In Buck they trust: O's skipper calm and relaxed despite 0-2 hole in ALCS

Don't worry, be happy.

Cue the Bobby McFerrin song.

If they take their lead from their manager - and the players, to a man, pretty much say they do - then the Orioles are not exactly stressing over their 0-2 deficit in the American League Championship Series.

Is Buck Showalter really as relaxed as he seems? Well, maybe not completely on the inside, but the O's skipper's calm approach seems to be sending a we-can-do-this message to his clubhouse.

Now they just have to do it. Come back and make this a series. Right now, any part of the baseball world that didn't know is finding out that these Royals have all the momentum and they plan to ride it all the way to their first World Series in 29 years.

Unless the relaxed, unconcerned Showalter-led Orioles can change the script. They sure have the appearance of a team ready to do that and soon we begin to find out if they actually can.

Maybe the key is Buck - and luck. Follow their manager's lead and get a few of those bloops or broken bat hits on their side. The Royals seem to be playing with a bit of a charmed life in this series. Can't last, can it?

This might not surprise any O's fan, but Showalter also is in control in the interview room. While he mixes in quips with reporters and drifts into occasional college football talk, he is also masterful at answering any question he wants, avoiding any he wants and slipping in a subliminal message if he feels the need.

For instance, Showalter ended his Sunday press conference here by saying this about his closer, Zach Britton:

"I didn't find out until after the fact that first day that he was slipping out there and didn't want to use it as an excuse. I didn't know that until he was telling somebody. That's the way Zach is. He doesn't want to look for an excuse."

Showalter made sure reporters heard that about Game 1, when Britton threw 20 pitches and just five strikes. He has Britton's back. By the way, that response came at the end of an answer to a question about setting up his lineup.

For two days, Showalter has deftly avoided addressing anything about Jarrod Dyson. But yesterday when asked how confident he is that his team can come back, he slipped this into the conversation:

"I'm very careful about saying something that makes my players' job harder than it is. So that's why I try to keep in mind, you think about the words, how they reflect on your team, your organization, the city. It's tough sometimes. But I think that's the bottom line. The game is hard enough as it is."

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but I took that as a shot of sorts at Dyson. As if Buck was saying, "You can run your mouth, but I won't."

But all this talking and analysis of everything in this series including my own here today on Showalter, will come to an end soon and the Orioles have to do it on the field.

They need better starting pitching, their bullpen needs to tighten up in the late innings and they can use a few homers, even in a park where it's hard to hit them.

Jeremy Guthrie had a strong finish to this season but he also has an ERA of 4.13, gave up 215 hits in 202 2/3 and gave up an OPS of .828 to left-handed batters.

The Orioles need to ring up a six-spot or so on their former teammate tonight to send a message that there's plenty of fight left in this dog.

Their leader has been calm, relaxed and in charge. Tonight we find out if that translates to the field for the Orioles with their season two losses from ending.