masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgIt’s sunny today, except for the dark cloud that must be hanging over the Orioles.

Kevin Millwood, pitching a gem, gets a two-out grounder to third in the 8th. The ball takes a bad hop for an error on Miguel Tejada. Three pitches later, Jose Bautista hits a 356-foot homer to left to give Toronto a 3-2 lead.

One batter later, Alex Gonzalez hit his second solo shot of the day for a 4-2 edge. The two-out error makes the three runs off him in the 8th unearned. He gave up one earned run today…It’s sunny today, except for the dark cloud that must be hanging over the Orioles.

Kevin Millwood, pitching a gem, gets a two-out grounder to third in the 8th. The ball takes a bad hop for an error on Miguel Tejada. Three pitches later, Jose Bautista hits a 356-foot homer to left to give Toronto a 3-2 lead.

One batter later, Alex Gonzalez hit his second solo shot of the day for a 4-2 edge. The two-out error makes the three runs off him in the 8th unearned. He gave up one earned run today in 7 2/3.

The Orioles could be closing in on 1 and 5.

Millwood deserved better, like some runs to work with. He entered the 8th with a 2-1 lead on just 70 pitches through seven. He was rolling, he was coasting, he was dominant. Then……

Today, the Orioles are 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

This won’t make anyone feel any better, but the Tejada error was the first by any Oriole this year. Great.

That dark cloud is getting more menacing.

The update: Toronto wound up hitting three homers over the last two innings for a 5-2 win, dropping the Orioles to 1 and 5.

I’d say “don’t panic” but why bother, this has turned ugly fast.

The Orioles have allowed at least one run in the 8th or later in every game of the year. Today they went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position and are now 9 for 54 (.167) on the year.

They scored just eight runs in the three-game series.