BALTIMORE (AP) — Things went so bad for the Baltimore Orioles in the playoffs that even when they had the bases loaded and a hit pitcher scored a run, Colton Cowser swung at a ball toward him, missed and broke his left hand. in the process.

They didn’t score in that situation and didn’t score much at all when they got swept by the Kansas City Royals their AL Wild Card series. To lose from 1-0 and 2-1 dispatched the Orioles out in one go in their only postseason series for the second straight year.

“I thought we fought the best we could,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We persevered. We’ve entered the postseason. We organized a wildcard. We just had a hard time offensively these two games against a very good pitching staff and a scrappy team.”

Baltimore won the AL East a season ago, but was swept in a best-of-five Division Series by eventual World Series champion Texas. Hyde said this one hurt in a different way, as his team played in each of the winning games and fell short.

Afterwards, there were fewer answers than runs, which the Orioles produced in abundance during the regular season. Only three teams scored more, and only the New York Yankees hit more home runs.

Cedric Mullins’ home run in Game 2 shocked the crowd of fewer than 39,000 at Camden Yards on Wednesday — but no further offense ever occurred.

“This is the time of year you want to show it off,” second baseman Jordan Westburg said. “This is the time of year we needed it most. It just didn’t happen for us.”

Baltimore’s pitching staff was decimated by long-term injuries this season – especially the starting rotation. But the poor were not the problem in October.

The Orioles were 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position after going 4 for 19 in those situations following three playoff losses to the Rangers in 2023. Coming up empty with the bases loaded and no outs after Mullins homered in Game 2 proved to be the best choice to be. crucial moment in another collapse in October.

“We couldn’t do it with runners in scoring position, especially myself,” said slugger Anthony Santander, who hit 44 home runs during the regular season.

However, Santander emerged with the bases loaded for the top of the fifth inning as Baltimore’s biggest threat began to fall apart.

“Quite disappointed because I knew I could have done better for the team. That’s just how the offense went,” he said.

The Orioles haven’t won a postseason game since advancing to the 2014 AL Championship Series, where they were swept by Kansas City. Now they can lose ace Corbin Burnes to a big payday in free agency – and there are other important questions that need to be answered. But the players sounded an optimistic note about the future, on the heels of another crushing defeat.

“I feel like we’ve taken steps in the right direction,” star shortstop Gunnar Henderson said. “We are obviously excited about where this can go. I look forward to taking that next step.”

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AP freelance writer Patrick Stevens contributed.

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