BALTIMORE -- The 2018 season is not one anyone associated with the Orioles will remember fondly. But as this year's last-place club marches to a dubious mark, the O's have used the season's final month to promote young players, evaluate them and try to find the positive.
There was no silver lining on Wednesday. Instead, the 10-0 drubbing by Oakland was a stark reminder of how the O's got here in the first place -- and how much work they still need to do in all facets of the game to be competitive.
Baltimore, which saw starter Andrew Cashner fail to make it out of the third inning, recorded just one hit, suffering its 10th defeat in 11 games as it dropped to 41-104. The Orioles, barring a late-season surge, are on pace to eclipse the 1988 team (54-107) to post the worst record in franchise history.
"I wouldn't say I'm frustrated with the effort, but the execution is clearly not there," said Trey Mancini, who had the Orioles' lone hit in the first inning. "Since the start of the road trip, the one game in Seattle is the only one we've won. That's not going to cut it, even if you're going through a rebuild. You don't want to go out and lose every day like we have been, so we definitely need to step up our execution."

All 10 runs came in the third inning, marking the second time this season the O's have coughed up a 10-run frame (May 8, against Kansas City) as Cashner unraveled quickly.
"I couldn't locate," Cashner said of his second-shortest start of the season. "I threw a lot of offspeed in the middle of the plate. That one fastball was kind of out over, but you've just got to find a way to get through it. I didn't find a way."
The first 11 Oakland batters reached base, with Cashner charged with eight runs and Cody Carroll -- who allowed an inherited runner to score -- the other two. The A's loaded the bases twice with no outs and sent 15 batters to the plate.

Ultimately, Cashner allowed eight hits and a walk, with Matt Olson taking him deep for a three-run homer, on the aforementioned fastball, to help put the game out of reach.
A's opener Liam Hendriks tossed a scoreless frame and Daniel Mengden shut the Orioles down with five hitless innings as the O's never could get anything going.
"Obviously we had a really bad inning pitching-wise, but we had one hit," manager Buck Showalter said. "[Hendriks has] really come on the past couple years. Try to give him credit, but we need to do a better job than that. We didn't hit anything hard. Maybe two or three [balls], but nothing hard. Nothing to really put your arms around and feel proud of."
STEWART DEBUTS
DJ Stewart became the 14th Oriole to make his Major League debut this season. Stewart started in left field and went 0-for-3.

HE SAID IT
"It's always this time of the year you wonder about that, you worry about it, especially with young guys who are pitching in the time of year they've never pitched before, most of them. But there's a different type of toll it takes sometimes. That's also part of the evaluation of some of the young pitchers. You're looking for that guy who can do certain things this time of year. It's a great time to separate yourself and doesn't really apply to Cashner or Alex [Cobb] or Dylan [Bundy], but they still want to do that.
"But running out of gas? I would hate to use that as an excuse, OK? I certainly think there's some emotional and mental challenges this year that we haven't had in the past. I'll give you that." -- Showalter, on if his team is running out of gas this late in the year
UP NEXT
The Orioles will send Bundy to the mound for Thursday night's series finale against Oakland, looking to bring an end to Baltimore's six-game losing streak. Bundy will be opposed by lefty Brett Anderson, with first pitch slated for 7:05 p.m. ET.