SAN FRANCISCO — When facing a legend, there is only so much a bad baseball team can do.

Against Giants starter Justin Verlander, a shoo-in Hall of Famer whenever he decides to hang up his cleats after already having played 20 major league seasons, the Orioles extended counts and attempted to drive him out of the game early. After four innings, Verlander’s pitch count was near 100.

But, for a starter who’s been pitching in major league games since before Orioles catcher Samuel Basallo was born, pitch counts are just a suggestion. He ended up throwing 121 pitches in five innings in a vintage performance, earning the win as the Giants beat the Orioles 13-2.

“It was a little bit of old bull, young bull today as I kind of watched that,” Orioles interim manager Tony Mansolino said. “He throws 120 pitches, five innings, and my initial reaction was we took good at-bats today. But then, as I looked up and saw we punched out 10 times, my feelings on that changed.”

Aside from making Verlander work hard, there wasn’t much this Orioles’ lineup with five rookies in it did that would have put them in line even to be competitive. They didn’t hit well, they didn’t play defense well and they certainly didn’t pitch well.

Against Verlander, the Orioles had just three hits as he struck out 10, the 73rd time in his career that he has recorded double-digit strikeouts.

“I think it’s a guy that took what we gave him, which was offspeed and spin and changeups and the whole deal,” Mansolino said. “And we had a bunch of young bulls out there who were trying to get what they wanted, so they kind of [took] what he was going to give them, which was the offspeed. So I think, with a lot of young hitters, they got to kind of learn and recognize when pitchers are pitching a certain way.”

After the Orioles finally drove Verlander out, they managed only four hits off the Giants’ bullpen before tacking on two meaningless runs in the ninth inning.

Tomoyuki Sugano didn’t fare much better, as he made it just 3 1/3 innings and was credited with 10 hits and seven runs. He allowed one run in the first, a home run from Rafael Devers, and two in the third off a Devers single.

The real issue, though, was not Sugano’s pitching but the defense playing behind him.

“We put him in a bad spot today,” Mansolino said. “I don’t think Sugano threw the ball bad at all. Devers got him in the first inning, yanked a fastball, supposed to be up and away. Outside of that, some singles, a swinging bunt by Drew Gilbert right there to kind of get that one inning going. But to me Tomo was fine. We just kind of let him down behind him.”

Although the Orioles had good moments Sunday, including Basallo throwing out a runner at second and Colton Cowser making a diving catch in center field, most of the day was a reel of what not to do.

The lowlights included Daniel Johnson falling on his route in left field, resulting in a Gilbert triple and bringing in two runs; a throwing error from Jeremiah Jackson that went past Ryan Mountcastle at first and brought in one run; and a fielding error from Luis Vázquez, who was unable to get his glove under the ball, allowing Luis Matos to reach.

“I think for me, as I’m watching this on a day when we have a chance to win the series against a team that’s been playing good baseball, you see some of the guys make mistakes, the initial reaction is to be frustrated,” Mansolino said. “But then, for me, I look at the guys making the mistakes and it’s guys who are kind of fighting for their careers in a lot of ways, you know? And they’re trying to prove that they’re major league players and they’re not Triple-A guys. So my emotions go from frustration to more empathetic.”

If Saturday’s 11-1 win provided a road map to success in 2026, Sunday’s blowout loss was a reminder of how far the Orioles have to come. Johnson, Vázquez and Jackson are fighting for a roster spot, and making miscues like that, regardless of the score, isn’t helping them.

And another mediocre start from Sugano, who is on a one-year deal in his first year pitching in MLB after an accomplished career in Japan, won’t help his chances of finding another contract next season, regardless of whether he wants it to be with the Orioles. So this last month for him, as it is for others in the lineup, is an audition.

“Today just not really on him, just more didn’t get it done behind him defensively,” Mansolino said. “Tomo’s been great for us here for a while. Great first part of the year, kind of a little bit of a tough four, five, six starts, and then he’s been really good since. We expect that.”

This article has been updated.