While there is still the entire month of September to play, the Orioles did not do themselves any favors in the race for the AL East crown this week, dropping two of three to Toronto.
The panic button may not need to be pressed just yet, but the clock is indeed ticking…
After the Orioles’ failed opportunity to pull closer to the first-place Blue Jays, they now stand at a season-high four games out of first place and two games behind Boston for second in the division. To make matters worse, they are also now tied with Detroit for the final wild card slot in the American League.
The Orioles and Tigers have company as well. The Houston Astros are just a game behind them in the wild card chase, while Kansas City remains only 2.5 games out of the playoff picture and the Yankees are still just three games away from October baseball.
However, the vibe around town is clear. The O’s need to find a way to pull themselves back on the winning track, or else…it’s definitely time to put up or shut up. There’s no time for excuses in September.
After finishing the month of August with a subpar 13-16 record, the Birds have registered a disappointing 23-30 mark since the first of July, and an even more disheartening 6-10 clip since August 16th.
The Orioles have undoubtedly been wavering against the Blue Jays and the entire division as of late as well. The Birds have registered a dismal 4-8 mark over the last 12 games versus Toronto and a terrible 4-12 record against the AL East over the last 16 contests against division rivals.
To add to the worry around Birdland, the Orioles have gone just 12-11 at Camden Yards since July 1st and 10-10 in the second half of the season.
But before we get too carried away, let’s talk about the series versus the Blue Jays.
After getting shut down by Marco Estrada & Co in the 5-1 loss in the series opener on Monday, the Orioles wasted no time in responding on Tuesday.
Down 1-0 in the fifth, Steve Pearce’s solo blast would level the score before Manny Machado crushed a two-run bomb, his 32nd of the season (and 100th of his career), to hand the O’s a 3-1 advantage.
The Blue Jays weren’t down and out, however, as Michael Saunders took Ubaldo Jimenez (who was excellent until this one slip-up) deep to in the seventh to level the score at 3-3.
But with two outs in the eighth, Matt Wieters came through in the clutch with a show-stopping two-run jack to right field off of Jason Grilli to retake the lead. Zach Britton would make sure the Orioles would bank this critical game in the win column by recording his 39th save of the season in the ninth.
More importantly, Tuesday’s win forced a rubber match and provided the opportunity to pick up a game on the visiting Blue Jays.
But the Orioles just weren’t up to the challenge on Wednesday. After Jose Bautista and Russell Martin went deep in the first inning to give Toronto an early 3-0 lead, things could have turned ugly in a hurry, but a resilient Yovani Gallardo kept his team in the game from this point on.
Still, the damage was done as the Orioles were silenced by Aaron Sanchez & Co. for the majority of the game, while Devon Travis’s RBI double in the seventh and Saunders’ solo blast off of Brad Brach in the eighth put this game to bed. Or so it seemed?
Jonathan Schoop made things interesting after cranking a two-run shot off of Roberto Osuna with two outs in the ninth, but the rally would stop as soon as it started as the Orioles fell to a 5-3 defeat.
Let’s take a look at what went wrong versus Toronto:
– While the starting pitching held up their end of the bargain this series, the rest of the squad cannot say the same. The Orioles offense concluded the three-game clash versus the Blue Jays with a dreadful .197 average as a team while managing to score just nine runs over 27 innings of baseball. If you take away the Orioles’ five homers this series, they were absolutely dominated…
– The bullpen remained in their current frustrating rut after allowing four earned runs over 7 1/3 innings versus Toronto. The continuing trend of having a leaky bullpen is kind of unknown in these parts, so to say that the bullpen owning a woeful 8.16 ERA over their last ten games and a 6.83 ERA over the past 26 games is a bit of a shock wouldn’t be an understatement. These guys need to step it up (besides Zach Britton, of course. He’s always up for the occasion).
– Manny Machado eclipsed another Orioles record by becoming the fastest player in franchise history to record 100 homers. While that is an incredible feat in itself, the O’s star third baseman has been in remarkable form over the last 14 games and owns a .322 average with 11 runs, four doubles, six homers and 14 RBI during that span.
– Lastly, while the Orioles were getting set to take on the Blue Jays on Wednesday, Dan Duquette was busy pulling strings up in the front office. Not only did they claim proven veteran outfielder Drew Stubbs off waivers to bolster the bench and provide excellent defensive versatility for the home stretch, the Orioles acquired the notorious speedster and two-time All-Star Michael Bourn in a trade with Arizona to further reinforce their outfield depth and add a pure danger threat on the base paths. Both of these players will undoubtedly help the Orioles as they prepare for September baseball.
After the Orioles’ much-earned and much-needed off day on Thursday, the “Hunt For October” will officially be in full swing by time the Orioles and Yankees take the field on Friday.
That’s right – September baseball. The entire season comes down to just 29 games. I can’t wait.
Here’s hoping that the O’s will be up for the challenge this time.
