The Orioles lost to the Cleveland Indians 5-2 last night. It was one of those games that just seemed to get away from the Birds. They had a 2-0 lead entering the sixth inning and starter Zach Britton was cruising along.
The sixth was a different story. Britton couldn’t get an out. A 2-0 lead became a 3-2 deficit, and the O’s didn’t score again. Darren O’Day gave up a home run in his second straight appearance for the final scoring.
The offense got a couple of solo home runs from Nick Markakis and Matt Wieters but did not take advantage of early opportunities to score more runs. It proved costly. Taking into account their lost weekend in Toronto, the Orioles have lost four in a row.
At the moment, both the starting pitchers and the bullpen aren’t doing much to instill confidence in the fan base. These things happen during a long season but if this team wants to be a true World Series contender, they need to find some consistency from their starters. I know I’ve been saying this for a while now but it still holds true. You cannot count on the bats to carry you forever. Eventually good pitching beats good hitting.
The Orioles got some bad news after the game. Prized prospect Dylan Bundy experienced some discomfort after a throwing session and has been shut down again. He’s now going to see Dr James Andrews again. Tommy John surgery could very well be in his future. We have seen that guys routinely come back from this surgery but it would mean a lost season for the young phenom. Bundy was someone that a lot of Orioles fans counted on this season. Even if he doesn’t have the surgery, it’s becoming more and more likely that Bundy won’t be pitching in Baltimore in 2013.
