Orioles have been beasts against the East until recently

NEW YORK - The Orioles lost two out of three games to the Red Sox to conclude the home portion of their regular season schedule, and they dropped the series opener to the Yankees last night. That's not typically how the American League East has treated the Orioles this season. Quite the opposite. The division used to give the Orioles wet willies and hang their underwear from a flag pole. It used to push them in the girls bathroom and hold the door shut. #HighSchoolFlashbacks The Orioles have become the aggressors. Before last night, their .638 winning percentage against the AL East ranked fourth in franchise history. Here's the list, which was featured last night on "O's Xtra" on MASN: 1970 - 61-29 (.678) 1977 - 58-31 (.652) 1969 - 58-32 (.644) 2014 - 44-25 (.638) 1980 - 49-29 (.628) The Orioles needed to turn the tables if they were going to contend again. "It's easy to talk about after the fact, but there are certain points of emphasis you have every spring and when we first started here, that was one of the things we knew we were going to have to get better at," said manager Buck Showalter. "We started having certain pitchers that we had really struggled against, and we talked about it. For us to get where we want to get, we've got to learn how to compete and beat so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so. Here's the numbers. What are we going to do to do that?" Force Andy Pettitte into retirement? He was 28-6 against the Orioles. OK, I'll stop interrupting. "These are tough venues to play in," Showalter continued. "With the exception of Tampa, they're all hitters' ballparks. I think pitching was a big step with it, attacking hitters more and trying to stay away from the base on balls. And having confidence in your offense, too. Minimize damage. Don't always think the sky is falling if something doesn't happen well right away. I think it's been more of a mentality. "It's kind of tough when some phase of the game hears, this is what we've got to get better at and only this. If we can get this better, than we're going to be this. That's not fair. You've still got to catch it, you've still got to hit it, you've got to score. "I think our starting pitchers kind of got their back bowed up a little bit on all of it. In sports, we always want to define what's lacking and exactly what's good, and that's not really fair. There's a nice common thread among all our starters, what they wanted to get done this year as a group." The turf field at the Ed Smith Stadium complex may have raised the Orioles' comfort level at Rogers Centre and Tropicana Field. Or I'm just reaching here. "Without a doubt," Showalter said. Whew! "That was a big expenditure for the organization," Showalter said. "We talked a lot about the differences when we play in those places and some things we do differently when we play there. And being able to show it physically on the field...like the swinging bunt to first base. The depth you can retreat on on turf, which is a big play for Tampa when they do that safety bunt. They didn't do it much against us." The Orioles didn't do much last night against Yankees starter Michael Pineda. I don't think the division is bullying the Orioles again, but they may want to push back tonight. The Orioles were one-hit for the third time this season. It also happened against the Cubs on Aug. 24 and the Blue Jays on Aug. 6. They were held to one hit in a shutout loss to the Yankees for only the second time. It also happened April 26, 1958 in Baltimore. Fans asked last night whether Showalter should stop resting players and get the team back in a rhythm. Steve Pearce wasn't available. Otherwise, check the lineup. Those were pretty much the regulars.