BALTIMORE – When Adley Rutschman made his MLB debut in May 2022, it marked a turning point for the Orioles. After that, nothing was like it had been for quite some time. A new era had begun.

That was 25 months -- more than two years -- ago. That was also the last time the Orioles endured a losing streak of five games or more. Until now, that is. Amid a rash of pitching injuries and a grueling slate of games against fellow contenders, the Orioles’ toughest week in some time continued Tuesday with their fifth straight loss, a 10-8 defeat to the Guardians.

Baltimore’s high-flying offense returned to life after a dormant few days, but four homers and big games from Gunnar Henderson, Jordan Westburg and James McCann couldn’t overcome the damage Cleveland inflicted on Cole Irvin and Yennier Cano in what turned into a slugfest on a humid summer night at Camden Yards.

“We had rough patches last year and we still won 101 games,” McCann said. “The minute you start doubting yourself, the minute you start taking a stretch of five games and making it seem like it's more than that, is when it starts to snowball.”

The All-Star hopeful Henderson continued showing off his all-around brilliance, extending his on-base streak to 32 games, cranking a left-on-left two-run homer in the first, reaching base four times and scoring thrice. McCann and Colton Cowser whacked back-to-back homers in the fourth, and Westburg chipped in four of Baltimore’s 16 total hits.

But the Guardians also tagged Irvin for eight runs (four earned) and finished with 14 hits of their own, the biggest coming on a milestone José Ramírez home run in the fourth.

“I was thigh-line the whole day,” Irvin said. “The plan against me is probably that I’ll throw a lot of strikes, and to see it up out over the zone. [Guardians manager Stephen] Vogt’s got me a couple of times in my career, so they probably had a pretty good scouting report against me.”

A throwing error on a swinging bunt earlier in the fourth rendered half of Irvin’s runs unearned, but the left-hander was hit hard (10 hits, one strikeout) for the second start in a row. He’s allowed 13 runs (nine earned) over 8 2/3 innings over those two outings.

“I’ve got a stretch of games here that I’m not happy with,” Irvin said. “I just need to minimize damage and need to be better in early innings and start cruising. Be up in the zone, be down in the zone. Not thigh-high. At the end of the day, it sucks. I’m not happy with my performance as of late, [but] I’m gonna fix it and my mind is in the right place right now to get where I need to be.”

Irvin’s tough stretch is coinciding with a tough stretch for the O’s rotation as a whole amid a rash of injuries. Baltimore starters are 0-5 with a 7.76 ERA (23 ER in 26 2/3 IP) during its five-game skid, the entirety of which has come against contending teams.

“I’m not frustrated with our offense,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We had 16 hits and scored eight runs on those guys. We should win the game. We just didn’t pitch well.”

One more game against Cleveland and four upcoming against the defending champion Rangers separate the Orioles from the end of their daunting gauntlet of a June schedule, which forced them to close out the month with 19 straight games against the Braves, Phillies, Yankees, Astros, Guardians and Texas.

They handled the first stretch of that admirably, going 6-3 against Atlanta, Philadelphia and New York. But they’ve struggled on both sides of the ball for the better part of the past week against Houston and Cleveland, and suffered a major blow the weekend prior in losing Kyle Bradish to Tommy John surgery.

Bradish became the Orioles’ fourth key pitcher lost to injury this year, along with All-Star closer Félix Bautista, righty Tyler Wells and former ace John Means. The club is also without starter Dean Kremer and left-handed reliever Danny Coulombe at the moment, though Kremer should return in the coming week or so.

Without them, the Orioles’ pitching depth is stretched to its limits, and it’s showing. The Orioles allowed 10 runs or more in only two of their first 74 games. They’ve now done so twice in the past five.

“It’s frustrating,” McCann said. “No one likes to lose. But at the same time, we can’t freak out about a little stretch during what’s really our toughest stretch of the year. We need to stay strong mentally, come together as a group and show up tomorrow ready to play.”