Looking at the recent 'pen struggles and more notes

On Monday night, right-hander Jorge López allowed just one hit and one run over six innings. The Orioles won the opener of a three-game series in the Bronx 7-1. But since that game, not a lot has gone right for the Orioles, who were 10-6 since the break after that win.

Now they are 10-10 since the All-Star break and have been outscored 45-13 the past four games.

For the first time since the club moved to Baltimore in 1954, the Orioles, according to STATS, have allowed 10 runs or more in four straight games. Since the win Monday over the Yankees, the O's have lost 13-1 and 10-3 to the Yankees and have lost 10-6 and 12-3 to the Tampa Bay Rays.

In the last three losses, the Orioles were close late in the game and then got blown out. Wednesday night, after leading the Yankees 3-0 in the fourth inning, they were tied 3-3 in the seventh, but lost 10-3. Friday night the Orioles led Tampa Bay 5-2 in the sixth and were tied 5-5 in the seventh before losing 10-6. Last night, the Orioles led 3-2 after four innings and trailed just 5-3 to the eighth before losing 12-3.

In allowing 45 runs the past four games, the bullpen has been the biggest culprit in many of those runs allowed. While the starting pitchers have an ERA of a not great 6.75 in that span, the bullpen ERA is 15.66 in these four games. Orioles relievers have allowed 29 hits and 30 runs (29 earned runs) in 16 2/3 innings.gr

So, yeah, a rough stretch.

"I think everybody's getting an opportunity to pitch, and that's all they can really ask for," manager Brandon Hyde said of his team's recent bullpen usage and struggles. "We're not throwing the ball well out of the 'pen, we're inconsistent. ... I liked the way (Dusten) Knight threw the ball tonight. Got right-handers and left-handers out. Kind of some bad luck there, but I thought he pitched with some guts and I thought the stuff is interesting. For me, that was the highlight of the night. It was nice for me to see that because I am looking for guys to pitch.

"If you pitch well, you're going to pitch when it's close. All of our guys have had their moments of good streaks and bad streaks, and that's really been the thing for three years here. ... We don't command the ball well and so we have some good nights and some bad nights."

The bullpen, until just a few games ago, had been coming up big often, especially in wins. In the Orioles' first seven wins since the All-Star Game, the bullpen allowed five runs in 27 innings for a 1.67 ERA. So that changed fast, and you can't use the same high-leverage relievers every game.

Tampa Bay is now 10-1 this year versus the Orioles, and 16-2 since Aug, 25, 2020.

The Orioles are getting beaten and banged up at the same time. Catcher Pedro Severino has a knee contusion and left last night's game early, and Ryan Mountcastle missed the game while undergoing concussion protocol. One or both could have to go on the injured list today.

O's center fielder Cedric Mullins put the Orioles ahead 3-2 with a two-run homer to center field in the third inning. His 19th home run of the season tied him for the team lead with Trey Mancini and Mountcastle. It also extended his current hitting streak to a career-high-tying 15 games, and it is the longest active hitting streak in the majors. During the 15 games, Mullins is batting .361 (22-for-61) with three doubles, a triple, three homers, four RBI's, 12 runs, four walks and five stolen bases. It was Mullins' seventh home run against a lefty this season, compared to 12 homers against right-handed pitchers.

The Orioles (38-71) are now 7-7 over their last 14 games and 10-10 since the All-Star Game.

What a wonderful pregame ceremony last night to honor the latest class of the Orioles Hall of Fame, which included J.J. Hardy, Mike Devereaux, Herb Armstrong Award winner Joe Angel and the second recipient of the "Wild Bill Hagy" award, Mo Gaba.

What a great group of four for the O's Hall.

The warm feelings the former players expressed about Baltimore through the weekend as they reflected on their time here had to make everyone throughout Birdland feel pretty good. Hardy, Devereaux and Angel all basically said something similar, to the effect that this was their best day in the sport of baseball. Their feelings were heartfelt and remind us that this is indeed a special place for baseball.

Angel becomes the fourth play-by-play broadcaster in the Hall of Fame, joining greats Chuck Thompson, Bill O'Donnell and Fred Manfra. Basically, a great duo from back in the day and great duo from more recent vintage. We've been lucky in Baltimore to have some real greats work in the broadcast booths.

I hope you tune into "O's Xtra" pregame today when I join the show to talk about the O's farm. Among the players we will talk about this afternoon is high Single-A Aberdeen catcher Maverick Handley, who just might be the best catching prospect in the organization not named Adley.

Handley has the unique ability to cut down runners trying to steal while also being an excellent basestealer himself. The sixth-round pick in 2019 out of Stanford has thrown out 43 percent this year (20-of-46) with a plus arm while also himself stealing 12 bases in 13 attempts (92 percent). More on him and other notes coming up on the telecast later today.

Here is a link to the entire pregame Hall of Fame ceremony from the MASN Orioles You Tube page.

Your Orioles Hall of Fame class of 2021. pic.twitter.com/2fetpqy2La

-- Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 7, 2021