Hess unravels, knocked out in 5th
O’s squander four-run lead as Nats score four in 5th and four in 7th
WASHINGTON – The blame for the Orioles’ 9-7 loss to the region rival Washington Nationals on Tuesday night couldn’t be placed on the offense.
After a strong start to his big league career, rookie right-hander David Hess struggled to get through the middle innings for his second straight outing, an indication that opponents are starting to adjust to him.
But Orioles manager Buck Showalter kept Hess in through a rocky 31-pitch fifth inning during which he gave back a four-run lead.
Hess entered the fifth inning having retired 12 of the first 14 batters he faced, his only blemish a solo homer by Trea Turner with two outs in the second.
But Hess quickly unraveled in the fifth, loading the bases quickly with no outs on back-to-back singles by Turner and Wilmer Difo and a walk by No. 8 hitter Spencer Kieboom.
Two batters later, Adam Eaton rolled a seeing-eye single through the left side, scoring two runs. A sacrifice fly by Anthony Rendon two batters later drove in another run, and Bryce Harper’s oppositefield bloop double to left tied the score at 5 and chased Hess from the game.
After posting a 3.07 ERA while striking out twice as many (16) as he walked (eight) over his first five starts, Hess has an 11.25 ERA over his past two starts, and has walked nearly twice as many batters (seven) and he’s struck out (four).
The Orioles recaptured the lead Orioles starter David Hess, who allowed five runs in 42⁄ innings, retired 12 of the first 14 batters before running into trouble in the fifth inning. in the sixth, scoring a run on Corban Joseph’s fielder’s choice groundout, though the Orioles ran out of that inning, recording two outs on the base paths.
Showalter turned to lefthander Tanner Scott in the seventh to protect the lead against a lefty-heavy part of the Nationals batting order, but Washington scored four runs in that inning, three of them charged to Scott.
He couldn’t retire his first two batters — both lefties — as Eaton dropped a drag-bunt single to the right side and Juan Soto hit a single to center. Rendon followed with a double to left-center to tie the game.
The Nationals then roughed up Mike Wright with run-scoring hits by Michael A. Taylor, Turner and Difo.
The Orioles offense was fueled by a pair of two-run homers by Trey Mancini and Jace Peterson off Nationals rookie right-hander Jefry Rodríguez.
After Jonathan Schoop opened the third with a leadoff double, he was cut down at third on Hess’ bunt back to the pitcher. But one batter later, Peterson hit a two-run homer, his second in as many games, on the first pitch of his at-bat.
Trey Mancini hit a two-run homer in the fourth, a sign that he’s starting to break out of his monthlong slump.
After Mark Trumbo opened that inning with a single, Rodríguez struck out Schoop and Danny Valencia, but Mancini jumped on an elevated 2-2 fastball and sent it over the left-field fence.
In the fifth, the Orioles loaded the bases with no outs after Rodríguez issued back-to-back walks to Hess and Peterson and Adam Jones was hit by a pitch. But the Orioles were able to score just one run, as Manny Machado hit into a 4-6-3 double play — scoring Hess from third — and Trumbo struck out