Was last night's loss a devastating blow for the Orioles?

That loss felt like it had finality to it. With 16 games to go, are the Orioles done? Words like heartbreaking, disappointing, even devastating come to mind after last night's 6-5 loss. It was the quietest I've heard that clubhouse in the last two seasons. The players seemed down and how could they not be. The math still works for the Orioles to get in the playoffs, but they've now lost series to Boston, New York (twice) and Cleveland since the start of their last road trip on Aug. 27. The Orioles are 7-10 in that time, going 3-1 vs. the last-place White Sox and 4-9 against the Red Sox, Yankees and Indians. Three-straight losses to the Yankees, two with blown leads and one where the O's rallied last night to tie only to lose, may have been the last stand for this team. As disappointing as it was to see the Orioles lose to the Yankees, it was just as disappointing to see them contribute to their own demise. It has been such a tough year for Jim Johnson and the latest blow featured him pretty much handing the Yankees the winning run. When Danny Valencia hit that three-run homer it felt like an Orioles magic moment. It appeared the O's would pull out an amazing win, one that could propel them to a playoff berth. There was a huge swing in the emotions in just a few minutes from the last of the eighth to the top of the ninth. Now it feels like the Orioles will start to play out the string tonight, even though they are 2 1/2 games out of a playoff berth. As I said, the math still works, but the Orioles need to give their fans some reason right now to not doubt them. We are still waiting.