The last time the Orioles reached this point, they were a 100-loss team mired in a rebuild. That was 2021, when many of the stars who took the field Thursday were young prospects.

Adley Rutschman spent most of that year in Double-A. Gunnar Henderson split much of his time between Low-A and High-A. In fact, the 110 losses that year helped the Orioles select Jackson Holliday, their second baseman and leadoff hitter in the series-ending loss to the Minnesota Twins, with the first overall pick of the 2022 draft.

The 4-0 defeat at Camden Yards on Thursday cast Baltimore back to those hellish days, however, when losses stacked quickly and fans resorted to following the farm system in search of positivity. This feels different, because this is supposed to be different. But 12 games under .500 is 12 games under .500, no matter how many former top prospects are in the lineup or whether the Orioles entered the season with pennant dreams.

“This is frustrating. Losing sucks. It’s not fun,” Ryan O’Hearn said. “Nobody in here is having a good time, and I promise you nobody cares more than the guys in this clubhouse. With that being said, we have to keep fighting. There is no other option. You have to keep fighting. You can’t give up. You can’t give in.”

The series sweep they suffered against the Twins — a deflating offensive effort that wasted a solid, if not outstanding, outing from right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano — drops Baltimore to 15-27. The Orioles have lost all six games against Minnesota and, in turn, they’ve helped the Twins win 11 straight contests.

In those six matchups, Minnesota’s pitching staff has held Baltimore’s offense docile. The Twins aren’t alone in that feat this year, of course, but they are built around their pitching staff. It’s worth noting, however, that right-hander Chris Paddack entered Thursday’s game with a 4.76 ERA — and he lowered it all the way to 4.05 once he held the Orioles scoreless through seven innings.

“A lot of our guys are in between right now,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Late on fastballs, in front of off-speed. That’s a tough combo. We’re having a tough time getting hits, a tough time just getting on base.”

O’Hearn, Holliday and Ryan Mountcastle recorded the three hits against Paddack, and while the Orioles threatened in the fifth inning, the two-on, no-out situation came to nothing.

Paddack hit Rutschman with a pitch to lead off the frame, and O’Hearn singled. But, with the game well within reach, Tyler O’Neill and Cedric Mullins struck out. Emmanuel Rivera grounded out to end the threat, and the Orioles’ league-worst average with runners in scoring position dropped to .188.

There are more overarching issues than just with runners at second or third, but those moments especially stand out for the wrong reasons. Since Easter Sunday, when the Orioles lost 24-2 to the Cincinnati Reds, Baltimore is hitting 24-for-169 with runners in scoring position.

“Obviously, we’re hitting .220-something [.226] as a club, so that’s gonna be a tough recipe with giving up over five runs a game,” Hyde said. “We’ve got to continue to put the effort in.”

And with the early deficit against Sugano — three runs scored in the third — the Orioles were once more facing a climb they have proven to be incapable of completing. Baltimore is 0-23 when trailing after six innings.

Sugano has been the Orioles’ best starter, and the four runs against him in 6 1/3 innings don’t change the overarching promise from the 35-year-old Japanese rookie. But the two home runs against him in the third — a two-run shot from nine-hole hitter DaShawn Keirsey Jr. followed by a solo homer from Byron Buxton — cost him a loss, because the offensive support wasn’t coming to his aid.

Sugano returned to the mound at 94 pitches for the seventh inning because Wednesday’s doubleheader taxed the bullpen, and he “wanted to go the distance a little bit today for them,” he said through team interpreter Yuto Sakurai. That’s when he allowed a career-high fourth run.

Still, this loss doesn’t lie at Sugano’s feet. Like too many games this season, the lack of run production made this a nine-inning grind to an expected result, and it doomed Baltimore to reach 12 games below .500 for the first time since 2021.

“You’ve got to be optimistic,” O’Hearn said. “I don’t ever show up to the ballpark thinking that we’re going to lose. It was a good series in Anaheim, and this feels like a kick in the nuts, for sure.”

This article has been updated.