Looking back at a disappointing finish to the West Coast trip

The Orioles will happily take a day off at any point in the season, whether it interrupts an impressive run or follows a losing series to the lowly Athletics. Can never have too many resets. But they obviously wish that the latter didn’t apply.

The flight home yesterday had to feel much longer.

Facing the Tigers in a three-game set that begins Tuesday at Camden Yards could seem to many like it’s make-or-break, since every loss inflates the odds against them, and winning two of three or manufacturing a sweep against a team with the best record in baseball would hint again that the Orioles have plenty of life in them. But man, that series in Sacramento was a kick in the crotch, and with sharpened spikes.

The A’s deserve an F grade this season but they won 5-4 and 5-1 over the weekend. Tomoyuki Sugano was starting yesterday against Jacob Lopez, which on the surface seemed like a lock before it reversed. Sugano allowed four runs (three earned) and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Lopez allowed an unearned run in four innings and Sean Newcomb followed with three scoreless.

Lopez and Newcomb are left-handers. There’s the reverse. The Orioles are 4-13 against southpaw starters, including openers. They’ll see two right-handers against the Tigers, but also Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal, who’s registered a 2.16 ERA, walked seven batters and struck out 105 in his 13 outings covering 83 1/3 innings.

Losing two of three to the A’s left some fans more bummed than others. I did a quick check of the comments on my last article after the final out and discovered the following:

* 4-2 road trip. That's .667.

* That sucked. Very disappointing.

* 4-2 isn’t terrible, but this should have been a 5-1 road trip. Have a nice flight boys, rest up. The Tigers will be a tough challenge.

So there’s positive, negative and somewhere in between.

I’m more in the middle. The sweep in Seattle following a sweep of the White Sox naturally led to thoughts of trampling the A’s. And yes, the 5-4 loss on Friday shouldn’t have happened. The Orioles went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded 10. Taking five of six on the trip and winning three straight series for the first time since June 26-July 7, 2024 would have been much easier to accept.

Don’t ignore a 4-2 trip while looking for 5-1, but it’s harder to keep that attitude when your team is 12 games below .500.

One area where it went wrong was a rotation that posted a 2.33 ERA, including seven quality starts, in the last 11 games before arriving in Sacramento. Dean Kremer, Charlie Morton and Sugano combined to allow 12 earned runs and 13 total in 12 innings.

The bullpen gave the Orioles a fighting chance, with only one run allowed, on Max Muncy’s 431-foot homer off Bryan Baker yesterday, in 21 2/3 innings in the series. Go back a little further and it’s one run in 23 2/3.

This stretch of impressive performances has lowered the relief ERA to 4.87, 26^th in the majors.

The group is so good lately that Matt Bowman was designated for assignment yesterday after tossing 2 1/3 scoreless and hitless innings on Saturday. The Orioles needed room for Scott Blewett, who did not yesterday. He tossed 1 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings after replacing Sugano.

If you need more encouragement to get you through the off-day, Adley Rutschman went 2-for-3 yesterday and has 10 hits in his last four games, batting .417 (10-for-24) over that span.

Ramón Laureano went 0-for-4 yesterday, but he was 14-for-29 in his previous eight games and 3-for-5 with a home run Saturday in his second game since his reinstatement from the injured list. That early-February signing of Laureano to a $4 million contract is looking better than it did when he slashed .188/.216/.438 in 21 games in March/April.

Dylan Carlson was 0-for-18 with the Orioles on May 19 and 1-for-22 on May 24. He has 14 hits, including three home runs, in his last 14 games.

He also has three minor league options and the Orioles need to decide whether he stays or they keep Heston Kjerstad, with Tyler O’Neill and Cedric Mullins returning later this month. Kjerstad was 4-for-9 with a double and two triples in his first three games this month, but he didn’t crack the lineup in Sacramento and had only one at-bat, which ended with a strikeout.

Colton Cowser is irreplaceable, as we learned after he fractured his left thumb on March 30. He's homered twice in six games since his reinstatement, is 6-for-21, and is drama-free in center field. And the roster will get healthier with Jordan Westburg expected back on Tuesday, and O'Neill, Mullins and Gary Sánchez trending in the right direction.

It would all seem a lot better if the Orioles hadn't spun the wrong way in Sacramento.