The Firebirds got back in action at Eldredge on Wednesday. The Harwich Mariners came back to town. Orleans was looking to avoid losing a third contest to a very talented Mariners squad.

Though the temperature was pleasant and a nice breeze blew, the scene looked apocalyptic. Canadian wildfires continued to burn, turning the sky completely grey with smoke. Firebirds players tossed a football against the orange and grey background before the anthem was performed. The stadium lights flashed on before first pitch to combat the haze.

The doomsday backdrop was a fitting pairing for the way the Birds played against Harwich. Despite a homer and three RBI night from Jonathan Gomez (Stetson) and a towering solo shot from Dominic Cadiz (UCLA), Orleans fell to the Mariners for the third time. Brayden Toro (Stetson) wasn’t sharp. After Jake Echols (GCU) had struggled against Wareham on Tuesday, it was another night of five earned runs for a Firebirds starter; something that had not happened yet all season. The final score was not indicative of what was an all-night uphill battle for the Orleans offense.

With 26 games under their belts, Orleans will face different challenges for the latter half of the season. A recent mass departure of talented starting pitching has left the staff scrambling for a run-prevention answer. In the last seven days, Orleans pitchers have a 4.42 ERA. Conveniently, the rival Chatham Anglers are the only CCBL team with a worse ERA over that span at 4.53.

Fortunately, the Birds offense is finally taking shape — though it’s a strange case of Jekyll and Hyde for home versus road splits. When Orleans stays home to enjoy the friendly confines of Eldredge, they crack the top three in the league in batting average and on-base percentage, and place top five in several other categories. Unfortunately, whenever they venture away from home, they place bottom three in batting average, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS.

Orleans is currently in sole possession of the league’s worst record. They are 10 games under .500 at 8-18. The ship is taking on water. Will they find a lifeboat in time?

Toro made his second starting appearance for the Birds. In Toro’s first start, he faced this very same Mariners team and allowed two runs. Now moving into a permanent starting role, he’d need to improve against a tough Mariners lineup.

The Mariners bottom line hasn’t changed since the last time the two teams faced off. Colin Larson was immediately drilled by Toro, following that up with a theft of second. A Nate Castellon single set the table for Ty Smolinski. The powerful lefty continued to kill the Birds, hitting his second homer against them. This time it was a three-run opposite-field laser. Harwich had quickly proved why they’ve won 15 games, supplying both speed and power.

Toro picked off Quentin Coats following a leadoff single to help escape his second inning. The Birds had traffic in the second, but did not cash in. Toro was back to work quickly for a scoreless third.

Rowan Kelly (UCSB) was robbed of a homer in the bottom of the third. He drove the left fielder JP Peltier all the way to the fence, but he made a leaping catch to secure a loud out.

Toro continued to cough up runs in the fourth. Cade Kurland smoked a long ball that barely wrapped around the left field foul pole. The Birds were already down by four.

Jonathan Gomez broke up the shutout in powerful fashion in the bottom of the inning. He homered deep to left, clearing the Mariners chartered “Funk Bus” (a converted party bus that’s rumored to harbor a curse) and hitting another unsuspecting vehicle in the parking lot. The bases were loaded after two singles and a walk behind him. The broken-record Birds stranded three runners yet again. They had K’d eight times against Mariners starter Riley Goodman through four.

Toro got one out in the fifth before being removed by Kelly Nicholson. Joe Nottingham (Georgia) entered with a runner on third base. The powerful righty gave up a swift double to make it a 6-1 game.

Homers kept flying in the bottom of the frame. Dominic Cadiz turned on a fastball, which ricocheted high off the scoreboard 360 feet away. Both teams had homered twice as the fifth inning came to an end. The ball was flying on what turned out to be a windy night at Eldredge.

Nottingham remained for the sixth. He locked things down, striking out two Mariners for a spotless frame.

Casey Cumiskey (SNHU) singled and advanced all the way to third, but did not score. Nottingham returned for another inning in the top of the seventh. A double and single led to a sixth Mariners run, chasing him off the bump.

Elai Iwanaga (UCLA) took over for Nottingham with one out in the seventh. Ryan MacDougall (Dayton) caught Larson stealing. Iwanaga allowed a two-out double, but a grounder got him out of it.

Iwanaga cruised through the eighth. MacDougall made it a three run game with an RBI single. The Birds still needed some magic with one inning left.

The lefty Iwanaga stayed in for a third inning of work. He struck out one, but allowed two more runs to come in as the Mariners kept piling on.

Christian Rodriguez did his best Rick “Wild Thing” Vaughn impression in the bottom of the ninth. He walked the bases loaded on 14 pitches that were just a bit outside. The Birds were able to get two runs on a Gomez single. With runners on first and second, the rally would come to an end.

After suffering a disheartening 8-5 loss to Harwich, the Firebirds will look to steal another game from Y-D at Red Wilson Field on Thursday.