The Orioles broke even last week, but it certainly didn’t feel that way after how it ended.

Baltimore (9-12) took two of three from the Cleveland Guardians before the Cincinnati Reds won their weekend series with a 24-2 pounding in the rubber match Sunday.

Though the ledger shows a 3-3 week and a 4-4 homestand, there are wider questions the Orioles need to answer before they can start living up to expectations.

Here’s this week’s Orioles reset:

What was good?: The positive takeaways from this past week were the performances of Tomoyuki Sugano and Dean Kremer. Sugano was brilliant against the Guardians on Thursday, allowing two runs over seven innings on five hits and zero walks for the best outing by any Orioles starter this season. Kremer also found his footing, allowing one run in 5 1/3 frames the day before to offer hope the right-hander can get back to the form he showed late in 2024.

With Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez, Kyle Bradish, Albert Suárez, Tyler Wells, Trevor Rogers and Chayce McDermott all on the injured list and Charlie Morton off to a dreadful start, the Orioles desperately need Sugano, Kremer and second-year starter Cade Povich to step up and lead their rotation until reinforcements arrive — whenever that might be.

What wasn’t?: Morton’s performance on Sunday — seven runs allowed on seven hits and four walks in 2 1/3 innings — was nothing short of a disaster, ballooning his ERA through five starts to 10.89 and raising legitimate questions as to whether the 41-year-old can turn his season around quickly enough to still be pitching for the Orioles when he does.

“If you gave me, I don’t know, if you said, ‘We’ll give you 30 starts to get this right,’ I’ll get it right. It’s just, how much negatively do I affect the team during that process?” Morton said. “I don’t doubt the fact I can get it right. It’s just, how quickly can I get it done? Because, like I said, I’ve failed plenty. I’ve failed tons of times. I’ve felt this way a lot. I’ve felt like I was in a bad spot or I wasn’t getting my job done, I was letting people down. I’ve felt that before, more than enough. I know that about myself, inherently, that I can do it. It’s just really frustrating.”

The Orioles might have no choice but to ride Morton’s struggles out, at least for now. Kyle Gibson could join the rotation soon after ramping up 78 pitches in his third minor league outing Sunday, but Baltimore is already working with a four-man rotation and the only healthy starter on the 40-man roster is prospect Brandon Young — who was optioned Sunday and can’t be called back up for 15 days unless the Orioles place a pitcher on the injured list. However, with the rotation struggling to pitch deep into games and putting the offense in early deficits to climb out of, they will face tough decisions ahead if Morton, who signed for $15 million this offseason, doesn’t start to improve.

What’s next?: After wrapping up their longest homestand of the season, the Orioles hit the road for series against the nearby Washington Nationals and American League Central-leading Detroit Tigers. Both clubs, like the Orioles, are built around young cores of former top prospects and draft picks. Unlike the Orioles, they both rank among the top half of MLB in starters’ ERA.

On the farm: The Orioles saw a pair of their pitching prospects exit games with injuries this week. Right-hander Patrick Reilly, acquired from the Pittsburgh Pirates for second baseman and outfielder Billy Cook at last year’s trade deadline, left his start with Double-A Chesapeake on Saturday with right elbow discomfort. Right-hander Keeler Morfe, an international signing out of Venezuela, exited a Low-A Delmarva game Friday with a right ring finger sprain. Baseball America ranks Morfe and Reilly the Orioles’ Nos. 14 and 16 overall prospects in their farm system, respectively.

Extra innings

Eflin played catch from 120 feet at Camden Yards on Sunday, another positive step in his recovery from a right lat strain that sent him to the injured list April 8. He doesn’t yet know if he’s going to need a rehabilitation start but said, “I feel like it’s just, at this point, kind of ramping up, start throwing bullpens soon and get back out there.”

The Orioles laid out their pitching plans for their upcoming series against the Nationals, naming Kremer their starter for Tuesday, Sugano for Wednesday and Povich closing it out in the finale. After optioning Young on Sunday, the Orioles could turn to Gibson as soon as Friday if the team is satisfied that he’s built his arm up enough.

Hyde said Sunday that while Heston Kjerstad (bruised elbow) was available off the bench if needed, he was “trying to stay away from him” after the outfielder left Saturday’s game because of a hit by pitch. X-rays on Kjerstad’s elbow came back negative and he took some swings before Sunday’s game.

Orioles assistant hitting coach Tommy Joseph chalked up Adley Rutschman’s slow start at the plate to “bad luck” Sunday morning, citing expected statistics that indicated he was hitting the ball well enough to warrant better overall production. The catcher reinforced that thinking with a solo home run Sunday, only his second long ball since launching two on opening day.

Have a news tip? Contact Matt Weyrich at mweyrich@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/ByMattWeyrich and instagram.com/bymattweyrich.