As if Kyle Stowers hadn’t proven himself to his former club before arriving this weekend at Camden Yards as a member of the Miami Marlins, the All-Star’s performance in the final game of the first half left no doubt about what the Orioles are missing.

To complete any trade, there will be pros and cons. Baltimore sought a starting pitcher, and to acquire left-hander Trevor Rogers one season ago, it cost general manager Mike Elias infielder Connor Norby and Stowers, an outfielder. Elias knew the impact Norby and Stowers could bring to another club; Rogers was deemed worth the price.

The emergence of Rogers this season as a valuable arm is a salve to the burn of watching Stowers, particularly, succeed from afar. The way Sunday’s first-half finale went, however, was a burn no ointment could remedy.

Stowers, in as clear a way as possible, would have left members of Baltimore’s front office sick to their stomachs. The day before he arrives in Atlanta for All-Star festivities, Stowers powered three home runs in his first three plate appearances against right-hander Brandon Young, and in doing so he buried the Orioles in a series-ending 11-1 loss.

“What a day, and for it to be here.” Miami manager Clayton McCullough said. “I imagine it meant a little bit more to do it here. Kind of ironic we finished the half here before he goes to his first All-Star Game. I know he’s still close with a lot of players and staff over there, so to come back to the organization you started with and have this type of day, I’m sure it makes it a little bit more meaningful.”

The power showcase, part of his five-hit day, combined with a lackadaisical performance from the Orioles. They ran into outs on the bases thrice in the first two innings and struggled to mount resistance against right-hander Eury Pérez.

Pérez pumped the strike zone full of fastballs, and he drew 11 whiffs with that triple-digit-velocity offering. By the seventh, interim manager Tony Mansolino waved the white flag. He pinch hit for Jordan Westburg, Gunnar Henderson and Ryan O’Hearn.

In many senses, this was a fine encapsulation of a dismal first half of the season. When the Orioles swept a doubleheader against the New York Mets on Thursday and opened this series against the Marlins with a win, they were within striking distance of the mediocrity .500 represents. Taking the final two games against Miami would’ve left Baltimore five games below .500 entering the break.

Instead, the Marlins outscored the Orioles 18-1 in those two games, and Baltimore enters the break at 43-52. Crazier things have happened, but anything but a trade-deadline sell-off seems unlikely for a team that has so thoroughly defied expectations — in the worst way.

“I don’t think anybody going into the season thought we were going to be in the situation we are now,” Westburg said. “But it is what it is. It doesn’t help to dwell on that. So I think, for us in the clubhouse, we’re going to take these three days to reset, we’re going to cheer [O’Hearn] on during the break and then come back with some energy, with some vengeance maybe, and hopefully turn some things around.”

On Friday, when Stowers sat in the dugout for a return-to-Baltimore press conference, he said all the right things. He was grateful to the Orioles for drafting him. He had fond memories of this organization, such as his first home run, a ninth-inning, game-tying shot in 2022.

But baseball has a poetic way about it, and whether Stowers wanted to or not, he sent a different message Sunday: This is what you lost.

“I’ve got a lot of love for the Orioles organization,” Stowers said, “but it definitely felt really good to have a game like that against them.”

The sting of that is multiplied when considering the state of the Orioles. With the result, the Marlins enter the All-Star break with a better record than they do. Their preseason outlooks couldn’t have been more different, yet here they are: one game apart.

And, for the first time since 2021, the Orioles are entering the All-Star break with a below-.500 record (28-61 in 2021).

“We wanted to win that series and go into the half on a high note,” Westburg said. “But it’s by us. O’s [O’Hearn’s] going to go represent us in the All-Star Game. The rest of us are going to have a three-day break to mentally check out, which is huge, and kind of hit a reset button, hopefully, coming into the second half.”

Most of Stowers’ damage came against Young, who gave up four homers in all, including a solo shot to Otto Lopez. Young, who produced the best start of his nascent career last week with two runs against him in 5 1/3 innings against the Mets, regressed to spin his worst. He credited Stowers for his swings but noted that his pitch placements were poor, and “he made me pay for it.”

Young allowed a career-high nine hits and seven runs in 4 1/3 innings. Then, against right-hander Colin Selby, Stowers throttled his fourth hit — this one a lowly single — at 110 mph. His fifth and final hit — which provided Stowers with his first career five-hit day — sneaked through the infield in the eighth inning for an RBI single. The six runs Stowers batted in tied his career high, and all five balls left his bat at over 100 mph.

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget my teammates booing me as I’m coming back into the dugout for my fourth and fifth at-bats, because I only hit a single,” Stowers said with a laugh. “That was pretty funny. I’ll never forget that.”

Stowers became the first Marlins player to record five hits, four runs, three homers and six RBIs in a single game, and he’s the first player in MLB to produce such a game since Shohei Ohtani in 2024.

For as impressive as Stowers was, the overwhelming takeaway from Sunday must be the pitiful way Baltimore performed. Those in the clubhouse, particularly Mansolino, emphasize how a postseason spot is still within reach and how winning remains the priority over development.

A day like this showcases a disappointing reality: Playoff teams don’t perform this poorly this often.

“You combine the two days,” Mansolino said of Saturday and Sunday losses, “and it’s just not a good way to finish.”

This article has been updated.