BALTIMORE — Sunday’s starting pitching matchup presented the Baltimore Orioles with a prime opportunity to do something they hadn’t in a month: Win a home series.

Baltimore starter Kyle Bradish had accumulated 21 strikeouts over his last two starts, both Orioles wins in which he pitched into the seventh inning. The Washington Nationals were 0-3 in Zack Littell’s last three starts, and he owned an ERA of nearly 7.00 in June.

None of that mattered Sunday. Bradish struggled against the league’s top-scoring offense, and Littell mostly silenced Baltimore’s bats. The Orioles (39-46) fell to the Nationals, 6-4, as their last home series victory remains a late May sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays.

“It’s just one of those days. Baseball’s humbling,” Bradish said. “Have two really dominant outings, and then have one like this where I go out there to get the team a win, win a series, and I just let it down.”

Bradish’s performance was a puzzling one.

Despite allowing just one hit, he surrendered three earned runs and pitched just into the start of the fifth inning. The righty generated only five swings and misses en route to two strikeouts, his lowest in a game this season. Bradish added five walks — his most in a contest since 2023.

“He just didn’t have any feel,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Couldn’t build count leverage or just dominate the strike zone like he usually does.”

The first two free passes came with two outs in the third inning. Washington capitalized.

Luis García Jr. roped a double into the left-center field gap to score both runners. The first baseman collected five RBIs on Sunday off three hits, including a pair of home runs.

Bradish appeared to have escaped the inning with the game tied at two when third baseman Curtis Mead grounded a ball to third base. But Coby Mayo spiked the throw, and first baseman Samuel Basallo was unable to corral it, giving the Nationals a lead they never relinquished. Basallo’s start at first base was his first at the position this season.

“He did well, Sammy moves well,” Albernaz said of Basallo playing first base. “Even for a big dude, big body guy, he’s pretty athletic.”

Mayo’s error was his sixth at third base this season. The 22-year-old entered Sunday with -7 defensive runs saved this season — the worst of any Oriole.

Bradish’s final walk came to James Wood to open the fifth inning. Reliever Tyler Wells then entered the game and instantly conceded a home run to García. The damage in the frame would have been even worse if center fielder Colton Cowser didn’t rob Dylan Crews of a two-run home run on a catch that Albernaz called “spectacular.”

Bradish threw just 40 of 85 pitches for strikes. His team-high eighth loss came on a day when he was given an immediate lead.

In the first inning, catcher Adley Rutschman singled in his first at-bat back after seven missed games with a concussion. Rutschman and right fielder Dylan Beavers, who hadn’t played since May 12 with an oblique sprain, both returned to Baltimore’s active roster on Sunday. Second baseman Jeremiah Jackson was somewhat surprisingly optioned to Triple-A to make room.

“Definitely a different feeling, never had a concussion before,” Rutschman said. “It’s a little different sensation — really weird to be honest — but just glad to be back.”

After Rutschman’s single, Pete Alonso delivered. The first baseman blasted a 437-foot home run off Littell, who came in with a National League-high 21 home runs allowed in 2026.

It continued a surge for Alonso, who signed a five-year, $155 million deal with Baltimore over the offseason.

The five-time All-Star hit just .198 across March and April. But after a May in which he hit nearly 100 points higher, Alonso has fully broken through in June. His eight home runs in the month are double the next closest Oriole, and his on-base percentage is over .400.

But Littell — who pitched five scoreless innings against Baltimore on May 15 — settled in after the opening frame. He gave up just one hit the rest of the way and earned his first win since May 31.

García provided a poor Nationals bullpen with an extra insurance run with a homer in the top of the seventh. In the bottom of the frame, second baseman Jackson Holliday belted his fifth home run of the season to trim the Orioles’ deficit to two.

PJ Poulin secured a six-out save for Washington, which is on pace for the most blown saves in a single season in MLB history.

For the Orioles, it marked another frustrating defeat in a month full of them, including Saturday’s extra-innings loss.

“Every loss is difficult, but yeah, these two for sure,” Albernaz said.

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