MINNEAPOLIS — It all fell apart in two maddening innings, leaving them facing another mighty deficit with an offense too limp to mount any sort of comeback.

Sound familiar? This is Orioles baseball in 2025.

The margin for error is minuscule — and the pitching staff isn’t performing anywhere near the level required — while the offense is sporadic at best and docile when facing a hole. The series-opening loss to the Minnesota Twins at Target Field unraveled in rapid fashion and ended 9-1.

The five-run third inning against left-hander Cade Povich and the four-run seventh against left-hander Cionel Pérez and right-hander Matt Bowman left Baltimore without much chance. Then again, the offensive support didn’t manage much of anything, not against right-hander Pablo López.

The Orioles have scored three runs or fewer in more than half their games (20 of 34) and, with Tuesday’s loss, they are 2-18 when failing to plate at least four runs. Baltimore is also 0-19 when trailing after six innings.

“I keep answering that same question,” manager Brandon Hyde said when asked about the inability to climb out of early deficits. That same question is asked, of course, because it’s a theme.

“We’re having a tough time kind of coming back, and we’re giving up a lot of runs early,” Hyde continued. “We’re not handling it real well.”

If this is supposed to be the easier part of the schedule, with all their opponents from here to the end of May sporting .500 records or worse, the stretch is off to a troublesome start. After all, the Orioles are playing bottom-tier baseball, and Tuesday was just another example, leaving Baltimore eight games under .500 (13-21).

And it might not get better immediately. After the game, Hyde said right-hander Charlie Morton will start Wednesday. There are few other options to which Hyde can turn, but Morton sports a 9.76 ERA.

If there were a way to ignore one inning, the performance by Povich was promising.

The young southpaw faced the minimum in five of his six frames. He retired the last 10 batters he faced. He threw a career-high 103 pitches. And yet, when Povich walked off the mound at the end of the sixth inning, it was with five runs against him in a losing effort.

In baseball, every inning counts. So the scoreless frames that surrounded an out-of-control third are reduced to confidence builders. And they should be confidence builders for Povich. But, when the Minnesota Twins strung knocks together in the third — and when Carlos Correa throttled a 458-foot, two-run home run — the game quickly fell out of hand.

“I’m gonna look at that inning and, to have five innings that were really good like they were, and to have one inning like that where, essentially, it makes it a different game,” Povich said. “It’s something I got to look at and get consistent with what those other five innings look like.”

Although Povich wasn’t spectacular, the lack of run support meant he needed to be near-perfect to give the Orioles a chance.

Baltimore posted a season-high 17 strikeouts, with 11 of those coming against López, who “was able to command the bottom of the zone,” shortstop Gunnar Henderson said. Another two came against former Orioles reliever Danny Coulombe, whom general manager Mike Elias allowed to walk over the offseason. Coulombe hasn’t allowed a run in 13 1/3 innings this year.

“We had nothing going offensively,” Hyde said. “I thought Cade just had one bad inning. Misfired on a couple pitches. Gave us six innings. We were just pretty empty offensively.”

The offense faced a hole because of Povich’s third inning. But five runs shouldn’t be as deflating as they appear right now. The nine-run hole that came because of a seventh inning that included a three-run shot from Byron Buxton left Baltimore with no way back.

And, if performances don’t turn around soon, there might not be a way back this season. The claims that it’s early can hold weight only so long. At a certain point, this is who the Orioles are. Granted, there are numerous injuries.

But will Tyler O‘Neill, Ramón Urías, Jordan Westburg and Colton Cowser jump-start a lifeless offense? Will the impending return of right-hander Zach Eflin stabilize a pitching staff that holds one of the worst ERAs in baseball?

That remains to be seen. What was undeniable Tuesday — and too often this year — is the tendency for games to quickly unravel for Baltimore.

“If you try to force it then, obviously, it doesn’t really turn out too well,” Henderson said. “I feel like that’s the biggest thing, is just go out there and continue to try to string together good at-bats.”

Notes

• O’Neill, who’s dealing with neck soreness, began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday. He recorded a single and a walk. He should need two or three appearances before he’s ready to return.
• Westburg (hamstring strain) is working out with Triple-A and should join the Tides’ lineup soon.
• Eflin (lat strain) will pitch a bullpen Wednesday. If that goes well, he’s in line to return this weekend against the Los Angeles Angels.