Baltimore Orioles nickel and dime’d to death in the rain

The Baltimore Orioles were looking good in this evening’s game, against a team that they should have beaten. Then the fifth inning brought rain, and took away starter Alex Cobb, who to that point had looked promising. Cobb’s line: 4.2 IP, 10 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 0 K.

Tampa took an early 1-0 lead after putting a couple of runners on base early, but settling for an RBI-groundout by Miller. But the Orioles stormed back almost right away. Adam Jones‘ RBI-double tied the game at one in the first inning. The Birds would then put runners at the corners with the newly acquired Jace Peterson coming to bat. Peterson of course was claimed off of waivers from New York, and figures to see a sizable amount of action in the immediate interim with Beckham now on the DL.

And Peterson came through for the Birds, with a two-RBI double to give them a 3-1 lead. And that held up…until the rain came. These are the things that happen when you’re a struggling team.

A light mist started to fall during the fourth and fifth innings. The grounds crew gathered behind the tarp, at the ready. If there was a delay and eventual cancellation, all the Orioles needed to do was get through that top of the fifth to have the game qualify as an official game.

And you could almost see that strategy forming in their minds. Just get through the inning and we may have a win and an early evening. Instead the exact opposite happened, and in the most unpredictable manner as could have been possible – which is about par for the course this year. Tampa started the inning with back-to-back singles, including a bunt back to Cobb, on a ball that probably would have been better handled in dry conditions…

…that, immediately followed by a two-RBI double by Cron to tie the game at three. Cron would be sacrificed to third, and later score on  a sac fly-RBI by Miller. Wendle would cap the inning off with an RBI-single, and the O’s trailed 5-3. Sisco’s solo homer in the last of that fifth inning would bring the Birds back to within one, but they couldn’t keep Tampa down. Hechavarria would smack a solo shot of his own in the sixth, knotching the margin back to two runs.

Tampa would add two more runs down the stretch to take the opener, 8-4. However that fifth inning really seemed to conspire against the O’s. Cobb wasn’t good by any means, but the rain did in fact affect him. And magically, as soon as the damage was done, the rain subsided.

Some might say that was dumb luck, and some might say it was justice. As I said, you could almost see the Orioles thinking down the line to the ends of perhaps rain wiping out the rest of the game. In trying to achieve that so hard, it’s almost as if Murphy’s Law began to apply.

And the fact is that Tampa nickel and dime’d the Birds to death tonight. The O’s seemingly have no use for individual base runners. They want the big blast and the dramatic play. Tampa on the other hand did value each runner, evidenced by each and every player hustling down the line out of the box. No doubt that got them infield singles on several choppers off the plate.

What the solution is for the Orioles, I really can’t tell you. What I can tell you is that on paper they’re a better team than this. Their career averages indicate that, especially against a young team like Tampa. Many of these players have been around the bend and back again. Hopefully for their sake they realize that sometime soon.

The series concludes tomorrow evening at Camden Yards. Dylan Bundy gets the start for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Chris Archer. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles can’t even get a break from the weather

This series against Tampa was supposed to be a get well series of sorts for the Baltimore Orioles. While Tampa has a slightly better record, the Birds are a much more talented team. Tampa’s a team of minor leaguers, who while having shown promise, probably wouldn’t be in the big leagues with any other organization.

So this could have been three games in which the Birds might have been able to spread their wings and show what they’re capable of in a sense. And they still could, but it’s being truncated to a two-game series. Mother nature has intervened, and tonight’s game has been post phoned.

The game will be made up as part of a single-admission doubleheader on Saturday, May 12th. Game one will begin at 3 PM, and the second one will begin approximately 20-25 minutes after the conclusion of the first game. Fans with tickets for tonight’s game will need to exchange the value of their tickets and parking for tonight’s game at the Camden Yards box office, or in writing by mail to:

Baltimore Orioles

Attn: April 24 Rainout

333 West Camden St.

Baltimore, MD. 21201

I’m not sure why the makeup was scheduled in this manner, but that’s how it goes. Teams generally don’t like giving up home games, which in essence is what the Orioles are doing. They’ll now have 80 home games this year, as that one admission on May 12th will get fans into both games.

Thus the Tampa series opens tomorrow at Camden Yards, once again weather permitting. Alex Cobb gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Jake Faria. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Is it time for a change in the dugout?

Buck Showalter‘s contract with the Baltimore Orioles is up after this season. GM Dan Duquette’s is as well, but that’s another story for another day. With tonight’s 2-1 loss to Cleveland, the Birds are now 6-17. So…should the O’s make a change in the dugout following this season? Or perhaps even now?

I’m getting asked that more and more as someone who covers the team. And I’m seeing people more and more talking about it on media such as Twitter. So obviously it’s on the minds of the fans. And I suppose that the record indicates that has to be the case. More on that later.

Kevin Gausman put forth a winning effort in tonight’s game. Gausman’s line: 8.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K. With this outing, Gausman went deeper than any other Oriole starter this season. I wouldn’t even say that he made one bad pitch. Granted Alonso’s two-run homer in the second stood up for Cleveland in terms of winning the game, that was simply a slider that was muscled out of the park.

The Birds would cut that lead in half in the bottom of that second inning on Chance Sisco‘s RBI-single. But that was all they could muster. And those two runs were all Cleveland could muster. Which is why this was another opportunity lost for the Orioles, who are direly trying to right the ship.

And some would say they’re trying too hard. Which is why again some people are tossing around the idea of a managerial change being a good idea. However to that point, I would submit that you can’t tell players to “try less.” Are guys pushing? Yes. But that’s a good thing, because you know how direly guys want to win.

Showalter came to Baltimore in August of 2010 on the heels of a start that was much worse than this one. It was also a team that wasn’t anywhere near as talented as this team is – that came later. And he had an almost immediate impact in terms of professionalism, as well as wins and losses.

Buck Showalter’s a professional manager who’s done nothing but baseball for his entire life. And I won’t lie, I think that letting go of a manager of his caliber would be the worst move that a team could make. How many truly great managers are there in baseball?

The obvious rebuttal if you’re on the other side of the discussion is how many managers are there with better records than Buck? And maybe that’s a valid point. However what’s not a valid point is what people think happens after a manager is let go. You have to have someone better to replace that guy if you’re going to make a change…makes sense, right?

So…with whom do you replace a guy who could be a borderline Hall of Fame manager if he won a World Series? People love to tell me that they should go young and hire this guy or that guy. And the thing that most of these options have in common is that they’ve never managed before. Heck, some of the ideas I’ve heard were guys who have never coached.

So does it really make sense to take the keys away from a steady hand, and hand them to a kid who’s never driven before? The answer to that question is an obvious and emphatic NO. So what’s the alternative? Stay the course.

Tim Beckham exited tonight’s game in the eighth inning and appeared to be in discomfort. Buck Showalter said after the game that it they’re concerned about Beckham’s achilles and groin. He had achilles problems during spring training. How long he’s out of the lineup if at all remains to be seen.

The Orioles will now move onto a fairly winnable series as Tampa comes to town – a series that they would do well to sweep if possible. Alex Cobb gets the start for the Orioles against his former team, and he’ll be opposed by Tampa’s Jake Faria. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles fall to Cleveland despite two Manny Machado homers

Manny Machado‘s two home runs this afternoon were a bit of a catch-22 for the Baltimore Orioles. It’s tough to argue that Machado isn’t one of the hottest hitters in baseball right now. But they were both solo homers, further illustrating that the O’s are having a tough time getting guys on base. If they could smack some of these home runs with runners on, the games might be turning out differently/

Andrew Cashner was solid for the Orioles this afternoon, but not solid enough. Cashner’s line: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 7 K. Cashner’s big problem was that he couldn’t turn in a shutdown inning once he got the lead. Granted however, Cleveland’s big damage wasn’t done until after he had hit the showers.

Manny Machado’s first solo homer of the day came right off the bat – in the last of the first, giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead. Again keep in mind that Machado hits third; that means two guys ahead of him recorded outs. Had even one of them gotten on base, the Birds would have had a more substantial lead.

The Orioles’ lead would hold until the fourth, when Ramirez would smack a solo homer of his own which tied the game. Later in the inning Cleveland got the lead briefly on Alonso’s RBI-double. However it was the last of that fourth inning which saw Machado smack his second homer of the game, tying things back up at two.

And in fact, things were looking up for the Orioles. Later in the fourth inning following a Jones double, Chris Davis‘ RBI-double gave the O’s a 3-2 lead. And in the wake of that is where Cashner needed a shutdown inning. And he couldn’t do it.

Cleveland would tie the game at three on a Lindor RBI-single in the fifth, and then take a 4-3 lead on Brandlet’s RBI-single later in the inning. That did keep the O’s to within one run, but they were unable to muster any more offense against Cleveland starter Kluber for the remainder of the game. To add insult to injury, Ramirez would smack his second homer of the game in the ninth (this one of the two-run variety), which was followed by a two-RBI double by Gomes, leaving the O’s with a 7-3 loss.

After the game manager Buck Showalter was asked if he felt his team could dig itself out of the hole it’s dug now at 6-16 (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

It’s a hole, if you want to call it a ‘hole,’ something that can be dug out of. We can. But you can’t just wish it and hope it and think it’s something that comes with the mathematics of a season. I understand you always have a sense of urgency. But you don’t really compare yourself with other teams that much and you don’t compare yourself with what portion of the season you’ve played and this and that and whatever.

We know the world we live in and move on from that. These guys are participators, they’re not watchers and they understand what’s going on. We talk about it in some form or fashion every day. Some things out of sight. But we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to do better. We know that.

So the skipper still has faith that something can happen this season moving forward. However the Orioles need to focus on tomorrow’s game right now – and only tomorrow’s game. And then onward from there.

The series concludes tomorrow night at Camden Yards. Kevin Gausman gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Hector Carrasco. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Close but no cigar for Chris Tillman

Chris Tillman gave the Baltimore Orioles his best outing of the still young season this afternoon at Camden Yards. It wasn’t great, however it wasn’t a total disaster either. Tillman’s line: 6.0 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 5 K.

Chalk this one up as one of those “in between” type starts. Somewhere between good and poor, that is. Tillman had some good moments for sure. However they say that solo homers won’t beat you. That’s actually not true if you give up multiple solo shots. It really doesn’t matter if you give up three solo homers or one three-run homer; it’s still the same number of runs.

However Tillman also got no help from Oriole bats, who were stymied all day by Cleveland starter Clevinger. The Birds didn’t get their first hit of the game until the fourth inning. And that makes Tillman’s outing look worse than it really was.

The Orioles are still in a spot whereby they seem to have no margin for error. Tillman walked a hitter in the first, who later went to second on a base hit and third on a wild pitch. Brantley would later ground into a fielder’s choice, scoring that runner. The Orioles on the other hand are held to attest to almost every mistake in the games that they make. And as they say, nothing good ever happens after a walk.

Clevinger kept the O’s off the board, which means that the lone run the Tribe scored in the first inning in theory would have been enough. Cleveland got a solo homer from Gomes in the fourth, and Ramirez and Alonso in the sixth. And there was really nothing the O’s could do, given Clevinger’s performance.

Clevinger is a fast worker who seemed very happy to go along with the fact that the Orioles were an aggressive team who wasn’t very patient. And I think it’s probably a situation whereby the Orioles all but out-thought themselves. Clevinger was pitching-to-contact, and I suspect that the game plan after awhile was to just keep putting the ball in play. And while they did get a base runner on an error at one point, in putting the ball in play the O’s kept hitting it to Cleveland infielders.

The Orioles kept Trey Mancini out of today’s lineup, and he could miss a few extra days as well. His CT scan came back clean, but the O’s wanted to be sure his knee wasn’t cut down to the bone. Mancini on his injury (quote courtesy of Roch Kubatko, MASNsports):

It’s really sore today. Just four inches or so under the wall that isn’t padded is where my knee hit. It obviously doesn’t feel too good, but luckily avoided anything too serious there, like no tears, no break. I just had to get a couple stitches and it’s just really swollen today and it’s tough to bend my knee, but I’m hoping within a couple days it will be good

The series continues tomorrow afternoon at Camden Yards. Kevin Gausman gets the call for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Corey Kluber. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: A much-needed win and a possible loss

The Baltimore Orioles can’t catch a break. I bet you didn’t expect to see that sentence leading off a story about the Birds snapping a six-game losing streak. And quite frankly, I didn’t expect to have to write it. However the fact is that as grateful as the O’s were to have won that game last night, they may have lost Trey Mancini for today or possibly longer. More on that later.

Dylan Bundy was his normal solid self, putting the O’s in a spot to win. Bundy’s line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K. That one run shouldn’t have happened, although it was earned. With Kipnis (the second hitter of the game) at the plate and one out, Chance Sisco misplayed a foul pop. That would have been a sure out, however Kipnis stayed alive and ended up getting on base – which given the Orioles’ propensity for being held accountable for all of their mistakes isn’t overly surprising.

The bases would end up being loaded later in the inning, and Bundy grazed Encarnacion’s jersey with a pitch. And when I say grazed, I mean that the ball may not have even touched hard enough to brush lint off of the jersey. But it still goes as a HBP, and in that case it forced in a run to give Cleveland a 1-0 lead.

That aside, Cleveland did the normal routine for Oriole opponents in terms of getting guys on base with seeing-eye singles and by finding holes in the shift. But Bundy never allowed any of those runners to score. The Orioles’ first hit of the game came in the last of the fourth, when Manny Machado went deep and tied the game at one.

One inning later the Birds had two on with nobody out, and Trey Mancini plated those runs with an RBI-double to the gap in left center. That gave the O’s a 3-1 lead, which the bullpen was able to hold. But unfortunately for the Orioles, the news wasn’t all good.

Mancini chased down a foul pop towards the left field line in the eighth, and crashed into the wall. He immediately rolled over in obvious pain, and was lifted from the game. The Orioles announced after the game that he was undergoing an MRI, and his status for today’s game is up in the air. Manager Buck Showalter addressed Mancini’s injury with the media after the game (quote courtesy of Brittany Ghiroli, mlb.com):

X-rays, he’s got a puncture in there, too. We’ll see how he is tomorrow. They’re contemplating a couple of sutures, but we’ll see. For him to come out of the game, he got pretty stiff.

Mancini’s listed as day-to-day, but I wouldn’t expect to see him in today’s game, unless he magically wakes up this morning and everything is healed. He’s not a guy that the Orioles can afford to lose for any extended period of time. As a lead off guy, the offense has really flowed through him of late.

The win snaps the Orioles’ aforementioned six-game losing streak. So the Mancini injury aside, that’s a good thing for this club. Now that the pressure of trying to win one is behind them, for their sake they’re hoping that they’re able to relax just a bit more. Because obviously there’s still a full season ahead, minus about three weeks.

The series continues this afternoon at Camden Yards. Chris Tillman gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Mike Clevinger. Game time is set for just after 4 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Don’t judge someone by their worst day

The Baltimore Orioles are better than their record indicates. Sure there are a million cliche’s out there which attest to the contrary, however I’m talking facts here. Facts backed up by numbers. This team flat-out is better than it’s record indicates.

Adam Jones is only hitting .250. Now in saying that he’s also been fairly consistent thus far this year. But he’s a career .277 hitter. It stands to reason that he’ll progress upwards towards the mean. The same is true of Chris Davis, and his current .144 average. He’s a career .244 hitter, who normally hits with a lot of power.

And those are just two examples. And here’s another – Alex Cobb. Granted Cobb’s only been an Oriole for a couple of weeks, however he’s been shelled in two starts. He’s pitching at a 15.43 ERA, compared to his career mark of 3.62. Again, one has to imagine that he’ll progress towards his career means.

Buck Showalter has used a line from time to time about not judging people based on their worst days or moments. Buck’s not only a gifted baseball manager, but he’d make a great life coach as well; that’s good advice all around. Think of the worst moment, day, or even time period you’ve ever had in your life. Would you really want to have judgement on your overall life passed based on that moment?

The obvious answer to that is no – unless you live in the bizarro world, that is. The facts indicate that the Orioles are a better team than what we’ve seen. So all you can really say is that these past few weeks is that the O’s are in the midst of their worst day. Because the numbers indicate that they’re a better team than what we’ve seen.

They just need to ratchet things up – and as Buck would say, keep grinding. It that means guys take batting practice for three hours, so be it. Same with fielding practice. This team has dug itself a hole for sure. But that doesn’t mean that the season isn’t salvagable. Because it is, if the Orioles want it to be.

 

Baltimore Orioles: Not enough in the here and now and too much down the line?

The Baltimore Orioles were swept at the hand of the Detroit Tigers this afternoon at Comerica Park. It wasn’t the result the Orioles wanted, but there’s a lot of season left, and they have to move on. Alex Cobb was beaten around in his second start as an Oriole, although the fact is he didn’t get much help. Cobb’s line: 3.1 IP, 10 H, 7 R (5 earned), 1 BB, 4 K.

Detroit unofficially hit nine balls on the ground in this game which either ended up as close seeing-eye singles, errors, or were bobbled by Oriole defenders. It’s tough to put one’s finger on how many of those should have been outs and how much any of that would have mattered, but it all made a difference.

With Detroit already leading 1-0 in the second, it looked at first like it might finally be their day. Chris Davis‘ two-run homer gave the Birds a 2-1 lead. However the Orioles also left runners at the corners in that inning. When you can’t plate guys on base you play right into the hands of your opponent.

Detroit would get the lead back in the bottom frame of the inning off of a two-RBI triple by Iglesias, and an RBI-single by Candelario RBI-single. However by the time the smoke cleared, Detroit led Cobb and the Orioles 5-3. And again, part of that was due to a play in which the Oriole infield bobbled a ball which allowed a run to score.

But the teams would trade homers in the fourth, with that of the Oriole coming off of Manny Machado‘s bat. And Detroit’s came off the bat of Candelario, this one of the two-run variety. Throw in a HBP with the bases loaded, and the O’s trailed 8-3. But the coup de grace came in the last of the sixth when Martin smacked a grand slam, giving Detroit a 12-3 lead.

The O’s would get a run back on an additional homer off the bat of Machado in the sixth, Jones would add an RBI-double – running the score to 12-6. Detroit would put one more run on the board, and the O’s would actually mount a mini-rally in the ninth, putting two runs on the board. However a loss is still a loss – whether you lose 13-8 or 1-0.

The Orioles have now lost six straight and have fallen to 5-14 on the year. These are tough times in Birdland, however keep in mind that baseball people are superstitious. When things are going really well they tend to worry because at some point it’s going to bounce the other way. When things are going tough, they know that the same is true – at some point things bounce back the other way.

One thing manager Buck Showalter prides himself in is the ability to manage the game a few hitters or perhaps even a few innings down the way. And for the record, I agree with that type of management – in baseball, and in life’s affairs. Baseball’s a thinking man’s game, and the mental game is at times more important than finesse. And Showalter’s instilled that attitude in his Orioles as well. But is it too much?

The thing is that most people know that the Orioles manage games like that. As an example, did Buck Showalter err once again on Wednesday by not bringing his closer in, similar to the 2016 AL Wild Card Game? The results say he did. However in reality Showalter knew that being the visiting team, he would need his closer in the bottom of an inning if he was going to win that game.

So Minnesota knew not to prepare for the closer. Why do teams at times have relievers up in games at somewhat odd times? Because they know that in the next half inning Showalter might opt to pinch-hit a lefty, and they want to be ready. Things like that are what makes Buck tick in the dugout. And again, that’s proper management in terms of baseball.

And yet, a lot of guys don’t seem to do that. It seems that a lot of players nowadays try to live squarely in the moment, and not worry about what the future brings. And a lot of newer-age managers are just sitting back and letting things in games work themselves out. Could that possibly…be part of the problem?

My answer to my own question is that I quite frankly don’t know. Buck Showalter was relieved of his duties in other organizations because he obsessed over details. Speaking for myself, I like a detail-oriented guy. However is it not possible to that point to get so close to the forest that you can’t smell the trees?

Again, I can’t answer that. I refused to believe that something like this could happen, mainly because statistics said that this team was better than this. So even as an impartial observer and a writer, seeing this team going through what it’s going through is incredibly humbling. Because solidly great hitters have looked worse than poor.

But again, is it possibly to do with too much detail, and too much looking down the line? Anything’s possible. But I’d rather not think like that, because I refuse to believe that sitting back and taking it all in could somehow be better than paying close attention to detail in games.

Am I saying Showalter’s management style is the problem? I’m throwing the idea out there, but I’m also suggesting that’s not the case. And how is it not the case? Well, was it the case in 2012? Or 2014? Question answered.

Tomorrow evening the Orioles will open a four-game set with Cleveland at Camden Yards. Dylan Bundy gets the start for the Birds, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer. Game time is set for just after 7 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: The struggles just don’t add up

The Baltimore Orioles are better than 5-13. They’re better than all of the miscues we’ve seen on the field. And they’re better than losing their fifth straight game, this one in walk off fashion in Detroit.

However what we’ve seen is what we’ve seen – through 17 games. But the fact is that most of their struggles quite simply don’t add up. Look back a couple of years at what’s still the core of this team; would one have thought that a team led by Davis, Jones, and Machado be performing like this, and losing games in the manner we’ve seen?

The Orioles got their eighth quality start of the season this afternoon, this time from Kevin Gausman. Gausman’s line: 6.0 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K. Simply put, Gausman deserved better. But the good news for him and for the team overall is that the O’s did in fact manage to put runs on the board today.

Danny Valencia started the scoring off with a solo homer in the second, giving the Birds the lead. However one inning later Detroit followed suit with a solo home run from Candelario, tying the game. But Gausman hung in there, keeping the O’s in the game. And that’s all you can ask from a starting pitcher; that he puts his team in a position to win.

However Gausman would give up an additional solo homer to Cabrera in the sixth which gave Detroit a 2-1 lead. And yes, the Orioles squandered a few chances with runners in scoring position. However Manny Machado would come through in the clutch in the top of the eighth with an RBI-single to tie things back up at two.

The footnote of that sequence was that Craig Gentry managed to get a runner into scoring position by bunting. That’s obviously something we haven’t seen out of the Orioles too much yet this year, however Gentry laid down a great bunt. And in fact, he ended up getting aboard on a throwing error. Sometimes when you simply put the ball in play good things end up happening.

And for once it appeared that the Orioles were going to get fat off of someone else’s mistake. Adam Jones managed to score Gentry on a sac fly-RBI, and before you knew it the Orioles had the lead back at 3-2. And to top it off, Chris Davis would smack an RBI-single to give the O’s an insurance run.

That said, there was something very important about that single, and it’s the type of thing that happens to a team that’s struggling. Davis smacked the ball off of the wall, and it bounced back into play. Had it hit the wall just a little differently, it might have bounced over and been a two-run homer. But it didn’t – remember that.

Following back-to-back singles in the last of the eighth, Darren O’Day gave up an uncharacteristic three-run homer to Hicks, giving Detroit the lead back at 5-4. Ironically, Hicks’ homer smacked against the wall in the same manner that Davis’ single did. However his went over the wall, whereas Davis’ shot bounced back into the field of play. Again, this is the type of cruel irony that befalls struggling teams.

However there is some silver lining in this – the Orioles, while struggling, fought back. Luis Sardinas‘ solo homer in the ninth tied the game right back up at five. And win or lose, those are the Orioles that the fans have come to know – the team that keeps fighting. Unfortunately for the O’s and the fans, Detroit fought also. And being the home team, they got the last at-bat; and that last at-bat was a walk off home run to win the game for Detroit.

It’s too cliché to say this team invents ways to lose games. However while a lot of fans are justifiably frustrated with this team, the fact that statistical means indicate that they’re better than this should give people some hope. 5-13 is a tough hole out of which to dig out. But again, past performances indicate that these guys will snap out of this, which is exactly what Buck Showalter indicated after the game (quote courtesy of Steve Melewski, MASNsports):

You’ve got to stay the tide. When things are going real well, you can’t seem to do anything wrong. Those days are ahead. Those things can happen but you can’t just wait for them to happen. This is a tough level of play, and you’ve got to be clicking on a lot of different areas in order to put together a good string of wins.

Translated: stay the course. As I said, career statistical means indicate that this team is much better than that. It’s easy to fall into the trap of saying that they aren’t with it emotionally or mentally – especially when the results back up that point. But the fact is that what we’ve seen thus far just doesn’t add up or make sense. And unless this is the bizarro world, at some point it’ll have to make sense.

The series concludes this afternoon at Comerica Park. Alex Cobb gets the start for the O’s, and he’ll be opposed by Detroit’s Jordan Zimmerman. Game time is set for just after 1 PM.

Baltimore Orioles: Do the issues stem back to Buck Showalter, Zach Britton, and Ubaldo Jimenez?

Many fans love to point back to the 2016 AL Wild Card game in which Baltimore Orioles’ manager Buck Showalter opted to leave closer Zach Britton in the bullpen. Instead he turned to Ubaldo Jimenez in an extra-inning elimination game. Jimenez of course gave up a walk-off season-ending home run.

Scientifically it’s impossible for that to be influencing what’s happening with the team now. Or even last year. Yet people still talk about it as if it’s a white elephant in the room. I’m going to say this once – I agreed with Showalter’s decision. It was tempting to use Britton for sure. But what happens if the Orioles take the lead and he’s already spent? As the visiting team in that situation, they would have had to play the bottom of every inning. Who pitches if Britton’s already used? Jimenez?

Was it controversial not to use Britton? Yes. But I had no issue with it. In baseball you always have to be thinking ahead. That’s all Showalter was doing.

Yet people act like had that gone differently maybe the team wouldn’t be struggling as it is right now. I suppose that anything’s possible. There are reports that some of the players in the clubhouse lost respect for Buck Showalter in that moment. He still has respect in the clubhouse, just not as much. If that’s true, is it fair? And does it make a difference?

I’m sure there were players who disagreed with Showalter’s decision. Heck, if Showalter’s own comments are any indication, he second-guessed himself after the fact. However I think you also have to look at the fact that these players are professionals. Even if they disagreed with the decision, are they really about to let that affect their play on the field one or even two years later?

You also have to look at the entire body of work. Again while that’s the decision I would have made personally, that was one “mistake” that Buck Showalter made as manager of the Orioles. Is it really fair to question his entire stewardship of the team? Similar to Machado, he’s going to win you more games than he’ll lose you.

Ultimately I think the Orioles’ issues are smaller details. Such as seeing the correctly, paying close attention to details, and letting things snowball into bigger things. It’s easy to point to the Britton thing as a catalyst for things going south to this point. However again scientifically that’s an impossibility. If there’s a correlation, these players aren’t professionals. And I don’t think that’s the case.