The Orioles/Royals series so far has played out like a competition between two closely matched opponents. And that’s not a good thing for the O’s.

The Royals entered the series with the worst record in the American League — and, in fact, still have it — but the Birds haven’t exactly feasted on them like you’d hope a good team would. The O’s were a strike away from losing the opener before finally showing a pulse at the last minute, and yesterday the Orioles let a winnable game slip away, blowing an early 3-0 lead and a late 5-4 lead in a frustrating defeat that snapped Kansas City’s eight-game losing streak. The problems that have gripped the Orioles all season remain unsolved.

Losing a series to the Royals would be the latest ignominy for the 2026 Orioles, but that’s what’s on the table this afternoon if they drop the rubber game. It’ll be up to Chris Bassitt to try to prevent that from happening. The Royals have one of the league’s worst offenses, but that didn’t stop them from putting a million runners on base against Kyle Bradish and Shane Baz in the first two games. So Bassitt is really going to need to step up his performance from what he’s shown so far as an Oriole.

In all likelihood, this is going to be another tough day for the Orioles offense, at least for the first half of the game. They’re facing Michael Wacha and his 1.00 ERA. He’s given up only three total runs in his four starts this year, going at least six innings in each of them. Orioles hitters generally have had no luck against quality starting pitchers, or even against less-than-quality starting pitchers, so I’m expecting nothing from them today. Maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised. In any case, their best bet is to get Wacha out of the game by the sixth inning or so and take their chances against a horrendous Royals bullpen, if Bassitt can keep the score close in the meantime.

If it does end up being a close game, Craig Albernaz is going to have some difficult decisions to make with his bullpen. Two of the club’s top relievers — Rico Garcia, and Grant Wolfram — have each pitched the last two nights and are probably unavailable. Anthony Nunez didn’t pitch last night but threw 25 pitches on Monday, so he might be limited. Ryan Helsley, who struggled last night, was placed on the bereavement list before the game, with Jose Espada coming up from Triple-A Norfolk as an extra arm. If the Orioles have a late lead, Albernaz might have to turn to some combination of Nunez, Tyler Wells, and Yennier Cano. We’ll see how that goes, or if the Orioles can even get to that point.

SS Gunnar HendersonDH Taylor WardRF Dylan Beavers1B Pete AlonsoC Samuel BasalloCF Leody Taveras2B Jeremiah JacksonLF Colton Cowser3B Coby Mayo

3B Maikel GarciaSS Bobby Witt Jr.1B Vinnie PasquantinoDH Salvador PerezC Carter Jensen2B Michael MasseyRF Jac CaglianoneLF Lane ThomasCF Kyle Isbel