masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgARLINGTON, Texas – As the losses pile up for the Orioles, it seemed only appropriate that tonight’s game would end with a disputed strikeout and a batting helmet slammed to the ground.
Manny Machado thought he checked his swing against Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson with runners on the corners, two outs and the Orioles trailing 4-3. The visiting dugout agreed, but plate umpire David Rackley had the final call and he ruled that Machado went around with the count 1-2.
Rackley didn’t consent to…

ARLINGTON, Texas – As the losses pile up for the Orioles, it seemed only appropriate that tonight’s game would end with a disputed strikeout and a batting helmet slammed to the ground.

Manny Machado thought he checked his swing against Rangers closer Shawn Tolleson with runners on the corners, two outs and the Orioles trailing 4-3. The visiting dugout agreed, but plate umpire David Rackley had the final call and he ruled that Machado went around with the count 1-2.

Rackley didn’t consent to an appeal by first base umpire Jim Reynolds, which would have been the normal scenario. Rackley said Machado struck out and the Orioles lost for the ninth time in their last 10 games and for the 10th time in their last 12. They also fell three games below .500 for the first time since July 24.

It gets worse.

The Orioles (63-66) have matched their loss total from the 2014 season and are 4 1/2 games behind the Rangers for the second wild card.

Machado screamed at Rackley and manager Buck Showalter rushed out of the dugout to get between them. He was much calmer in the clubhouse, though still frustrated by the call.

“Checked swing,” Machado said. “You’ve got to ask there, situation of the game. Changes the whole at-bat, but just, ask them. You’ve got to check. You’ve got to check on that. You can’t (not ask) in a game like that. That’s not supposed to be ended, but whatever. You can’t do (anything) about it now.”

machado-whiping-face-grey-sidebar.jpgShowalter noted that the first pitch was called a strike despite missing outside by a considerable margin.

“It was a little bit outside,” Machado said. “I don’t really care about balls and strikes. You can’t really force those. He’s been calling it all day. It was a little away. I’m not worried about balls and strikes. You’ve got to go up there and swing the bat. You’ve just got to check, ask for help. I know you know the situation of the game. Whatever.”

Machado said he watched video of the at-bat and his opinion didn’t change.

“I don’t think I went,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a good view on it. It looked like I didn’t.”

The strikeout provide another layer of anger and frustration as the club fell to 1-5 on the road trip.

“I think it’s just an overall thing,” Machado said. “There’s a lot going on. There’s frustration. I mean, that at-bat, winning run on first, tying run on third, you want to get ahead in that situation. We want to take that into the next inning or give us an opportunity to do something that we needed to do.

“It’s not something that they’re just starting to do. They’ve done it for a long time, but you’ve got to check. That’s all we ask. A nice little check. See what happens.”

It’s not getting any better for the Orioles after the Twins swept them at home in four-game series. It’s a snowball effect.

“It’s just part of the game,” Machado said. “We’ve lost one-run games. Don’t get me wrong, we’re playing against teams that are great, teams that are battling, teams that hopefully are going to be in the playoffs. I mean, it’s not easy. We’re just one hit away, one out away. It’s part of baseball. We’ve still got (33) games to get back in this. I mean, I’ve got faith in this team and we all trust each other that we’re going to get where we need to get to. We’re not worried about this.

“Nobody wants to lose. I think we’re just one good game away from starting a nice streak and going where we need to go.”

Here’s more from the Orioles following their latest loss, which dropped them to 17-24 in one-run games and 9-50 when they score fewer than four runs:

Showalter on the ending:
“There’s a lot of things that went on there. We had some opportunities, but just couldn’t get it done. Manny had a tough at-bat. First pitch was about four inches off the plate. The last one was very doubtful that he swung, but we put ourselves in that position. But got some good innings out of the bullpen. Just didn’t string much together again offensively. Just really that one inning.”

Showalter on Ubaldo Jimenez, who was charged with four runs in 5 2/3 innings:
“OK, OK. He kept us engaged in the game and gave us a chance to get back in it. Mychal (Givens) has been throwing the ball as good as anybody. Came in and gave up a ball off the end of the bat that found a hole. There’s nothing you can do there.

“I though his last couple innings were some of the best. You look back it, he kept us in the (game). He gave up three runs. I guess it ended up being four. He kept us engaged. I have a tough time faulting him. We didn’t do too much tonight other than that one inning. Had a chance there at the end.”

Showalter on how there’s enough time left to make a run:
“That’s what the good thing is there’s another opportunity tomorrow with very quick sleep and turnaround. We’ve got an opportunity tomorrow to get things going and get it turned in the other direction. It can turn in a hurry. September and August, it’s a long season left and we’ve got to start doing some things in order to make it happen and not think it’s just part of the mathematics.”

Jimenez on his performance:
“I think I felt fine. I was able to, as you say, minimize the damage. Got a couple guys on right away, but I was able to get the sinker down and get a couple double plays. I think I did good as much as I could. That’s what you do as a starting pitcher, try to go out there as long as you can and give as much as you have.”

Jimenez on how he wanted to stay in the game:
“I think there’s no one starting pitcher that’s going to be happy to get out of that game, because as a starting pitcher, you want to go deep in the game and it’s your game. You want to be in there as much as you can, especially after I got a couple quick outs. It’s not my call. You’ve got to go out there as much as they allow you to go.”

Jimenez on level of urgency:
“We know we still have a month left, but as a team you want to go out there and compete every night and try to get on a good roll, because it’s not easy to come to a stadium losing so many games. We still have a lot of time left, but we have to find a way to get it going right away.”

Steve Pearce on whether he felt the offense was heating up after three-run fifth:
“Yeah, we all started swinging the bats and we all thought we had the momentum on our side, and (Bobby) Wilson delivered a big hit the next inning. So it kind of cooled us down a little bit.”

Pearce on frustration of road trip:
“Yeah, because we’re not playing bad baseball, it’s just chips aren’t falling our way right now. One big hit, either way, in almost all of these games and a different outcome. So we’re going to do what we do best, we’re gonna keep grinding and just try to get back at it tomorrow.”

Pearce on Givens allowing Wilson double on ball off the end of the bat:
“Yeah, when it rains it pours, but we’ve got a new game tomorrow. We’re not out of this thing. It almost seems like nobody wants to take that last spot. We’ve got the team for it. We know we can turn this thing around, and it’s going to start tomorrow.”