The Orioles have encountered their first three-game losing streak of the Showalter-era having lost their first three games of September. The Orioles saw two very winnable games against the Sox slip away and then last night were shut down by the Rays and the ever-chatty Matt Garza.
During the losses the Orioles have seen a regression in their overall game. The starting pitching has been solid enough but defensive miscues, shoddy pen work and an inability to get get that one clutch hit have reared their ugly heads yet again.Injuries to Adam Jones and Corey Patterson haven’t helped out much. Nick Markakis continues to be mired in a month-long slump hitting only .232. Heck, Nicky is only hitting .243 for the second-half! If this is any indicator on how things are going to go from here-on-out it will be a long September.
One bright-spot has been the starting pitching. Despite losing the last three the Orioles starting pitching has only given up 10 ER over the last week, Millwood being responsible for four of those runs last night. The starters’ ressurgence over the last trip through the rotation was just a wonderful thing to watch and even though they don’t get to play the Angels every game in September if the starters can keep that type of momentum up the Orioles should finish fairly strong. Or at least a lot stronger than they normally finish.
The last time the Orioles had a winning September was 2004. Since then the Orioles have gone a combined 41-95 during back-to-school time never winning more than 10 games in the month. Last month the Orioles recorded their first winning August in over a decade I know I speak for everyone when I say that a winning September would make me feel very good about this team going into the offseason. Moreover, another September collapse would threaten to unmake all the goodwill of the new Showalter regime and once again leave us with more questions than answers.
