Baltimore Orioles: Close Game Records for 2015
Jul 1, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher
Zach Britton(53) high fives catcher
Caleb Joseph(36) after beating the Texas Rangers 4-2 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports
One of the problems that has afflicted the Baltimore Orioles this season has been a relatively total lack of coming from behind in the final innings to win a game. It is not as if the 43-42 O’s have not come from behind on some occasions and shown the resilience that has marked this team over the past four years. An example is the Sunday game a couple weeks ago when the Orioles blew a 7-0 lead to fall behind 9-7, yet they rallied to win the game.
In fact, the Orioles have come from some measure of deficit to win a game a total of 17 times in 2015. However, they are not getting it done in the final innings. The O’s are 0-36 when trailing after seven innings and 0-37 when behind after eight innings. In games where they have been tied after seven and eight innings, they are 6-5 and 3-4 respectively.
More from Baltimore Orioles
- What other Baltimore Orioles Offseason Storylines will you be interested in seeing?
- Baltimore Orioles to Face Numerous Playoff Contenders Down the Stretch
- Baltimore Orioles Showing Encouraging Signs During Recent Wins
- The Baltimore Orioles and the Expanded September Roster
- Orioles Josh Rogers Expectations in his Major League Debut
Before comparing this to other years, as well as to be fully fair and accurate, a good side this category of numbers is that the Orioles are also yet to lose a game they have been winning after seven or eight innings – being 37-0 and 40-0 in those contests. Zach Britton, Darren O’Day and others have been really good. Comparing this to 2013, it is shocking to see that they lost nine games when leading after eight innings. That was a bad Jim Johnson year – just a season after he led the Orioles to a 75-1 record when going into the ninth inning ahead of the opposition.
So how many late-inning comebacks did the O’s have prior to this year? In both 2014 and 2013, the Birds came back five times when trailing after seven innings and three times when behind after eight frames. And the great 2012 season is evident even in these numbers. The Orioles game back from a deficit after seven innings to win a total of nine games, and they did the same on four occasions when trailing after eight innings. Beyond that, we recall how they went 16-2 in extra-innings games.
This sort of thing is simply not happening this year. And it is not the fault of the bullpen, as evidenced by the perfect stats mentioned above.
Here are some sad numbers related to this topic. When Baltimore is trailing in games, their cumulative batting average at that time is .234 – ranking them 24th in MLB. Likewise their number in the category of average in close/late innings games is .210 – 27th in MLB. This is nowhere near as good as in other recent years. Let me chart it …
| YEAR | When trailing | Close / Late |
| 2015 | .234 (24th) | .210 (27th) |
| 2014 | .250 (11th) | .271 (3rd) |
| 2013 | .260 (10th) | .267 (3rd) |
| 2012 | .255 (11th) | .237 (19th) |
Even though the Orioles rank eighth in baseball with a run differential of +42 for 2015, it is not awesome to thereby only be one game over .500. And again, it not the bullpen causing this. And while the O’s rank sixth in MLB with a 4.45 runs per game average and 10th with a .303 average on balls in play, they are 20th in on-base percentage (.311) – a category always spoken of as desiring to be fixed, yet one that really has not happened.
The Baltimore Orioles have to find a way to win these close games and gain some victories with offense in the final couple of innings in order to have any chance of winning the A.L. East.