O, Crap

This post is primarily in response to this and to this. At one point, I too predicted the Orioles would be a decent team, capable of breaking a decade-long-streak of losing seasons. But after their recent stretch of awful games against playoff contenders, I'm starting to wonder if I may have spoken too soon.

Since getting swept in unimpressive fashion by the Minnesota Twins (a playoff team last year, and a team that is, and will be in the mix this year) to open the season, Baltimore won 11 of 15 (so what if they were against the Royals, Blue Jays and Devil Rays among others?). At that point, they were 11-7 and looking like a team that could pitch, hit, and, most importantly, finish games.

But lying ahead was a critical stretch of games- an early-season litmus test against more teams like the Twins. These would give O's fans and the rest of the league a true sense of what this club is made of. Nine games into the current 14 game stretch, they are, as Brian Roberts put it, finding "a way to lose every night."

They are 1-8 in this stretch. They aren't hitting particularly well. They aren't pitching particularly well. And their bullpen, which was so good, has been hittable.

What's worse and perhaps most notable is how they're not finishing off games. In the last 9 games, the Orioles have yet to hold a team scoreless after the fifth. Not once. In that same time, they've allowed 28 runs in 32 innings from the 6th on. You ARE NOT GOING TO WIN if you consistently let teams (a) come back or (b) add to a small lead, late.

Now, the O's are 3 games below .500, with one against the Tigers and then four against Cleveland. They're in third place in a division where Boston still isn't really hitting and the Yankees are an injured mess. I expect those two anomalies to correct themselves. As for Baltimore, I'm not as optimistic.