Ailing Orioles look to get mojo back
Baltimore still able to catch Yankees for division crown
Depleted by injuries and entrenched in a prolonged hitting slump, the Baltimore Orioles are desperate to regain their winning ways as they stumble to the finish of the regular season.
The Orioles owned a 57-33 record and led the AL East by three games on July 8. They were 70-48 and still in first place on Aug. 10. Since then, Baltimore has gone 14-19 and, after losing 10-0 to the Giants on Tuesday, trailed the New York Yankees by 3 1⁄2 games. The Yankees played in Seattle late Tuesday night.
“The mojo that we’ve had has just drifted away from us the last few months,” Orioles general manager Mike Elias said Tuesday. “There are reasons for it that are obvious, but a lot of it is we’ve got people here that are experiencing a downturn — whether it’s themselves or the team.”
Those obvious reasons Elias referred to are injuries. A whole lot of them. The Orioles have been trying most of the season to make up for the loss of three members of the starting rotation (John Means, Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells). Starter Grayson Rodriguez is also sidelined, although the team hopes to get him back before October.
Injuries have also impacted the offence. All-star infielder Jordan Westburg (hand fracture) and first baseman Ryan Mountcastle (wrist sprain) have been out for several weeks, and the infield was further depleted by the loss of Ramón Urías (ankle sprain) and Jorge Mateo (dislocated elbow). Elias hopes to have Westburg, Mountcastle and Urías back before the playoffs. Mateo had season-ending surgery. Playoffs? Well, yes.
The Orioles still have a shot at overtaking the Yankees, especially because the teams meet in a threegame series in the Bronx next week. And even if Baltimore can’t successfully defend its division crown, a wild-card berth is a virtual certainty.
But for the Orioles to avoid another early exit — they were swept by Texas last year following a firstround bye — things must turn around in a hurry.
“It’s been an unpleasant stretch here for the latter part of the summer. We’re going to figure this out and we’re going to get out of it,” Elias said. “I think we’re going to make the playoffs and do really well in the playoffs. I believe in these guys, I believe in this (coaching) staff.”
The Orioles were scoring runs in bunches before the all-star break, and Gunnar Henderson and Anthony Santander are still hitting home runs. But the offence as a whole is sputtering, as evidenced by the team’s last three series. Baltimore scored three runs in three games against Tampa Bay, was outscored 20-11 while dropping two of three at Boston and last weekend managed to score only six runs in three games at Detroit. Not surprisingly, the Orioles went 3-6 over that stretch.
Witt repeats 30-30 feat
The Royals’ Bobby Witt Jr. became the first shortstop in major-league history with multiple seasons of at least 30 homers and 30 steals when he swiped second base in the first inning of Tuesday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers.
Witt entered Tuesday with 31 homers this season, including a grand slam in the series-opener Monday night, and 29 steals. The 24-yearold had 49 steals last season, when he hit the homer he needed to reach 30 with three games left in the season.
The son of longtime big league pitcher Bobby Witt also became the first player with multiple 30-30 seasons in his first three years in the big leagues.