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They had seen this from Seattle Mariners starter Garrett Olson many times before. They have watched him struggle to throw strikes, allow a litany of hard-hit balls and ultimately depart a game before it reached the middle innings.
It was all setting up perfectly for the Orioles to have the breakout offensive performance that manager Dave Trembley has been predicting for days. And yet it never came, and it's fair to wonder when it will for a lineup that just can't get going.
In the Mariners' 6-3 victory before an announced 12,260 at Camden Yards, Olson allowed six of the first nine Orioles he faced to reach base and needed 50 pitches to get through two innings. Yet there he was walking off the mound in position to win a game in which he looked as if he might not survive the first inning.
"We had opportunities and let them off the hook. To me, that's the game," said Trembley, whose team is 25-35, a season-high 10 games under .500, and 3-17 in series finales.
"I would say we're all doing the best we can to understand it's part of the game, and it's certainly a difficult pill to swallow because you know you have a real good group of offensive players on your club and it's just not getting done. But I think it's been difficult for everybody."
Olson, who was traded by the Orioles to the Chicago Cubs for outfielder Felix Pie in January and then was shipped to the Mariners later in the offseason, got his first victory for his new team, allowing five hits and walking three in five innings, a performance that proved good enough on a night Koji Uehara struggled in his return from the disabled list.
Uehara (2-4) surrendered four earned runs on seven hits and a walk in his first start since May 23.
He looked like a different pitcher after a 27-minute rain delay that came during the top of the third inning. After the resumption of play, the next three Mariners reached base, and they scored three runs in the frame to take the lead for good.
"Because of the fact that the team lost the game, I cannot give a good evaluation," Uehara said through interpreter Jiwon Bang.
The Mariners (30-30) scored twice more in the seventh to deal the Orioles the series loss and their ninth defeat in 11 games. During that stretch, they have scored only 20 runs, including three or fewer in 10 games.
"I've said before, I'd put our lineup up against anybody's," said center fielder Adam Jones, who is in an 0-for-13 slump. "We're not swinging the bats as well as we want. It's frustrating, but we play 162 games."
On Thursday, the Orioles stranded seven base runners and were 0-for-7 with men in scoring position.
Right fielder Nick Markakis was as big a culprit as any Oriole, going 1-for-4 but stranding two runners each in his second and third at-bats. He hasn't driven in or scored a run in his past 11 games, and he hasn't homered in his past 19.
"You just have to not think about it and have a clear mind going in there and just have fun," Markakis said.
"This is a game. It can be stressful at times. You fail 70 percent of the time, you're doing pretty good. You just got to go up there and be comfortable."
Luke Scott again provided the bulk of the Orioles' offense with a two-run homer in the first inning, and he and Nolan Reimold have the Orioles' past 14 homers. The team has played 127 innings since a player not named Scott or Reimold has hit a home run.
Scott's opposite-field homer was all Olson gave up despite facing at least two base runners in three of his five innings.
"A win feels great," Olson said.
"I think just being able to come back to this ballpark makes it even more special."
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