After no-hitter, the Orioles will look to regroup and rebound

In pitching the fifth no-hitter in Seattle Mariners history, Hisashi Iwakuma pitched the seventh against the Orioles in O's team history.

Whether it was rock bottom as some fans were saying on the comments last night really doesn't matter. How the team reacts moving forward is the most important thing.

Maybe the Orioles will not be good enough to make the playoffs this year. Some readers and fans have been saying that for weeks or longer in some cases and almost seem to take pleasure in saying that. But whatever, the Orioles have a 10-game homestand coming up starting tomorrow, and to say the season is over now might make some feel good or be some defense mechanism against more potential future disappointment. Of course, it doesn't look good for the team, but the Orioles do have 49 games to play.

Yes, right now they are nothing more than a .500 team. But plenty of teams have gotten hot late in the year to salvage a season. The Orioles need to do that now. They need to play over .600 ball at 30-19 just to get to 87 wins, and that might not be good enough. Although, the World Champions did win 88 last year.

I know gloom and doom is prevailing for many now, and some readers are lashing out at anyone and everyone. They must extract a pound of flesh via social media. That is what some fans do. That is great. Have at it.

Manager Buck Showalter often says the team can't say "woe is me." That is for sure. What good would that get them?

The offense is inconsistent - they've scored three runs or less in 20 of the last 35 games. The pitching is inconsistent - the starters have an ERA of 5.80 the last 13 games. It is not adding up right now.

The 2012 Orioles that made the playoffs with 93 wins had four more wins at this point of the year than this team does at 61-52. The American League East champions of last year had seven more wins, at 64-49 on their way to 96 victories.

The Orioles need to do a lot more winning, it would seem, than they appear capable of at this point. Many of you have written them off. You may well be right.

But there are still 49 games to play. That will give some of you 49 more chances to bash players and management and even reporters.

The Orioles really only have one thing to do at this point: Prove their mounting list of doubters wrong. If they can.