O's lose 2 outta 3 vs. Tribe

It was a painful series, wasn't it Corey?

After taking 2 of 3 from the Mariners, the Orioles looked to continue their roll against the Indians, who were limping into Baltimore with a 12-19 record.

The series got off to a good start as the O's won the first game 8-1 behind a brilliant Jeremy Guthrie 8 IP, 2 hit performance. And things were looking good in game 2 after Brian Matusz pitched a shutout for 7 innings and the O's carried a 2-0 lead into the top of the 9th inning. But when Alfredo Simon came in to close out the game, he did the opposite. He allowed 4 ER on 3 hits (including a HR) and a walk and left the game after only getting one out.

Cal Meredith only made the damage worse, mirroring Simon's ineptitude, allowing 4 ER on 3 hits, one walk and a homerun. Final score, 8-2.

The O's had a chance to win the series yesterday, but things didn't look good when it was announced that David Hernandez would miss the start with shoulder soreness. Not that Hernandez is a great starting pitcher or anything. As a matter of fact, he's probably on his way out of the rotation. But with Mark Hendrickson filling in, the O's chances of winning the series were going down the tubes.

Hendrickson did about as good as a spot starter can do, going 5 IP, allowing 3 ER. But the Oriole bats fell asleep as they have so often this season, and they could only muster 1 run on 9 hits. The final score was 5-1. And after beating up on the Indians 8-1, the O's were outscored in the next 2 games, 13-3.

So the O's are sitting at 3-3 on the home stand, back at their season-high 14 games below .500 and failed to make any progress in the standings while facing some of the AL's weaker teams. The offense, which looked like it was heating up against the Mariners and in game 1 against the Indians, has gone back into hibernation.

The Royals come to town for two before the O's travel to Texas for two and then Washington for three, so it would be nice to see the O's get back some momentum before going back out on the road, where they are 5-15 (.250).

Well, there you have it. While the Orioles have played much better in their last 20 games (10-10) than they did to start the year (4-16), it appears as if they will never be able to dig themselves out of the hole they dug for themselves with the second worst start to a season in franchise history.

You'd think they would be able to make some progress against the worst teams in the American League, but it's pretty hard to do when you are still the worst team in the American League.