The Orioles were in a much different place the only other time they faced Shohei Ohtani.

It was Aug. 25, 2021, and the Orioles, in the midst of a 110-loss season, had lost 19 straight games — the most by an MLB team since 2005. They were facing Ohtani, the two-way wonder in the midst of his American League Most Valuable Player campaign, and it seemed inevitable that their streak would reach 20.

Baltimore is now a near-180 from that team. Entering the week with the second-best record in the major leagues, the organization is on the other side of the rebuild that caused those dark days in 2021 and before.

But, ironically, these Orioles couldn’t do what those Orioles somehow did — complete a comeback against the Angels’ bullpen after Ohtani exited the game. Ohtani the pitcher tossed seven innings for the win, while Ohtani the hitter was a double away from his second cycle and blasted a three-run home run off Grayson Rodriguez to hand the Orioles a 9-5 loss.

“Much better spot mentally right now than the last time we faced him, for sure,” manager Brandon Hyde said before the game. “Those were some tough days. We’re a lot better club than we were a couple years ago.”

Rodriguez struggled on the mound for his shortest and worst start in his young major league career. The top pitching prospect in baseball allowed eight runs in 3 1/3 innings to push his ERA to 6.57.

All five of the Orioles’ runs came via three homers, but the team managed just three additional hits and couldn’t score in the final four innings of what was a back-and-forth game through the first half.

The series-opening loss is just Baltimore’s second out of 14 this season. The Orioles (26-15) have now lost two straight after winning four in a row last week. They were 19-9 through April for one of the best starts in franchise history, but they’re 7-6 in May, a month that offers much tougher opponents than the previous one did.

Ohtani walked in the first, singled in the third, launched a majestic 456-foot homer in the fourth and tripled in the fifth, becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to achieve those feats in a game. He had two chances to become the first player in MLB history to hit for the cycle in a game he started on the mound, but he grounded out and singled in his final two trips to the plate.

The Japanese superstar’s pitching performance Monday was similar to his one at Camden Yards in 2021 when he allowed four runs and three homers in five innings. On Monday, Ohtani gave up five runs and three homers across seven innings, allowing long balls to Adam Frazier, Anthony Santander and Cedric Mullins. Santander and Mullins both homered off Ohtani in 2021.

The pitching matchup between Ohtani and Rodriguez was much-anticipated, but the hype for what the night could be for the young Oriole fizzled quickly as the Angels tagged him for nine hits. Rodriguez also walked three and struck out just three of the 22 batters he faced.

This story will be updated.

Angels at Orioles

Tuesday, 6:35 p.m.

TV: MASN2

Radio: 97.9 FM, 101.5 FM, 1090 AM

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