masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgRemember when the Orioles were clinging to that one-game lead over the Red Sox in the American League East? Well, now they’re clinging to a two-game lead.
Buckle up. It’s a long season.
The Orioles lost their off day on Monday when they were forced into a one-game makeup series in Texas. No wonder they want to dance all over the open date on today’s schedule.
Just take very small steps.
“We’re moving toward this off-day like it’s the All-Star break,” said manager Buck Showalter. “It’s…

Remember when the Orioles were clinging to that one-game lead over the Red Sox in the American League East? Well, now they’re clinging to a two-game lead.

Buckle up. It’s a long season.

The Orioles lost their off day on Monday when they were forced into a one-game makeup series in Texas. No wonder they want to dance all over the open date on today’s schedule.

Just take very small steps.

“We’re moving toward this off-day like it’s the All-Star break,” said manager Buck Showalter. “It’s one day. It’s been so long since we had an actual home off-day. Of course, we know it’s going to rain probably, right? Keeps me from cutting grass.”

If you had June 22 as the date that Oliver Drake and Ashur Tolliver would be in the same major league bullpen, go directly to the window and collect your money.

If you included Odrisamer Despaigne, good for you. The trifecta pays out more.

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I’ll write again that no manager in baseball handles a bullpen with more skill than Buck Showalter, and he’s really been tested this season.

Losing Darren O’Day was a gut punch. It’s easy to dismiss the impact by referencing Brad Brach and Mychal Givens. It’s also wrong.

Brach should be in the All-Star game, but he’s not going to be worked to exhaustion. He wasn’t available for two straight nights after pitching Saturday and Sunday. Givens has been scuffling lately and it’s asking a lot of a guy who was a low Single-A shortstop four years ago to pick up the O’Day slack.

He’s done an admirable job, but let’s not put too much on his plate.

Dylan Bundy is better with extra rest, which Showalter is trying to provide as though the former first-round pick is on a starter’s schedule. Vance Worley and Brian Duensing are on the disabled list. Duensing wasn’t available Tuesday night.

Some fans blasted Showalter on Twitter for leaving in Givens “too long” Tuesday night. One fan said Givens should have come out three batters earlier, which would have meant he faced only two while the Orioles didn’t have everyone available and they were playing with a 24-man roster.

Drake needed time to warm up again. Givens wasn’t going to be on such a short leash that he could only turn in circles. We’re talking five batters before coming out.

Showalter wanted to keep Despaigne available as a starting candidate last night, but instead needed the right-hander to replace Zach Britton, who threw 23 pitches while being charged with three runs (one earned). Showalter wanted Britton available last night, and the left-hander recorded the last three outs.

Brach retired all six batters he faced last night after replacing Ubaldo Jimenez. Because Showalter rested him. Because he was fresh.

Think any of this is easy?

“There are so many things you wear after a game that you can’t talk about,” Showalter said. “You aren’t dishonest about it. You just don’t bring it up until one of you all do, and then I have to tell you.”

Such as guys who aren’t available due to injury or being at risk of one. We’re often left to speculate before the games. Showalter isn’t going to broadcast it to the opposing manager.

At least the Orioles possess more flexibility in the bullpen with four relievers who have options. It’s like finding a unicorn out there.

Mark Trumbo may be finding his stroke after enduring an 8-for-46 slump over 11 games before last night. He homered in the second inning, his 21st of the season and the first since June 7, and later doubled and singled to raise his average from .276 to .283.

“Mark’s been solid in a lot of ways, more than just hitting, obviously,” Showalter said. “He’s been pretty consistent for the most part. Shown a lot of things you just really don’t know about a guy completely until you have him every day. He runs the bases well, throws OK. Mark’s engaged in every part of the game. He wants to be good at everything. He’s been a good teammate, fit in seamlessly. Sharp guy. Likes to compete, always engaged.

“He’s always on, so to speak. Kind of like Adam (Jones). I was thinking the other day in Texas, we travel all day, it’s hot. Adam’s on. He doesn’t have an off. During the course of a long season, you really come to appreciate that. You really do. Just like Trum.

“The guys that have their on switch at the right times, you come to really appreciate them.”

Slumps like the one that attached to Trumbo can’t automatically be blamed on the hitter.

“If everybody’s carrying all their stuff, the pitcher wins. They always win,” Showalter said. “The pitcher’s right and the hitter’s right, the pitcher wins. That’s why it’s such a premium to get pitching.”

Ryan Flaherty homered in the fifth inning, but his finest moment may have come in the sixth when he reached on a misplayed pop up on the left side of the infield and reached second base.

Plenty of guys would have been slow out of the box, assuming the easy out. Flaherty ran hard and made it halfway around the diamond.

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“How many of you would have been on second base on a pop up that the third baseman didn’t catch?” Showalter asked, causing my head to lower because I would have slammed down my bat and walked toward the dugout. My jersey may or may not have come off.

Jones hustles home from first base on Jonathan Schoop’s hustle double. Flaherty hustles to second on a pop up. These things matter.

“If you’re on the other team, you don’t feel good about that,” Showalter said. “Those are two things you can do to separate yourself from a lot of people who aren’t willing to do that. We talk all the time, what are you really willing to do to separate us? Those are the things we have to do.”

Flaherty no longer is the starting third baseman with Manny Machado’s suspension ending. It’s back to a super utility role.

Flaherty’s three home runs this season have come this month. He’s hit safely in 14 of his last 19 games, batting .288/.358/.508 (17-for-59) with three home runs, four doubles, 12 RBIs, seven walks and 12 runs scored.

Schoop hadn’t batted third in the majors before last night. Twenty-nine of his 74 hits this season have gone for extra-bases – 16 doubles, one triple and 12 home runs. He’s collected 11 hits in his last 21 at-bats and is batting .320/.366/.560 (24-for-75) in his last 21 games, with seven doubles, four home runs, 14 RBIs, six walks and 16 runs scored.

Jones has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .306/.333/.592 (15-for-49) with six extra-base hits, 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored.

The San Diego native is batting .432/.447/.622 (16-for-37) with a double, two home runs, seven RBIs and nine runs scored in nine career games against the Padres.