A brutal road trip comes to an end this afternoon

During a season where we have now seen the Orioles lose 101 games, we've seen plenty of nights where the team has looked bad. The last two nights at Tropicana Field might rank right up there.

On Friday night, in a 14-2 loss, the Orioles trailed 6-0 in the third inning. They were held to six hits and stuck out 15 times and O's pitchers walked 11. At least they didn't give up any unearned runs. That would wait until the first inning in last night's 10-5 loss. An ugly bottom of the first ended with David Hess throwing 30 pitches and the Orioles down 4-0 on four unearned runs. Renato Núñez made an error, Hess lost control of the ball and threw a wild pitch, Joey Rickard had an adventure on a triple in right and the O's allowed a run to score during a rundown that lasted long enough for a runner to score from third base.

It's one thing to lose or get beat. It's another to look so bad doing so and look disinterested at times. I am not accusing the Orioles of a lack of effort but it sure looked lackluster at times Saturday night while Tampa Bay had the opposite look. A team with plenty of life beat one that looked lifeless.

The 1988 Orioles lost 107 games and the 2018 Orioles now hold the mark for second-most losses in club history with 101 and counting. The Orioles (41-101) have lost three in a row, seven of eight and 15 of the last 19. They are 17-57 on the road where they have lost 11 of 12 and 28 of their last 33.

The 2018 team is reaching depths never seen before in Orioles history and this weekend they've put up little resistance versus a surging Rays team. The fans around Birdland have had a long summer, one where they criticize the team often and mostly because the team provides so much reason to do so.

It's been tough and probably has never been tougher to be an Orioles fan. Many fans have checked out on this season. But I'm also surprised at how many have not.

The Orioles have been outscored by 17 runs this weekend by Tampa Bay (77-64) team which has won 15 of its past 18 games. The Rays have won 10 in a row at home and that is the Rays longest home win streak since a record 11 in a row in 2008. Tampa Bay is an MLB-best 31-8 at home since June 11. Since Aug. 1, the Rays are 23-11.

A nine-game road trip where the Orioles are 1-7 comes to an end this afternoon. It started with the Orioles getting swept and outscored 23-7 in three games at Kansas City. Now they've been outscored 24-7 at the Trop. They've looked every bit as a bad as their record most nights on this second-to-last trip of the 2018 season.