Good morning, Camden Chatters.<\/p>\n
Stop me if you\u2019ve heard this before: the Orioles lost because they couldn\u2019t score any runs for Shane Baz.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s becoming a running joke, although not a very funny one. When Baz is on the mound, absolutely everything seems to go wrong for the Orioles, and through very little fault of the hurler himself. Defensive lapses rear their ugly heads \u2014 like yesterday, when Jackson Holliday turned a potential inning-ending groundout into a single to spark a three-run Rays rally \u2014 and, most maddeningly, the O\u2019s offense simply vanishes.<\/p>\n
After yesterday\u2019s 3-1 loss<\/a>, in which the Orioles were held scoreless for the six innings that Baz was on the mound, the O\u2019s have scored a grand total of 15 runs for Baz in his last 12 starts. Read that again! Fifteen runs in 12 starts. Brutal. Four of those came in one game in Minnesota, in which Baz coughed up a 4-1 lead, but in nearly every other case the Orioles\u2019 bats never gave him a chance to win. The O\u2019s have lost 11 of Baz\u2019s last 12 starts even though he has a 4.02 ERA and seven quality starts in that span.<\/p>\n What did Shane ever do to his Orioles teammates to make them scorn him so? Does he chew with his mouth open? Does he talk on speakerphone in public? Does he do that thing where he\u2019s going through a door and there\u2019s somebody right behind him but he doesn\u2019t hold it open and it just slams in their face? There\u2019s got to be some explanation here.<\/p>\n In any case, the Orioles have completed their grueling 10-game stretch against the Rays and Yankees by going 5-5. Ten days ago, if you told me that the O\u2019s would break even over that span, I\u2019d have taken it. And I still will, even if the Birds\u2019 method of getting there \u2014 dominating the Rays and getting swept by the Yankees \u2014 was a bit unexpected. But there\u2019s no denying that the postseason math is getting harder. The Orioles now find themselves two games behind both the Rangers and Guardians, who are currently tied for the third wild card spot. The O\u2019s are also a half game behind the Blue Jays, tied with the Twins, and just a game ahead of the Mariners and 1.5 up on the Tigers.<\/p>\n The Orioles\u2019 schedule gets a lot easier for the next week and a half\u2026in theory, at least. Tomorrow they begin a three-game series in St. Louis against the .500 Cardinals, who just got swept by the Phillies and are slipping out of the NL postseason race. Then the Orioles\u2019 next six are against the two worst teams in baseball, the Athletics and Rockies. On paper, it\u2019s a great opportunity for the Orioles to string together a bunch of wins and leapfrog a bunch of teams in the wild card race.<\/p>\n But who are we kidding? We\u2019ve seen enough of the 2026 Orioles to know that they rarely seem to win the games they\u2019re \u201csupposed\u201d to win, and that they continually squander every opportunity to build some positive momentum for more than a few days. Would anyone be surprised if the O\u2019s end up with a worse record in this upcoming nine-game stretch than they had during this Rays\/Yanks gauntlet? Inconsistency just seems to be the name of the game for this year\u2019s Orioles club.<\/p>\n Offense breaks again for Baz in Orioles\u2019 3-1 loss (updated) – School of Roch<\/a><\/p>\n The Orioles\u2019 streak of drawing at least one walk in 121 straight games was snapped yesterday. The last time they didn\u2019t walk was in their ninth game of the season, when Leody Taveras had a 1.171 OPS and Samuel Basallo .466. So yeah, it\u2019s been a while.<\/p>\n