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Baltimore Orioles: No-Hitter is First Nail in the 2015 Coffin

By Randy Buchman

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Aug 12, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher Hisashi Iwakuma (18) bows to the fans following the final out of his no-hit, 3-0 victory against the Baltimore Orioles at Safeco Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

Sorry folks. No happy thoughts and words about the Baltimore Orioles today. And it is not simply that the O’s were no-hit by the Mariners’ Hisashi Iwakuma in a 3-0 loss. It still counts as a loss just like a 10-9 game does, and both totally irritate me.

As has been written in this column all offseason and all season: This is a good enough roster to contend at the highest levels. They just don’t do it. There are times when this and that piece of the team is playing at or above expectation, but at the same time there are too many other parts who are mired in 0-for-33 slumps or something ridiculous like that.

And yes, I understand that there is a lot of baseball yet to be played — 49 games in fact. But even so, that is less than one-third of the season. And come on, there have been 113 games in the books, and this team — the one with all the marquee players — is one game over .500.

Going into this road trip to the West Coast to play three teams that were all struggling in recent weeks, we said the Orioles really needed to get six wins to be in a good position coming home. They got four wins. Toronto never loses anymore, and now the Tampa Bay Rays have completely caught up to the O’s … let that sink in!  The offense-less Rays are right there by the Orioles in the standings. Amazing.

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OK, in a search for something good to talk about … Kevin Gausman gave the Orioles seven innings of decent baseball — three runs on six hits. It saved the bullpen going into a day off, as only Brian Matusz had to be used for one inning.

Even though the Orioles have a lot of tough games ahead, including with all the A.L. East teams and the full season series with the Royals, 29 of the remaining 49 games will be in Baltimore.

Beyond this there is not a lot of analysis to be made. Right now, the mood in my head is not a good one, as this team over this season has been one that frankly never ceases to regularly disappoint. And hats off to Iwakuma; he earned it.

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