Rallying the Troops After Orioles’ Latest Loss

Only one word can describe the emotions felt by a Baltimore Orioles’ fan after Friday night’s 15-8 disaster against the Houston Astros. Intense.

There was the top of t he first, where George Springer homers before I could even get the TV turned on. And the thought is, here goes another bad start from Wade Miley. I think I even said something along the lines of “Miley, you suck.”

But then, Miley strikes out the next three, and when that includes batting average leader Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, you think, ok, it is just one run. The O’s should score at least one.

Then they did, on a solo HR by Adam Jones to start the bottom of the first. On the FIRST pitch. Oh yeah, maybe the six home runs from the night before will carry over.

And they do, as Manny Machado goes deep, Chris Davis hits an absolute rocket toward Eutaw Street, and then Mark Trumbo adds to his league lead in home runs. I know I was tweeting away, #BirdlandPowerCo.

5-1, end of a crazy first inning.

Then, Miley comes out for the second and gives it all back and then some, and the mood goes from exhilarating to exhausting. Miley is done, and Ubaldo is in.

But, then the Orioles take the lead back, so alright, just going to be high-scoring affair with bad starting pitching. Until the Orioles’ bullpen of Jimenez and Tyler Wilson primarily, just keep giving it away.

To say it was a frustrating loss is an understatement. Especially when the Blue Jays lost in walk-off fashion.

But, it isn’t the end of the world. Let me tell you why.

The bats are alive and well. Trumbo, Davis, throughout the order, it seems the offense funk may be a thing of the past.

But primarily, you have to remember who pitched last night. Miley is the Orioles’ worst starter, by far from what he has shown so far. Ubaldo is one of the worst pitchers in baseball this year, and may not pitch again this season in 10 days unless the Orioles are either down big, or up big. But, in this game they couldn’t hide him.

Tyler Wilson has been terrible as late, and is now back in AAA. To be honest, I don’t know what the Orioles have in he and Mike Wright, as both have failed miserably this year.

But, those three aside, the rest of the team is pitching pretty well. Scoring more than five runs a game is going to win a lot of starts made by the Oriole pitchers who don’t make me want to sing ‘Achy Breaky Heart’ for more reasons than one.

If Chris Tillman is healthy today, I expect the Orioles to continue hitting, and to win. Mike Fiers has not been good lately, and is home run prone.

Yovani Gallardo has been pretty good since coming off the DL, and Bundy has been successful as a starter. Gausman still doesn’t have the best of numbers, but he is also doing well.

Next: Ridiculous Loss in Ridiculous Fashion

If (and that isn’t a small if) this offensive surge is sustained over a 20-game period, I believe the Orioles can go 14-20 in those games. Miley makes four of those starts, maybe the O’s lose three. A few other losses, but the pitching right now from four of the starters is good enough to win games if the O’s score.

Sure, last night didn’t go the way O’s fans hoped. But, don’t abandon ship yet. The O’s could be poised for another hot streak.