After another loss talking about Kimbrel's DFA and is emotion missing on team?

It wasn't the most productive inning as the Orioles, after scoring once in the last of the third inning to tie San Francisco 1-1, had runners on second and third and no outs. They scored another run there, but just one more, letting yet another chance for a bigger inning pass by.

The Orioles took a brief lead last night, 2-1 after the third, but by the top of the fourth the lead was gone and later another game was lost. 

The Orioles fell to 84-68 after a 5-3 loss to San Francisco, and they have now lost four series in a row. They are 16 games over .500, their fewest since May 30.

And they are now five games back in the American League East with just 10 to play. The Yankees won 2-1 over Seattle in 10 innings to clinch an AL playoff spot and reduced to six their magic number to clinch over the Orioles.

The O's have a series in the Bronx next week, but right now, even with a sweep, they would still be two games back.

The Orioles remain 2 1/2 games ahead of Kansas City for the top AL wild-card spot. 

Kimbrel's DFA: The Orioles finally cut ties with struggling reliever Craig Kimbrel yesterday as he was designated for assignment.

One thing about Kimbrel’s pitching this year that puzzles me is how he could have been so good - dominant really - for about two months and then not.

His performance went from dominant to poor almost overnight. Like a switch was flipped.

Through May 8 he had an ERA of 4.73 with a 1.50 WHIP. Nothing special there.

But from May 10-July 7, Kimbrel was fantastic. Unless you consider going 2-1 with 15 saves in 16 chances, an ERA of 0.43 and WHIP of 0.52, not that. It was a 21-inning stretch during which he allowed six hits and one earned run and posted an .088 average against and .287 OPS. Yep, opponents' OPS in this span was .287.

But then in 19 games since then, his ERA was 11.50 and the OPS against was 1.006. The performance didn’t gradually go bad, it fell off the cliff.

When I asked ace right-hander Corbin Burnes yesterday if decreased velocity was the biggest factor for that, he seemed to say not really. 

“I think what happened this year with Craig, he just wasn’t able to command as well as he had in the past,” said Burnes. “The breaking ball was still really good. He had great numbers up, really until the All-Star break. Probably should have been an All-Star. That’s just how good his first half was. But the second half wasn’t just the same as far as his commanding his pitches and being as dominant. But he was still the same person in here.”

Several players pregame yesterday called Kimbrel a great teammate, saying that even as his performance was failing, he took time to support and help other players.

"He could be struggling, but if another guy was struggling, he’d go pick him up. Just a great person, obviously Hall of Fame closer. I wish him nothing but the best," Burnes said.

What about the fire and passion: Is some of that missing with the Orioles play in recent weeks and months? Fans and media only see the players on the telecast and for the media just 50 minutes pregame each day and not every player is available and/or in the clubhouse during that time.

Are the players showing emotion, fire and passion when we are not around? Do they need to, or is keeping an even keel more important? Here is what manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday.

“Yeah. I think publicly you only see a real small glimpse. You only see what’s on TV. Or you only see if you are at the game what’s happening on the field.

“But there’s so many things happening from one o’clock to 6:35. Whether it be hitters’ meetings, players’ meetings, guys staying loose different ways. Lot of conversations, so, you know when you play a game like we did (Tuesday) night, facing Blake Snell who is lights out and throwing changeups to Gunnar Henderson, which he hasn’t thrown in six years, and doing things. Rewatching that game, that was as good a six innings honestly that you could possibly pitch. The command of three-to-four plus-plus pitches will be hard for anyone to hit.

“So, we just got flat out beat. When you look like that and get beat like that, even though it’s a 4-0 game late, it looks like the team is down. Really that is not the case at all. We just faced a really good pitcher that beat us.

“Now, we have to play better and we haven’t played well for a few months. We haven’t had any consistent runs. But we have a lot of talent and ability and think our guys still believe they can finish the season strong," said Hyde.

So, is that fire and passion needed at a time like this – are you seeing it?

“I think that you take the temperature of the team. Whether it’s a team meeting is needed because of lack of effort. A team meeting is needing because of a boost. All those type of things, you weigh that on a daily basis," said Hyde.

Yes, he did not discuss any internal meetings coaches and/or players might have had, just that they look at all of it daily.

It's hard for any team losing a lot, as the Orioles have recently, to not only look good but look like a team showing passion, fire and great energy on the field.