PITTSBURGH _ With this season's merciful end within sight, the Orioles boarded a flight for their final series of the year after their 5-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night.
A quick two-game interleague series in Pittsburgh ended with a pair of losses to continue this team's September swoon.
With an opportunity to end his audition for rotation consideration next spring on a high note, right-hander Gabriel Ynoa lasted just three innings, allowing a pair of home runs that led to his early exit.
An Orioles lineup that included five starters who were in the minor leagues last month showed fight, especially in a three-run second inning fueled by run-scoring doubles by Chance Sisco and Anthony Santander.
But Ynoa _ coming off an impressive eight-inning, one-run outing in his previous start last Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays _ couldn't hold a 3-1 lead, allowing a leadoff homer to Gregory Polanco in the second inning and a two-run homer to Josh Bell in the third.
Bell's blast was the gut punch because it came after Ynoa issued a two-out walk to Andrew McCutchen before hanging a 2-1 slider to Bell.
The Orioles (75-84), who have lost 16 of their past 20 games with three games remaining in the season, had opportunities to get back into the game. They put runners at the corners with two outs in the fourth, but Pirates starter Chad Kuhl struck out pinch hitter Mark Trumbo to end the threat.
They put their first two hitters in the sixth on base with back-to-back singles by Pedro Alvarez and Trey Mancini, but the next three batters were retired on just five pitches as Sisco and J.J. Hardy flied out and Santander grounded out.
The Pirates (73-85) added a run in the eighth on Starling Marte's broken-bat infield single off Mychal Givens, who yielded a leadoff double to Sean Rodriguez.
One of the lone bright spots for the Orioles was right-hander Mike Wright's three scoreless innings in relief of Ynoa.
The Orioles must decide Wright's path next spring _ when he will be out of minor league options _ and Wednesday's outing marked one of his best relief outings of the season.
Wright allowed just one single and a walk, retiring nine of the 11 batters he faced.
Wright worked out of a two-on, two-out jam in the fifth after Marte's single and a walk to McCutchen, but escaped by striking out Bell looking on an 0-2 slider. Two of Wright's three strikes came on sliders.
Rule 5 pick Anthony Santander's adjustment to the majors has taken time, but he's beginning to show he can handle big league pitching.
In his fourth big league start Wednesday, Santander had his first multihit game with three hits.
Santander hit an RBI double in the second inning to put the Orioles up 3-1, added a fourth-inning two-outing single and ended his night with a one-out double to right-center in the ninth.
After starting his big league career 2-for-16, Santander is 4-for-8 over his past three games, including back-to-back starts.
