Once again on Wednesday, the Orioles lost again, 6-3 to the San Francisco Giants. Jeremy Guthrie took his 8th loss of the season as he went six innings and gave up four runs in his outing.
Perennial Cy Young award candidate Tim Linecum got the easy win and gave up two runs, striking out ten in six innings, plus walking four. He got hit with a line drive off the bat of Miguel Tejada and had to leave the game. Despite his solid numbers, the Orioles got him
The Orioles kept things close until the latter third of the game as San Francisco, with a 4-3 lead, scored twice in the eighth inning to decide the game.
Boy, wouldn’t Aubrey Huff look good in an Oriole uniform right now. He went 3-for-4 with a homer yesterday and for a guy who got no other offers from the other 29 teams in Major League Baseball this offseason, Huff is sure having a nice, bounce-back year.
Of course, once again the Baltimore offense was the problem and yesterday’s game was a microcosm of why they are where they are.
The Orioles managed eleven hits, got seventeen runners on base and over-and-over again throughout the game had a chance to tie or break things open; however, they were a putrid 3-for-14 with men in scoring position.
Baltimore is now 18-48, a sad 30 games under .500 and on pace to become one of the worst baseball teams to ever take the field in recent memory.
The result on Wednesday on left coast is a big, big reason why.
Moving on…
Nick Markakis finally spoke out to the media (courtesy of the Baltimore Sun) about the losing, as well as his frustration with the 2010 Orioles.
I’m glad he finally he did this, but perhaps it all came a bit too late. I can’t ever recall him ever being this vocal, but with a season down the toilet and three-and-half months to go in the 2010 season, someone on the team had to say something than the standard cliché of, “Oh, we’re trying to get better”, “or we’re doing our best..”
Nick said, “I know we have a lot of injured guys. We’re in the toughest division in baseball and we’re a last-place team. But at this point, it’s mind boggling. You don’t even know what to think, but you still have to be professional and go out and play every day.”
Plus, he added about the offensive problems, “We’re all bad right now. It’s obvious. Everybody watches the games. They see it, they know it. It is what it is until we start making adjustments. You can’t say guys aren’t trying. Guys are busting their butts. I just don’t think they have the right approach going up there. It’s like, ‘see ball, hit ball.’ You can’t do that. You have to make the adjustment and you have to change your approach. Until you do that, this is going to keep happening.”
There’s nothing more that can be said.
Until the players work better on their situational hitting and doing something with the baseball at the plate than hoping to just make contact, the Orioles will continue to struggle offensively.
I seriously wonder if the situation with the offense – and the pitching – is only bound to get far worse with the trading deadline and the possible departure of productive veterans on the team now.
Right now, something – anything – has to be done with this team.
Finally, in terms of the managerial search, it looks like the Orioles are going to chat with Buck Showalter. I’m not personally a huge of fan of Showalter and he seems to tire, plus alienate players and front office staff – allegedly – wherever he goes, but he wins, seemingly knows how to build a team, guide them and get results. If he’s the best man available for the job, by all means hire him.
Also, give Showalter ample time to change the culture with the Orioles on the field and see if he can get anything out of them.
Let’s hope that Buck isn’t his worst own enemy. Showalter fired from every managerial job (three: Yankees, Rangers, Diamondbacks) that he’s held.
