masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgNice homestand, huh?

The Orioles have lost all four games and have been outscored 33-22 by San Diego and Tampa Bay. They won nine of their first 12 series this season and now have lost two series in a row. They must try to beat a 7-0 pitcher today in Matt Moore to avoid being swept by a division rival at home. The Orioles now have a losing record at home, with a 9-10 record.

Seeing the Orioles lose when they take the lead into the ninth inning is pretty rare.

How rare?

Last season, they…Nice homestand, huh?

The Orioles have lost all four games and have been outscored 33-22 by San Diego and Tampa Bay. They won nine of their first 12 series this season and now have lost two series in a row. They must try to beat a 7-0 pitcher today in Matt Moore to avoid being swept by a division rival at home. The Orioles now have a losing record at home, with a 9-10 record.

Seeing the Orioles lose when they take the lead into the ninth inning is pretty rare.

How rare?

Last season, they were 75-1 when leading the game in the ninth inning. After seeing Jim Johnson give up leads on Tuesday against San Diego, and last night against Tampa the Orioles are 18-3 when leading after eight innings this year and 0-2 in the last four games.

After a team-record 35 straight saves, Johnson has suffered back-to-back blown saves. In those two outings, he pitched 1 1/3 innings allowing seven hits and five runs with two walks as his ERA jumped from 0.95 to 3.98.

In his first 19 outings of 2013, American League hitters batted just .197 against Johnson. In these last two games, they are 7-for-9, an average of .778. Hitters are .500 this year (7-for-14) off of Johnson when he is pitching with runners in scoring position.

In the ninth yesterday, Johnson and Darren O’Day combined to throw 49 pitches and just 20 were strikes. Seeing Johnson and O’Day struggle in the same inning was strange indeed.

In this series, Tampa Bay hitters have scored 22 runs on 28 hits with 13 doubles, three homers and a .500 batting average (13-for-26) with runners in scoring position.

These stats may be tough to digest with your morning coffee.

It looks pretty bad right now. Is this just a bump in the road (or maybe a big pothole) or have the Orioles become Team Turmoil?