After losing their fifth consecutive game last night, 8-3 to the Kansas City Royals, the Birds are now back at .500 for the first time since July 27. They were .500 several times in July, but a good run against bad teams (of course), had them at five games over (62-57) as recently as last Wednesday.
Then, the Twins came to town with their wrenches and promptly removed all of the wheels from the Orioles’ cart.
The first game against Minnesota was one that you can easily throw away – a two-hour rain delay followed by a 15-2 butt-whooping that we all just chalked up as “hey, these things happen.” After all, just four games earlier, the good guys had won 18-2 over Oakland.
Unfortunately, the Orioles have been unable to register even a single win since the New York Mets left town, despite – and here’s the real kicker – leading in the sixth inning or later in each of their last four losses.
Ouch.
On Friday against the Twins, the O’s led 3-1 heading to the eighth inning. With Darren O’Day & Zach Britton on deck, we thought it was wrapped up.
We thought wrong.
O’Day did what he’s done several times this year – loaded the bases with nobody out. However, he was unable to do what he’s also done just as many times – escape the jam with no runs scoring. In fact, all three runners – one who reached via walk, another via bloop single, and the third via hit by pitch – crossed home plate. The O’s mounted nothing in response, and a 3-1 win was suddenly a 4-3 loss.
Saturday, the Birds again led, this time 2-1 heading to the 7th. Chris Tillman was cruising, and retired Trevor Plouffe to start the frame. He then walked Eddie Rosario, and as Rick Dempsey always reminds us: Nothing good happens after a walk.
That held true, as Torii Hunter singled, Kurt Suzuki laid down an RBI squeeze bunt, and Tillman’s night ended. Brad Brach came in, intentionally walked Eduardo Escobar (for some ridiculous reason), and a Byron Buxton single later, the Twins were again ahead. And again, the O’s mounted nothing in response.
Sunday was more of the same, yet somehow even MORE painful. This time, the Orioles recorded 26 outs and still had the lead, 3-2. Unfortunately, Britton had inexplicably been slow to cover first base on a ground ball to lead off the 9th, so Brian Dozier started the frame with an infield single. Two outs later, Plouffe hit a ball that, were it grounded two feet in either direction, would have ended the game. Instead, it scooted through the infield, Dozier scored, and the game went to extras. In extras, two ridiculous errors by Manny Machado and Jimmy Paredes (playing third base, yay) handed the Twinkies the winning run. The Orioles, who didn’t score a run after the fifth inning, conceded the four-game sweep, the final three games of which were all one-run losses.
Sunday was the first time since July 18, 2014 in Oakland that they’d lost a game when leading after the 8th inning, a span of 92 such games. In case you were wondering how things are going.
Awful.
Monday night in Kansas City, things started off looking up. Adam Jones crushed a two-run homer in the top of the first, Steve Clevenger added an RBI double in the 4th, and the O’s were leading 3-1 behind a seemingly cruising Ubaldo Jimenez, who had retired eight straight entering the sixth. Ubaldo got two outs in that inning, sandwiched around an Eric Hosmer double.
So, a two-run lead and a guy on third.
What’s the worst that could happen?
Well.
The Royals could suddenly decide to stop toying with the Orioles, giving us any sense of hope, and remember that they can do whatever they want against us whenever they want to do it, as they proved last October.
That’s the worst that could happen. And happen it did.
So, with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Royals scored not one, not two, not three, not four, not five, not six, but SEVEN runs. On seven consecutive hits (the final two coming off Brach). A 3-1 lead was now an 8-3 deficit in what felt like the blink of an eye.
Your 2015 Baltimore Orioles, ladies and gentlemen.
Then, in typical O’s fashion, the team mounted absolutely nothing in response. In fact, the aforementioned fourth-inning Clevenger double was the final baserunner of the night for the good guys, as KC retired the final 16 batters they faced.
After the game, a visibly annoyed Buck Showalter had the following to say:
[youtube]https://youtu.be/AdEv_CNwFqU[/youtube]
“We had five hits. Not good enough…five hits just doesn’t get it done. I get a little tired of tipping my hat to their pitcher, you know what I mean?”
Last year, on August 24, the Orioles got finished taking a three-game sweep at the hands of the Chicago Cubs. They were still 18 games over .500 at 73-55.
Today, they’re 61-61.
What a difference a year makes.
