Baltimore Orioles: The bleeding hasn’t stopped yet
By Brian Pinter
The Baltimore Orioles are reaching rock bottom, much quicker than anyone anticipated. After their fourth loss in-a-row last night, some may be wondering when will the bleeding stop?
After playing 13-of-19 on the road to begin the season, the Baltimore Orioles returned home last Friday night to start their longest homestand of the season. Admittedly, being back home could change their losing ways. Right?
And, finally being out of frigid baseball temperatures in the upper-30’s and lower-40’s would ignite the offense to be able to start hitting finally. Right? Wrong.
Over the past few days, neither of those situations have mattered. The Baltimore Orioles lost their fourth game in a row and their 10th in their last 11 games last night, falling to the Tampa Bay Rays, 8-4.
The Tampa Bay Rays have now won five-in-a-row and eight of 13 to run their record up to 9-13. The Baltimore Orioles, on the other hand, have fallen to 6-18 and have matched their second-worst start in franchise history.
Back in 2010, the club started 6-18, but that team surely didn’t have hopes of making a postseason run. It wasn’t until August of that year that the team hired Buck Showalter to become the manager, and he’s been there since.
But, eight years ago, this team didn’t have the talent they have now. They didn’t have Manny Machado‘s golden arm and a solid bat. At the time, Adam Jones wasn’t as large of a vocal leader as he is today. Players like Dylan Bundy, Kevin Gausman or Jonathan Schoop hadn’t even entered the draft yet. However, when things just aren’t clicking, and players keep getting injured, the team finds themselves writing the letter, “L,” more-and-more.
Alex Cobb
Things seemed to be rolling along nicely for Alex Cobb last night. He had escaped trouble in the first inning, had back-to-back four-batter innings, then had a three-batter inning in the fourth. Although, he didn’t have a three-up, three-down inning.
Then, in the fifth inning, the Rays just came alive, scoring four runs, taking a 5-3 lead. Alex Cobb’s night was done after four-and-two-thirds innings, allowing five earned runs and ten hits. He was hit with his third loss (in three starts) and is now staring at an ERA of 13.11.
However, it’s still too early to start with the “Ubaldo Jimenez 2.0,” tagline. Essentially, that was his third spring start. During the exhibition season, your top of the rotation starters usually gets two or three starts under their belt. It can – and should be – expected of Alex Cobb to have a better start on Tuesday when he’s projected to square off against the Angels‘ Shohei Ohtani.
The offense woes continue
Five more hits last night and the Baltimore Orioles have totaled 175 on the season. They’re 12th in the American League in that category, in front of the White Sox, Indians, and Twins. They did, however, score four runs, the most since their 13-8 loss on April 19 in Detroit. But, they’ve only crossed the plate 77 times this season, which is 11th in the AL.
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Putting it bluntly, this team is struggling horribly at the plate. Their .213 batting average is last in the majors and is fourth-worst in franchise history through 24 games.
I feel for any fan wanting to get 50% off of Papa Johns pizza because the Orioles have only scored five runs or more, seven times this season.
Finishing the rain-shortened series
Taking the mound for the Baltimore Orioles tonight will be Dylan Bundy. The ace of the pitching rotation will need to deliver another solid outing to allow the home team a chance to win.
He’s been able to provide an opportunity for the team to win in all five of his outings this season.
Finally getting his first win on April 20 against the Cleveland Indians, Dylan Bundy again gave the Baltimore Orioles a quality start and lucky for their offense, three runs scored was all they needed.
But, the run support has been minimal at best for Dylan Bundy this season. In outings against the Twins, Astros, Blue Jays and Red Sox, the team is averaging 2.0 runs per game while Dylan Bundy is on the mound. Good for the Orioles though, Dylan Bundy’s 1.42 ERA is fourth among starters that have started at least three games. In front of him stands Sean Manaea (1.23), Gerrit Cole (1.29) and Justin Verlander (1.36). That’s pretty impressive company.
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Salvaging the finale of this rain-shortened series is a must. The Baltimore Orioles need to win, plain-and-simple. This disaster of a start has to be corrected as soon as possible, and it needs to begin tonight. Being 12.5 games out of first place, after 24 games is embarrassing, but as we’ve seen so far, can get worse in the blink of an eye.