BALTIMORE -- Alex Cobb had one bad inning, and it cost him. Making his ninth start, Cobb allowed a three-run home run to Anthony Rendon in the third inning as the Orioles lost to the Nationals, 6-0, on Monday at Camden Yards.
After Cobb got the first two outs in the third, Trea Turner singled and Bryce Harper walked before Rendon homered to left, his sixth.
"I'm really going to have to tip my hat to Rendon right there," Cobb said. "I went back and even looked at the pitch. It was a quality pitch. He kept his hands in, kept it fair and had some power to it. Probably the other two runners getting on is the problem. He's a good hitter and he gets paid to do what he does, and I'm trying to get him out, but he won that battle."

In seven innings, his longest start of the season, Cobb (1-7) allowed the three runs on five hits, walking three and striking out three.
"I thought he was good. One pitch," manager Buck Showalter said. "He will probably lament a walk there in that inning, but Alex gave us a great chance to win. That was fun to watch ... he's been beating himself up. But that's more like the guy we know is capable of pitching like that. We'll take that type of outing against a good club any day. We're just not scoring any runs."

The Orioles were thwarted by Giovany Gonzalez (6-2). The left-hander, who is 2-6 against the Orioles, allowed six hits in 7 2/3 scoreless innings.
"I'll give him credit, but we all know it's a little bit more than that," Showalter said about Gonzalez. "We've had some success against good pitchers before ... they're really good and we're not swinging the bats well. That's a bad combination."
Richard Bleier allowed three runs in the eighth to put the Orioles behind 6-0. It was the first time in his two seasons with the Orioles that Bleier has given up three runs.

MOMENT THAT MATTERED
The Orioles had their best shot at Gonzalez in the second in a then-scoreless game. With two outs, Mark Trumbo and Craig Gentry walked, but Andrew Susac was called out on strikes, ending the threat. The Orioles didn't get a runner to second base again until the sixth.
"We know we'll come through," right fielder Joey Rickard said. "We know what this lineup is capable of. We've just got to stay out there and stay aggressive."
SOUND SMART
Precisely one-third through the season, the Orioles are 17-37, which projects to a 51-111 record. Showalter doesn't look at Memorial Day as a special marker in the season.
"I'm always evaluating kind of where we are and where we have the potential to head. Just gotta get better. I think our guys know that. It's very frustrating for them right now and I'm sure for everybody, including the fans."

HE SAID IT
"We want to win ballgames, not [win] on a personal level. It's just more the team overall. We're trying to win games out here every night. That's not what's happening. There's more that we can do as pitchers in picking up the offense when they have tough nights. Collectively as a team, we're clicking on different cylinders." -- Cobb, on the Orioles' frustrations
UP NEXT
Dylan Bundy, who set a career high with 14 strikeouts in his second complete game on Thursday against the White Sox, starts against right-hander Jeremy Hellickson, who pitched for the Orioles in the final two months of 2017, on Tuesday at Camden Yards. Bundy allowed two runs on three hits over six innings in his only start against the Nationals. Game time is 7:05 p.m. ET.