Orioles Struggle to Close the Gap

Sep 16, 2015; Baltimore, MD, USA; Baltimore Orioles pitcher Mike Wright (59) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

After Tuesday’s walk-off win in the 13th inning on a single by Chris Davis, as an Orioles fan, there was a bit more optimism than there had been in weeks.

The team sat only 5.5 games out of the second wild card and could close it to within five games with a win on Wednesday.

The Boston Red Sox, however, had other ideas.

Henry Owens pitched well in the last game of the series, and while the O’s got base runners on, they couldn’t push any runs across.

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The starting pitching continued to be atrocious (let’s not sugarcoat things here), and Jorge Rondon came in and was not much better.

Now, the team will head to Tampa to take on the Rays, who remain one game back of the Orioles. The O’s already have the Cleveland Indians, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and Minnesota Twins ahead of them, all chasing the Houston Astros and New York Yankees for those wild card spots.

The Astros are showing a lot of holes in their standing, as they have received really, really bad starting pitching from Collin McHugh and Dallas Keuchel in back-to-back games. This may be just as much about how good the Texas Rangers, who now lead the AL West, are playing, but it still doesn’t bode well.

Minnesota and the Angels will start a series against each other on Thursday, which may go a long way in determining which team stays in the playoff hunt. The series is in Minnesota’s Target Field, where they have been very good this year.

The Astros and Rangers will face the bottom feeders in the AL West in Oakland and Seattle respectively.

For the Orioles, they know they need to win. Buck Showalter said earlier this month they needed to win 25 in a row to finish the year. And to be honest, that was probably about right. While the team is playing better, and it may make them good enough to be a playoff team, the truth is that they dug themselves into a hole they probably cannot dig themselves out.

But that is why the games are played on the field. Until the O’s are truly eliminated, they still have a chance.

Next: The current state of the O's looking forward

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