt. Matt Bowman surrendered the final runs in the ninth on a Michael Massey two-run homer.

Before the bullpen’s implosion, the Orioles’ offense fought back each time Kansas City took a lead. Holliday answered Garcia’s first homer with a long ball in the second off Royals right-hander Michael Lorenzen. Adley Rutschman gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead in the third with an RBI double to score Gunnar Henderson. After Drew Waters’ two-run single off Gibson in the fourth, Holliday hit his second homer — becoming the second-youngest Oriole (at 21 years old) with a multihomer game, behind only Manny Machado. After India’s homer, Cedric Mullins and Ryan O’Hearn each smacked solo shots to give the Orioles a 5-4 lead, their last advantage of the matinee.

Instant analysis

Last season, some Orioles fans bemoaned the club’s reliance on the long ball. Baltimore ranked second in the majors with 235 home runs — only two off the MLB-leading Yankees.

As the Orioles struggled in 2024’s second half, especially with runners in scoring position, it felt as if their problem was relying too heavily on blasting homers. However, what the beginning of this season perhaps showcased was that the Orioles’ penchant for the long ball is what kept that team afloat in the second half.

The Orioles spent chunks of April going through a power outage. Then, when the slump with runners in scoring position hit, the bats just went dormant, without the power that carried them last year.

Sunday’s game might have ended in a loss, but it was encouraging to see four homers from a lineup that’s going to need many more if this team is going to climb out of the hole in which they’ve dug themselves.

On deck

The Orioles have had one of the majors’ hardest schedules thus far. That ends on Tuesday.

Baltimore travels to Minnesota and Anaheim for a six-game road trip against two teams that entered Sunday six games below .500 — the same as the Orioles. The Orioles’ first 11 series came against teams with a combined winning percentage of .527. Their next eight will be versus clubs with a win rate of .420.

After a day off on Monday, Cade Povich takes the ball on Tuesday versus Twins ace Pablo López.

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