DETROIT — The perfect encapsulation of the Orioles’ issues swirled around Comerica Park on Saturday over the course of 18 innings of head-shaking baseball. The starting pitching, a well-catalogued problem, shared the starring role with an offense that has forgotten how to hit with runners in scoring position.

The result was a doubly poor day in Detroit, leaving Baltimore with another series loss and no easier assignment Sunday, when left-hander Tarik Skubal takes the mound for the Tigers.

In the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader, a late change led left-hander Keegan Akin to serve as an opener while right-hander Charlie Morton provided length out of the bullpen rather than as a starter. The results for Morton were tenuous — although he didn’t implode — and when he left the mound in the sixth inning, he did so with only three runs against him.

When the Orioles trudged off the diamond at the end of a long day of losing, the score was more lopsided. Baltimore fell to six games below .500 (10-16) after losing 6-2 to Detroit.

Since Sunday, the Orioles have lost five of their six games. In that stretch, they’ve stranded 47 runners on base and are hitting 6-for-51 with runners in scoring position. In Game 2 on Saturday night, Baltimore posted a 1-for-6 line with runners on second or third, and it cost them a game that until late was manageable.

“Guys, they’re frustrated, because you look at our numbers, you look at our individual numbers, a lot of guys aren’t where they want to be,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “Trying to grind and push through it. And I don’t sense any panic, or nobody’s overly snapping or anything like that. Everyone’s getting along fine. We’re losing tough games right now, and that can wear on you a little bit. Today was a really, really tough day, and we’ve gotta bounce back and get up early and face Skubal tomorrow.”

Over the course of Morton’s career, celebrating three earned runs in 3 2/3 innings is a low point, a sign of how things have transpired of late for the 41-year-old. But, in the grand scheme of an 18-year career full of as many downs as ups, Morton has learned to take positives when they come, no matter how small those positives might be.

So here was the positive: Morton didn’t fall apart.

That’s something when the first five starts of the right-hander’s tenure with the Orioles were disastrous.

Of course, what Morton produced in the nightcap of Saturday’s doubleheader could hardly be described as good, because he walked five batters, allowed a three-run home run to Riley Greene and threw almost as many balls as strikes. He was shaky at best, and there’s no promise that Morton will use this as a springboard to better things in the coming weeks and months — if he’s with Baltimore that long.

But, in a season that has gone any way but right, the scoreless frames Morton threw after allowing the long ball to Greene were valuable. After all, the Orioles’ loss wasn’t on Morton alone.

“It’s been tough,” Hyde said. “We’re not scoring a ton of runs. We get a lead for a minute today and give it right back. It’s really hard to play behind in a doubleheader. So we’re not cashing in runs. So far this year we’ve had a tough time rotation-wise. But I think there are some guys swinging the bat OK. We’ve just got to get a few more things going offensively.”

In the seventh inning, right-hander Seranthony Domínguez allowed three runs. And, in the top half of that frame, catcher Adley Rutschman struck out to end the inning, stranding two runners on base in what was then a one-run game.

It was a continuation of what plagued Baltimore in the first game. Right-hander Brandon Young was steady — if unspectacular — in his second major league start. But a critical run against left-hander Cionel Pérez doomed the Orioles to a 4-3 loss. In both games, it was Spencer Torkelson who provided the key blow — a homer against Pérez, a two-run double against Domínguez.

For the first time since 2008, when Morton was a rookie, he came out of the bullpen during a regular-season game. Between then and Saturday, Morton started 372 games. He made two All-Star appearances and won two World Series titles; he pitched to an above-4.00 ERA in eight of those years and was more innings eater than big-game starter.

For the Orioles, at this point, to expect Morton to turn their season around would be foolhardy. But, after following Akin, Morton at least provided length. Considering he signed this winter for $15 million, long reliever isn’t the ideal role for Morton. He might inhabit it anyway, at least for the moment.

“I haven’t even gotten there yet,” Hyde said when asked whether Morton would receive another start. “Swallowing this tough day.”

The Orioles could call up right-hander Kyle Gibson to start during their series against the New York Yankees next week. With Gibson part of the staff, Baltimore could go without a fifth starter until May 10 given the off-day schedule, which would allow Morton time to study what has gone wrong.

Much of what has gone wrong was on display in the third inning. He walked the leadoff batter and surrendered a homer in his fifth straight appearance.

The lack of command Morton showed in the third inning could have led to an unraveling akin to past blowups this season, including his last start, which wound up with position players pitching in a 24-2 loss. Getting through the fourth and fifth kept the Orioles close — although the fifth took a tightrope effort, with two leadoff walks nullified by a flyout and double play.

Morton said he worked on his arm timing between starts and, although he saw improvement, he noted how his vertical command on his breaking ball was still lacking.

“I’m spraying high, spraying low, yanking a couple breaking balls,” Morton said, before adding: “I didn’t feel like I was getting beat around the park. I was just kind of beating myself because, a lot of those at-bats, you lose it real quick with quick walks.”

The game got away from Baltimore after that, though, and without an offense that can score in bunches at the moment, there was no way back.

It was only one day of a six-month season. It was only two games of a 162-game slate. But, with the all-encompassing nature of those losses — pitching and hitting, both — a solution for the Orioles’ issues isn’t easy to envision.

This article has been updated.