Tony Mansolino faced an impossible question.

Before Thursday night’s game, the Orioles’ interim manager was asked how to score runs off Tarik Skubal, the best pitcher on planet Earth.

“Do you play small ball, get guys moving on the bases?” the skipper was questioned.

“I hope we get somebody on base,” Mansolino quipped.

The Orioles were not no-hit by Skubal, and that small victory is the only one they’d earn.

Skubal was, well, Skubal. The left-hander dominated Baltimore’s bats through seven scoreless innings as the Orioles fell, 4-1, to the American League-best Detroit Tigers.

Skubal, the AL’s strikeout leader, lowered his ERA to 1.99, allowing only three hits and two walks while punching out six.“Yeah,” Orioles outfielder Ramón Laureano said without hesitation when asked if Skubal is the best pitcher in baseball. “Yeah.”

The Orioles are MLB’s worst offense against left-handed pitchers with a .202 batting average and .553 OPS. That OPS would be the worst by any team in a season in MLB’s modern era (since 1901) and by far the worst this century. For reference, hitters off Skubal last season when he won the AL Cy Young Award posted a .201 average and .558 OPS. That means the Orioles have made the lefties they’ve faced this year all look like Skubal, including Skubal on Thursday.

Baltimore is 27-40 this season and has lost ground since extending its winning streak to six games last Thursday in Seattle. The Orioles dropped two of three to the lowly Athletics in Sacramento and then suffered the same fate against the Tigers (45-25) this week at Camden Yards.

Ineptitude against southpaws is a major reason that Baltimore’s season requires resuscitation. The Orioles are 3-14 against left-handed starting pitchers (not including openers) and 24-26 in all other games.

If silver linings are acceptable for MLB’s most disappointing ballclub, the Orioles were more competitive against Skubal (7-2) on Thursday than when he struck out 11 across six innings in April. The Orioles worked longer at-bats, managed two walks (just Skubal’s seventh and eighth allowed this season) and only struck out six times.

“The guys battled, punched out only six times against probably the best pitcher in baseball right now,” Mansolino said. “I think you kind of take some solace in that.”

Gunnar Henderson ensured Skubal wouldn’t make history with a soft opposite-field single in the first inning.

Dylan Carlson was the only other Oriole to record a base hit off Skubal, doing so twice before launching a solo home run off reliever Tommy Kahnle in the eighth. Will Vest slammed the door in the ninth.

All four of the Tigers’ runs came off right-hander Dean Kremer in the fourth. Kremer was mostly sharp throughout his seven-inning outing (which followed a scoreless first from opener Keegan Akin), but two bad pitches in the fourth sank the right-hander. Dillon Dingler smacked a center-cut cutter to left-center field to put Detroit up 1-0, and No. 9 hitter Parker Meadows blasted a high fastball to deep right for a three-run homer.

“Felt good, I executed pretty much for the most part,” Kremer said. “I got beat on a couple balls, and that was the story of the game there.”

After going 15-28 under Brandon Hyde, the Orioles are now 12-12 under Mansolino. For the Orioles to reach 84 wins — the minimum required to have any chance of making the postseason — they will have to go 57-38 over their final 95 games.

Instant analysis: Good thing the Orioles won Wednesday.

That was as close to a must-win game as possible in June. After Tuesday’s loss, the specter of Skubal on Thursday was looming. The Orioles needed to win Wednesday to avoid what would’ve almost certainly ended up as a sweep. The offense broke out in the eighth inning in a 10-1 win that was one of the club’s most complete victories this season.

But Thursday’s loss served as a reminder of many things.

A reminder that the Orioles used to be a team that could win games like this, no matter the opposing starting pitcher.

A reminder that each loss makes it less likely the Orioles can actually wake up from this trance and climb back into playoff contention.

A reminder that a rebuilding Tigers team has become one of the majors’ best in the past year as the Orioles have confoundingly retreated to the cellar.

At least the Orioles won Wednesday.

What they’re saying: Mansolino on the strategy of using an opener:

“As you kind of saw it lined up, they took their left-handed hitters and kicked them down a little bit. (Kerry) Carpenter goes down. They have (Jahmai) Jones (lead off). They pinch hit for him second time through so they burn a guy right there. So, I think when it lines up, when you’re working away from the team’s strength a little bit and it gives you a chance to get your starter to go a little bit deeper, yeah, it makes sense. I don’t think you can do it against every team, though.”

By the numbers: The Orioles lost their 40th game of the season Thursday. Last year, they didn’t lose their 40th contest until July 23. In 2023, it took until July 26. The last time Baltimore lost their 40th game this early was in 2021. The Orioles lost 110 games that season.

On deck: The three-game series against Detroit opened a 16-game stretch with no days off. The next three will come against the Los Angeles Angels (33-34), winners of seven of their past 10 games. Starting pitchers Charlie Morton, Tomoyuki Sugano and Cade Povich will take the mound at Camden Yards opposite Angels starters Jack Kochanowicz, Tyler Anderson and Yusei Kikuchi.

The bad news for the Orioles is that Anderson and Kikuchi throw with their left hand.

Have a news tip? Contact Jacob Calvin Meyer at jameyer @baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/JCalvinMeyer.