Each Cole Irvin walk off the mound and back to the dugout was telling of a muddled start.
His first was an elongated trudge. The left-hander tugged on his belt and adjusted his sleeves. Irvin’s head wasn’t necessarily hung, but dipped in contemplation after he gave up three hits and two runs on his first four pitches. The last was a double from Marcell Ozuna that gave the Atlanta Braves a 2-0 lead.
That opened the gates in the Baltimore Orioles’ 6-3 loss, ending a six-game winning streak, as the offense that couldn’t quite get the job done.