Showalter on McDowell: "In a lot of ways, we're lucky to have him"

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Orioles manager Buck Showalter offered a blunt assessment over the weekend of his club's streak of allowing at least five runs in 20 consecutive games.

"It's an indication that we haven't pitched well, starting-wise," he said, the media crowding him in the visiting dugout at Tropicana Field. "Is that a revelation?"

Probably not. Is it an indictment of the new pitching coach?

Absolutely not, according to Showalter and his pitchers.

Plenty of fans are pointing a finger at Roger McDowell, which is beginning to irritate Showalter. He's made references to it multiple times on the current road trip, mocking the storyline and rushing to McDowell's defense.

"That's the world and the society that we live in," Showalter said. "We're always looking for an excuse and trying to find one thing to hang it around. I think if some of those people could spend a couple days around Roger, they'd feel a lot differently. He's knowledgeable, he's a really smart guy, works real hard. Players really take to him. And he can tough love, too.

"There's just a certain amount of things that you can do. He's had a great background in pitching. I don't think you could ask for a better resume. And if you could spend a few days around him, I think everybody would feel differently.

"As you well know, he's never going to throw anybody underneath the bus. He's a consummate professional, and in a lot of ways, we're lucky to have him."

Chris Tillman, whose ERA held at 8.39 yesterday after he allowed four earned runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings, offered his own endorsement of McDowell and bullpen coach Alan Mills while insisting that players must be held accountable.

"Nothing falls on the coach," he said. "I think Roger's as rock-solid as I've ever been around. The guy never wavers. He's as good as it gets, man. This guy's solid. Same with Millsy.

"In the end, they're not the ones out there throwing the pitch. They're the ones who are keeping our heads level and keeping us working. These guys do a great job and I don't think it would matter who was the pitching coach right now, to tell you the truth. I know, speaking for all the pitchers, this guy is real good and I appreciate the heck out of him."

The Orioles hired McDowell on Nov. 22 as the replacement for Dave Wallace, who retired from coaching and took a job with the Braves as a special assistant. McDowell served as the Braves pitching coach for the past 11 seasons.

It isn't easy being the new guy in charge of a staff with a 5.15 ERA that's the worst in the American League and 29th in the majors. The starters have posted a 5.78 ERA that's also last in the league and 29th in the majors.

"Every day in the major leagues, it's a challenge. And coming into the American League, and especially the American League East, the lineups and everything, you know it's going to be a challenge," McDowell said before yesterday's 8-5 win over the Rays.

"You come to work every day and you grind that day out. And hopefully what we accomplish on that day, you start to see results and hopefully the results start to come back with what you've been working on. The thought process isn't hoping, I want it to happen, but there's the work involved that we need to get accomplished and go out and actually do it."

Atlanta's staffs ranked in the top five in ERA from 2009 through 2014, and led the majors with a 3.18 ERA in 2013. Braves relievers registered a 2.88 ERA from 2011 through 2014, the best mark in the majors.

The Orioles were 19th in the majors last season with a 4.22 ERA, including 4.72 from a rotation that ranked 24th.

McDowell has garnered the support in the organization necessary to keep his job safe only 75 games into his tenure. There are rumblings of some dissatisfaction within the upper ranks that's more likely based on impatience and disappointment as the Orioles fell below .500.

"Every day, like I tell my pitchers, you go and look in the mirror and ask, 'Did I do what I can do today to help us get better?' And that is something that at the end of the day I go home and I'm able to do. And I have been able to do that," McDowell said.

"Buck has been terrific, the staff has been terrific, the coaching staff and the players have been terrific. It's a long season and guys go through struggles and it's usually the guys who come out of it are able to, I guess, survive the struggles and move on.

"As I tell my daughters, the sun comes up every day. It's just, how are you going to prepare for the day and how are you going to learn from mistakes and failures and try to get better?"

There's no denying that the pitching must improve for the Orioles to make a run at their fourth playoff berth in six seasons. They're checking on available arms, but also know that help must come from within, both from the pitchers currently on the staff and the ones at the Triple-A and Double-A levels.

Where are the starters failing? It isn't just one area. Not when the ERA approaches 6 and the rotation has amassed only three quality starts in the last 20 games. The bullpen has been forced to work 280 innings, second only to that of the Reds (296).

"The things that we try to put emphasis on, like first-pitch strikes, fastball command, hitters out in four pitches or less, and some of the things that we've kind of gotten away from as far as what we've been able to accomplish," McDowell said. "So, from that standpoint, obviously first-pitch strikes, aggressiveness, pitching ahead in the count, being able to throw their secondary pitches. All the things we talked about in spring training about what we're trying to accomplish, it's been a little bit of a struggle.

"That being said, we work on it every day. We work on it in the bullpen. We have conversations about it. Now, it's just being able to implement that in the games and having the trust to be able to do it.

"The fixing is just work, continuing to work. We do the in-betweens for the starters. For the relievers it's a little bit difficult, especially recently because of the workload. But for the starters, you do it on their work day, whether it's their second or third day between starts. There are conversations about it and hopefully the positive reinforcement of watching a game like (Saturday). Of, when you do and are able to execute, probably 99 percent of the time you're going to get positive results."

McDowell said he believes that there can be a snowball effect that must feel like an avalanche as the runs pile up. The Orioles have allowed 10 or more in six of the last 16 games.

"I think there's some validity to it," he said. "There are snowball effects on the positive and negative side. And a lot of times, there's the pressure of that next guy to come in and do the job, rather than have three or four good starts in a row, and it's kind of like, 'We're just going to keep it on a roll,' and things fall into place. But it's the struggle of being able to be that guy to kind of step up and not really feeling that weight on your shoulders of having to perform, as opposed to going out and trusting and being relaxed.

"We talk about that a lot. You're at your most effective at executing your best pitches when you're in a relaxed environment or a relaxed state. And when you have that little bit of added extra pressure, you put a little bit more weight on your shoulders of trying to get that job done. Kind of like the hitters. Somebody's struggling, 'I've got to do it,' instead of having that relaxed state."

It begins at the top of the rotation. Tillman missed the first month with a shoulder injury that dated back to December and interrupted his spring training. Kevin Gausman was outstanding after the break last season, the victim of scant run support, but he's registered a 6.47 ERA and a 1.884 WHIP in 16 starts over 80 2/3 innings. He hasn't completed the sixth inning in four of his last five outings.

"Tilly was set back," McDowell said. "He didn't have his normal winter workout. Set back before spring and got a late start. I think he's in the progression of somewhat building to where he gets comfortable and gets back, hopefully. to his old self.

"Gaus is still a young pitcher and still learning the craft and still learning the execution of secondary pitches and still learning the commanding of the fastball. I know he had a really good second half last year. Sometimes, those outings carry over into the next year. But up to this point it's been a little bit inconsistent. But continue to work and continue to reinforce the thoughts of using secondary pitches when behind in counts and having the trust in the fact that he does throw 95-97. But the secondary pitches are important."

McDowell stays in contact with Wallace, his mentor and friend. The conversations are a comfort. So is knowing that the sun will come up again.

"I talk to Wally quite a bit," he said. "It's just continuing down the path of trying to get everybody better."