masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThere is never a good time for a team to hit a cold stretch on offense, but for the Orioles this is really not a good time. They lost 9-1 to the Yankees Thursday and 5-0 and 4-2 to the Indians the past two games.
In a three-game losing streak, that is three runs scored on 16 hits and just one homer for the Orioles. There have been very few scoring chances and they are 1-for-8 with runners in scoring postion in those games.
They are 71-71 with 20 games left to play. The Orioles are three games…

There is never a good time for a team to hit a cold stretch on offense, but for the Orioles this is really not a good time. They lost 9-1 to the Yankees Thursday and 5-0 and 4-2 to the Indians the past two games.

In a three-game losing streak, that is three runs scored on 16 hits and just one homer for the Orioles. There have been very few scoring chances and they are 1-for-8 with runners in scoring postion in those games.

They are 71-71 with 20 games left to play. The Orioles are three games behind Minnesota for the second wild card after a Twins loss Saturday night.

Tonight they will try to avoid getting swept three in a row by a Cleveland team that is 86-56 and has won 17 in a row. The Indians have outscored their opponents 118-30 during their streak. They have a run differential of plus-206 for the year to lead the majors. Cleveland went 19-9 in August, is 9-0 in September and 26-4 in its last 30 games.

The Orioles’ starting pitching has been a season-long issue for the team, but the inconsistent offense has also been frustrating. The Orioles have scored three runs or fewer 61 times this year and they are 14-47 in those games.

It was just about a week ago when we were talking about the Orioles prolific team offense in August. Third baseman Manny Machado was named the American League Player of the Month for August. But in September the Orioles are not producing much to this point.

O’s in August: .306 average, .347 OBP, .534 slugging, 6.0 runs/game.
O’s in September: .220 average, .265 OBP, .371 slugging, 2.75 runs/game.

Tonight the Orioles meet the Indians on national television at 8:05 p.m. on ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball.” It is their first Sunday night ESPN appearance since Sept. 13, 2015, versus Kansas City. The Orioles are 13-17 on Sunday night ESPN games.

It’s over on the farm: The season is now over for the Orioles’ minor league teams, as both Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie lost last night.

Lynchburg beat Frederick 7-1 to win the best-of-three Northern Division Championship Series in the Carolina League, two wins to one. The Keys had that great comeback win in the ninth on Thursday night, but scored just one run the last two games in Lynchburg. With the Carolina League championship series cancelled, Lynchburg will be declared co-champion of the league for 2017.

DJ-Stewart-Bowie-swing-sidebar.jpgBowie lost 6-1 at Altoona and the Baysox were swept three straight in that Eastern League playoff series. Bowie scored just five runs in the three games. Aderlin Rodriguez went 3-for-4 last night and DJ Stewart‘s solo homer in the fourth plated the only Bowie run.

So the season is over, but the coverage here is not. We’ll continue to have stories on the O’s minors here year-round, as always. In fact, some interviews compiled with players and coaches at Frederick and Bowie in recent days will be showing up here over the next few weeks.

I would like to thank the many club public-relations staffers along with the broadcasters who helped me so much again this year. Of course, I also say thanks to the Orioles player development and scouting staff, along with every team’s manager, staff and their coaches and several scouts, who provided me so much time and information again this year. Thank you!