2013 Orioles: One step forward, one step back

We are at the point in the season where every game/series for the Baltimore Orioles is increasingly important for improving their chances of reaching the postseason for the second consecutive year.

Losing two of three games to the Tampa Bay Rays last week, a team ahead of the Orioles in both the division and wildcard race, didn’t get this crucial stretch off to a good start. But the team rebounded to win two of three versus the Oakland A’s, who the Birds are also looking up at in the wildcard standings, including an emphatic 10-3 victory Sunday in the last of a nine-game homestand.

With an off day on Monday morale was high in Birdland. Many felt the thumping of Oakland would prove to be a springboard, propelling the Orioles to a late season run reminiscent of 2012. I heard “the playoffs begin Tuesday” mentioned a few times Sunday evening and again the following day.

Wei-Yin Chen was scheduled to take the mound in the opener of a three-game series with the division-leading Red Sox at Fenway Park on Tuesday. And while August hasn’t been quite as kind to him as July was, the thought of Chen on the bump gives confidence to those of us who cheer for the orange & black. Add in that Baltimore has won five straight series at Fenway going back to September 2011 and it is understandable why O’s fans were more than ready to get this series started.

But that’s why they play the games.

The Red Sox greeted the Orioles with an offensive outburst on Tuesday, cruising to a 13-2 victory. The 13 runs are tied for the most allowed by the Birds this season. Chen was charged with eight earned runs and didn’t make it out of the fourth inning. The offense managed just four hits, and none for extra bases.

There are two games left and it’s completely possible the Orioles can put back-to-back wins together to take the series. And that would be great. But while Tuesday’s game only counts as one loss in the standings it had a deflating feel to it. Not one that the season is over, because it’s clearly not, but a feeling that seizing and sustaining momentum has been a bit of a challenge for this year’s team. A big confidence building win was once again followed by frustrating loss.

I looked at the 2013 schedule and counted 22 games the Orioles have won by 4+ runs, outscoring opponents 181-58 in those contests. In the following games they are just 9-13 and have been outscored 110-90.

In a way it feels like this year has been one of frequent starts and stops for the Orioles. A dominating performance one day is followed by the complete opposite the next. After eight wins in ten games come four wins in the next ten. And as we’re all reminded again and again, their longest winning streak of the year is just five (and even that, they’ve only managed once).

At the end of the marathon season it doesn’t matter how you make the playoffs, as long as you do, and the Orioles still have a more than realistic shot of doing that. Sometimes it’s easy, sometimes it’s not. For the 2013 Baltimore Orioles though, it seems like the latter will have to be the case.