BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Orioles are still getting warmed up.

After squeaking out a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Twins on opening day Thursday, the Orioles were quiet on offense again Saturday as the Twins strung together a few rallies for a 4-1 victory.

It was a chilly day in Baltimore — the first-pitch temperature of 44 degrees was tied for 10th coldest in Camden Yards history — and the Orioles’ bats were just as cold, finishing with five hits and combining to strike out 16 times with 11 runners left on base.

“There were some good swings, great at-bats,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “It looked like we struck out [on] a lot of backup breaking balls. Offspeed, too, up in the zone. And those are the pitches you want to hit. It’s early in the year. I believe our guys would be on time for those and make the adjustment, but I like our at-bats up and down. … We just couldn’t get the big hit today.”

The game’s decisive swing was a two-run home run by Twins third baseman Royce Lewis off Kyle Bradish, who took the loss in his season debut. Bradish cruised through the first four innings; the only hit against him was a ground-ball single that needed replay review to overturn an athletic play by second baseman Jeremiah Jackson. But Bradish was chased in the fifth after 83 pitches, a cautious move by Albernaz with the season still in its infancy stages.

Bradish touched 95 mph with his sinker early in the game before his velocity started to drop, averaging 91.8 mph on the fastball in his final inning. The 29-year-old right-hander said in spring training that he expected to be on some kind of innings limit this year, and the Orioles are likely to ease him in as he looks to put together his first full season since his 2024 Tommy John elbow surgery.

“I think when it gets later on in the season, velocity will stay the same,” Bradish said. “I don’t want to make an excuse for the cold weather, but yeah, I think we’ll see the velocity stay in the mid 90s as we get moving.”

He had an early lead to work with when center fielder Colton Cowser doubled and came around to score on an RBI single by Jackson in the second. However, the Twins tied it back up with an unearned run in the fourth. Center fielder Byron Buxton reached on an infield single, tagged up to advance to second on a fly ball to center, motored over to third on a wild pickoff attempt by Adley Rutschman and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of designated hitter Josh Bell.

Lewis then put the Twins ahead for good with his 378-foot blast in the fifth, making Bradish pay for walking left fielder Trevor Larnach ahead of him. Minnesota later tacked on another run in the seventh off Orioles left-hander Dietrich Enns on an RBI single by Larnach.

Orioles right-hander Anthony Nunez made his MLB debut out of the bullpen and pitched two scoreless innings, flashing a wicked sweeper to go with his high-90s fastball and deceptive changeup. He struck out three of the six batters he faced, retiring Lewis, catcher Ryan Jeffers and right fielder Matt Wallner all swinging.

“Seventy-two hours ago, I thought I was going to be in Norfolk,” said Nunez, a surprise last-minute addition to the opening day roster. “So, it’s definitely a big whirlwind of a couple of days, and it’s just been very exciting. A lot of emotions, and just grateful.”

But the lineup couldn’t capitalize on several opportunities for rallies. The Orioles loaded the bases with two outs in the first against Twins starter Taj Bradley and right fielder Dylan Beavers struck out swinging. Shortstop Gunnar Henderson got aboard on a hit by pitch and swiped his first stolen base of the year to get into scoring position in the fifth but was stranded there.

“He had a good fastball,” Beavers said of Bradley. “Threw it pretty hard. Got some carry on it, too. I think the splitter looks pretty similar to it, so the first time through it, everyone was trying to decipher those. But, I mean, he was attacking the zone.”

Albernaz did his best to orchestrate a rally in the sixth, deploying two pinch hitters and a pinch runner to set up platoon-advantage matchups against left-hander Kody Funderburk. It worked to put Baltimore in a position for runs by loading the bases with two outs for Henderson, but the Orioles stalled once again as Henderson flew out harmlessly to right field. He slammed his bat to the ground in frustration and threw a spray can in the dugout.

“I want that fire,” Albernaz said of Henderson’s emotion. “You get that emotion, and the flip side, the same thing in the [World Baseball Classic] when he hits that double, and he’s fired up at second base. He’s an emotional player. I love the emotion. He’s a competitor, but the best thing about Gunnar is, in the eighth inning, ninth inning, he’s still top step. He’s talking about baseball. He’s not frustrated or down. He just wants to come through, and he wants to come through to get the big hit. I’m perfectly fine with that frustration.”

The Orioles will turn to newly extended Shane Baz in the series finale Sunday as they look for a series win. Right-hander Bailey Ober will get the start for Minnesota.

Around the horn

— After being designated for assignment by the Orioles on Wednesday ahead of opening day, right-hander Jackson Kowar and infielder Bryan Ramos cleared waivers and were outrighted to Triple-A Norfolk. Though no longer on the 40-man roster, both players represent depth options with MLB experience for Baltimore to tap into later this season.

— Second baseman Jackson Holliday began his rehabilitation assignment with the Tides on Friday and went 0 for 2 with a walk. He played seven innings at second base before being taken out of the game. Albernaz declined to say Saturday how long Holliday will need to play in Norfolk before he’s ready to return to the majors.

— The Orioles placed outfield prospect Reed Trimble on the seven-day minor league injured list Saturday, one day after he left Norfolk’s game with right hamstring discomfort. Trimble, who the Orioles added to the 40-man roster this offseason, slashed .259/.319/.435 with five homers and eight stolen bases in 30 games for the Tides in 2025.

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