BALTIMORE -- Last week, Anthony Santander set a new career high for home runs. On Tuesday night, the 29-year-old continued his torrid homer tear, making a bit of Orioles history in the process.

Santander swatted his 36th home run of the year in Baltimore¡¯s 9-3 loss to Washington at Camden Yards. It marks the most homers from an O¡¯s switch-hitter in a season, breaking the previous franchise record of 35, set by Ken Singleton in 1979.

Only two players in MLB have more home runs than Santander in 2024 -- Yankees slugger Aaron Judge (42) and the Dodgers¡¯ Shohei Ohtani (37). Santander¡¯s previous career best was 33 in ¡®22.

Entering June, Santander was hitting .211 with nine home runs through 51 games. Since then, the eight-year MLB veteran has batted .268 with 27 homers in 64 contests, the most home runs by any big league player over that span.

¡°It¡¯s just the consistency with my routine, my work ethic, coming to the field to be able to prepare my body to go out and compete at 100 percent,¡± Santander said of his success in early August.

¡°Tony has been kind of notorious for a slower start and then ramping up as he goes. But the work is always outstanding,¡± O¡¯s co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller recently said. ¡°The work that goes on outside of the field is what propels him to have that success on the field.¡±

Before games, Santander watches video of the previous three outings from that night¡¯s opposing starting pitcher. He¡¯ll identify which pitches are most likely to come in each count.

That¡¯s why Santander felt comfortable swinging at a 3-0 offering from Nationals right-hander Jake Irvin in the third inning. Irvin tossed a 94.9 mph sinker into the strike zone, and Santander belted it a Statcast-projected 400 feet into Baltimore¡¯s bullpen. (And, as one may now expect, into the hat of reliever Cionel P¨¦rez, who has caught four O¡¯s homers in such fashion this year.)

A 2016 Rule 5 Draft pick and a first-time All-Star this season, Santander has 147 home runs over 706 games for the Orioles. But the past 2 1/2 months may be the best of his tenure, as he¡¯s put himself on pace for 48 homers this year. Only two O¡¯s have previously reached the 50-homer mark -- Chris Davis (53 in 2013) and Brady Anderson (50 in 1996).

¡°Just a really, really smart hitter,¡± Fuller said of Santander. ¡°It just is so fun to watch. There¡¯s not anything distinctly different, no major changes. His preparation is elite, and when he does that, he gives himself a really good chance to be successful, like he has been.¡±

Baltimore (70-50) has scored only four runs during a two-game losing skid, with two coming via Santander solo homers.

The three runs vs. Washington weren¡¯t enough support for left-hander Trevor Rogers, who has had a tough start to his time with the Orioles. The 26-year-old allowed five runs over five-plus innings in his Camden Yards debut, yielding seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

In three starts since being traded from Miami to Baltimore, Rogers has a 7.53 ERA, giving up 12 earned runs over 14 1/3 innings. He pitched to a 4.53 ERA in 21 starts for the Marlins to open the season.

¡°It¡¯s all about execution, being unpredictable,¡± Rogers said. ¡°I had a good stretch there for a while. It¡¯s baseball. I¡¯m going to have a couple of rough spots here and there. I¡¯ve just got to keep doing my thing, keep working, and I know I¡¯ll get back to it.¡±

Coming off a 5-5 road trip that featured series against Cleveland, Toronto and Tampa Bay, the Orioles couldn¡¯t open this six-game homestand on a strong note. It¡¯s been a continuation of an up-and-down second half thus far for the club.

Baltimore hasn¡¯t won more than two straight games since a three-game streak that sandwiched the All-Star break. At the same time, it hasn¡¯t dropped more than two in a row since a three-game skid from July 21-24.

¡°We¡¯re really inconsistent. We¡¯re giving up way too many runs. Tonight, I didn¡¯t think our at-bats were real good,¡± manager Brandon Hyde said. ¡°We¡¯re not moving the line offensively enough. Our swings can get really big at times, and we need to improve on that.¡±