WASHINGTON — This was not winning baseball in any sense, and the blame Tuesday can be passed around and shared equally.

It can be epitomized by the near-collision at first base between Ryan Mountcastle and Dean Kremer, one of the many defensive plays that lacked any semblance of the fundamentals. It can be characterized by another start in which an Orioles pitcher allowed five or more runs (seven, tied for the most in the majors). It can be embodied by a downtrodden offensive effort that provided further proof that left-handed pitchers are this lineup’s kryptonite.

What the Orioles produced in their 7-0 loss to the Washington Nationals was an all-around disappointment. There’s no hiding from that, not when every facet of the game had glaring issues in the series-opening defeat. And it drops Baltimore to 9-13 this season.

When asked if there was something that needed to be said to the clubhouse by a team leader, a rallying call of sorts when poor performances snowball, outfielder Tyler O’Neill said there’s no one-size-fits-all reaction for each clubhouse.

“I feel like every clubhouse is different in that regard,” O’Neill said. “Some guys like to step up. And there are other clubhouses that are not so like that. I don’t think those things are kind of necessary. Obviously, we all know where we’re at. We obviously all need to do a better job; specifically, myself. It’s just a day-by-day process. All we can do is work hard and show up the next day and try to win a ball game.”

That has been a similar refrain through 22 games.

The Orioles needed Monday off to recover from the 24-2 drubbing they received from the Cincinnati Reds, but the same flat effort seemed to carry over into Tuesday night.

“We did not play well,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “That is disappointing. Coming off a game we definitely want to throw away a couple days ago, off day, to come out and not take very good at-bats and not play very good baseball tonight, that was disappointing.”

The issues were immediate. Nathaniel Lowe, the second hitter Kremer faced, clubbed a cutter left in the middle of the zone for a two-run homer.

That was the second of eight extra-base hits Kremer allowed in 5 1/3 innings. Those eight extra-baggers put Kremer in the record books — no Orioles pitcher had allowed so many in a single start before Tuesday night.

“I threw some balls in the big part of the zone that got hit in the grass,” Kremer said. “That was one of the issues that I had today.”

Washington, a team mired in below-.500 land but without the lofty expectations of their neighbors up the Parkway, pounded the ball against Kremer. The Nationals’ average exit velocity was 94.3, and nine balls left bats at 100 mph or faster.

Kremer’s start is just another in a series of poor performances, but it is a regression from what he did last week against the Cleveland Guardians. In his previous outing, Kremer seemed to have turned a corner when he produced a one-run, 5 1/3-inning start.

Instead, the five earned runs against Kremer elevated Baltimore’s league-worst rotation ERA to 6.22.

“Every guy in there is disappointed after a loss,” Kremer said. “We always take it to heart. Things just kind of are piling up. The good ones are great, and the bad ones are not good. Things are kind of piling up, and it’s something we’re trying to work through.”

The Orioles’ issues were compounded by a sloppy defensive display. Heston Kjerstad, playing left field, misjudged his route to the ball in the second and allowed it to reach the wall. José Tena wound up with a triple, and he scored via Kremer’s wild pitch two batters later.

And in the fifth, when the Nationals plated two more runs, a lack of defensive communication on a Luis García single resulted in Cedric Mullins’ throw from center field reaching an unmanned second base. The extra 90 feet given to García hurt. He scored on the next single.

“When guys aren’t hitting, especially as young players, sometimes the defense isn’t at their best,” Hyde said. “That’s definitely an area we need to get better at.”

Even if Kremer had kept the game closer, the stalling offense did little to help him. They couldn’t compete with left-hander Mitchell Parker, going 1-for-25 through eight innings, and the display lowered Baltimore’s average against southpaws this season to .166.

Parker, a 25-year-old, lowered his season ERA to 1.39. He’s no slouch. But the at-bats were generally uncompetitive during the best start of Parker’s young career.

“We didn’t work the count on him,” Hyde said. “We didn’t make it very tough on him.”

After the 24-2 loss on Sunday, Hyde admitted the performance was embarrassing. His players said they were motivated to get back to winning ways. But their response Tuesday was closer to embarrassment.