MILWAUKEE — So, the Orioles do know what completing a comeback looks like.

Despite blowing leads of 1-0, 3-2 and 4-3, Baltimore showed the kind of fight that had been largely absent throughout its eight-game losing streak to keep coming back and beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-4, with a four-run rally in the 11th inning. Wednesday afternoon’s win handed interim skipper Tony Mansolino the first victory of his MLB managerial career.

“I was super proud of our guys today,” said catcher Adley Rutschman, who put the game away with a three-run home run in the 11th on the third anniversary of his MLB debut. “Just to battle on the road, on a losing streak. To be able to stay in there, keep going, keep pushing runs across the board, pitchers able to keep us in the ballgame. And then to close it out, it’s big for us.”

The Orioles (16-32) were previously 0-27 when losing after the sixth this season and had not completed that late of a comeback since Aug. 23, 2024.

Félix Bautista, who has now allowed at least one run in four straight appearances, entered the game with a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the ninth and got the Brewers down to their final strike before third baseman Caleb Durbin forced extra innings with a game-tying single. Pitching on consecutive days for the first time this season after recovering from Tommy John elbow reconstruction surgery, Bautista issued two walks before allowing the hit.

It set up a back-and-forth couple of extra innings. The Orioles jumped ahead on an RBI single by Ryan O’Hearn, who had four hits and two RBIs on the day, in the 10th, but Bryan Baker coughed the lead back up in the bottom half of the frame on a single by Jackson Chourio. Baltimore then fired right back in the 11th on a run-scoring single by Jackson Holliday before Rutschman blasted his first long ball in just over a month.“This whole thing isn’t about me, me managing,” said Mansolino, who took over after manager Brandon Hyde was fired on Saturday. “Win the game and everyone’s congratulating you for your first win, I don’t really feel that way about it. It’s more for the players and the organization. Players have been through a lot here. I think we lost 6-7-8 in a row here – I have no idea – and then obviously the change in the organization. I just think for the organization and the players to win the game, I think that’s what’s important.”

Seranthony Domínguez then finally finished the job, stranding the automatic runner at third base for his first save of the season.

Baltimore squandered several chances for sustained rallies and stranded 11 base runners on the day but came alive in the eighth to get starter Tomoyuki Sugano off the hook for a tough-luck loss. With the Orioles trailing 2-1, Gunnar Henderson led off the frame with a single off Brewers reliever Nick Mears and moved to third on a double by O’Hearn. Cedric Mullins then tied things up with a sacrifice fly to set up a break-through moment for Heston Kjerstad.

After he went 0-for-3 with a strikeout to begin the game, it was a welcome sight for everyone in the third base dugout to see Kjerstad catch a 2-1 fastball from Mears and poke it to the opposite field to score Henderson from third.

“I think kind of what’s lost in the whole thing is some of the plays Heston made,” Mansolino said. “In the 10th inning, Heston hits the cutoff guy. Baker gives up the hit. Guy scores. Heston comes up, keeps the ball down, (Ramón) Urías cuts it and throws the ball to second base right there. If Heston kind of flies that ball to the plate right there, guy kind of walks into second base. … Adley with the obvious homer there put us up, but to me it was Heston that kind of got us there.”

Sugano continued his excellent start to his first MLB campaign, allowing two runs over six innings for his fifth quality start in his past seven tries. The 35-year-old rookie had already played the role of stopper earlier this month, when he put together perhaps his best start of the season against the Los Angeles Angels to end a five-game skid, and he once again pitched deep and effectively enough to give the Orioles’ offense a fighting chance.

“As a team, we do have the ability to turn things around like this and I feel like every time I start, in some some capacity, the guys rely on me,” Sugano said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. “But if we can continue to play these kinds of games moving forward, that would be great.”

Sugano had a 1-0 lead to work with early after O’Hearn put the Orioles in front with an RBI single in the fourth and cruised through the first five frames. The only blemish against him was Durbin showing his base running smarts by scoring from second base on a swinging bunt by Brice Turang in the fifth. Sugano fielded the soft grounder and took the out at first, but Durbin never stopped running, rounding third and beating the throw home.

Sugano’s lone mistake of the afternoon was a cutter he left over the middle of the plate for Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who crushed it for a solo home run that put Milwaukee ahead 2-1 in the sixth.

That score held thanks to the efforts of Andrew Kittredge and Gregory Soto. Making his Orioles debut after being activated from the injured list Wednesday morning, Kittredge set the Brewers down in order in the seventh, averaging 94.7 mph on his fastball and throwing six of his eight pitches for strikes. Soto then followed with a scoreless eighth before giving way to Bautista, and the chaos that ensued.

“It’s definitely a test,” Rutschman said of the Orioles’ tumultuous season. “You’re always going to get adversity over the course of a season, but you never know in what form it’s going to come or when. But it always comes. I think we’ve got a great group in this locker room and a lot of guys with high character. There’s no other group I’d rather be around than the players we’ve got around here. I’m fortunate to be here.”

Postgame analysis

After years of getting sparse opportunities and dealing with poor injury luck, Kjerstad has gotten his chance to stick in the major leagues this season. He just hasn’t taken advantage.

It’s been a trying season for Kjerstad, who entered Wednesday’s contest with just three RBIs over his past 24 games. While extended absences for Colton Cowser and Tyler O’Neill have created plenty of opportunities for the 2020 No. 2 overall draft pick to earn his place in the major leagues, Kjerstad has struggled at the plate and graded out poorly in the field.

Even with his RBI single Wednesday, Kjerstad is hitting .203 with a .583 OPS on the year. The power, his highest-graded trait as a prospect, has gone missing as his exit velocity has regressed. However, the Orioles will likely be able to give him plenty of runway to turn things away given the way their season is going.

A timely hit like the one he collected Wednesday is as good a place as any to start.

By the numbers

Dylan Carlson went 0-for-2 with a pair of strikeouts before Mansolino pinch hit fellow right-hander hitter Urías for him in the seventh. The Orioles outfielder, who’s bounced between Baltimore and Triple-A Norfolk this season, now has just one hit in 25 plate appearances. That’s the second most of any player in MLB with one or fewer hits behind only infielder Nicky Lopez, who has been designated for assignment twice in 2025.

What they’re saying

Bautista through team interpreter Brandon Quinones on blowing his first save:

“I think my command hasn’t been there, but I don’t think it was necessarily because of the back-to-back. I think more so it might be because I didn’t pitch for four or five days before this. As any pitcher goes through, sometimes you lose the rhythm a little bit. Part of our job is making the proper adjustments and coming back and doing the job.”

On deck

The Orioles will look to win back-to-back games for the first time in three weeks Thursday when they open a four-game road series against the Boston Red Sox. Cade Povich is hoping to build off a promising outing against the Washington Nationals as he takes the ball opposite Lucas Giolito, who has a 7.08 ERA in four starts since returning from his second major elbow surgery.

Around the horn

Grayson Rodriguez is “very close to throwing,” executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said Tuesday. The right-hander shut down his throwing progression in mid-April because of a lat strain after suffering an elbow/tricep injury during spring training. Elias cautioned that the Orioles want to be careful with him and didn’t specify a targeted return date.

Infielder Jordan Westburg (hamstring strain) isn’t expected to return until the calendar turns to June, Elias said. He suffered a setback last week after reporting to Triple-A Norfolk with plans of starting a rehabilitation assignment and had to stop his running program.

After leaving Tuesday’s loss with left ankle discomfort, outfielder Ramón Laureano is day-to-day and the injury is considered “very mild and minor at the moment,” Mansolino said Wednesday. Laureano suffered the injury trying to make a diving catch in right field, catching too much of the ground and taking an awkward spill.

Charlie Morton is scheduled to return to the Orioles’ rotation this weekend against the Red Sox. Baltimore named him its probable starter for Friday after the veteran right-hander made six of his past seven appearances out of the bullpen. Morton will follow Povich on Friday, Zach Eflin is on track for Saturday and Dean Kremer is slated for Sunday.

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