For O's, competitive stretches followed by mounting losses

For a while when the 2021 season began, the Orioles were playing some competitive baseball. They went 4-2 on an opening road trip to Boston and New York and 7-8 after 15 games. After 31 games, they were 15-16. When the second half began after the All-Star break, the Orioles went 10-6 in the first 16 games.

You add those two stretches together and you get 25-22, or .532 baseball over a 47-game stretch. But with Sunday's loss at Boston, the club's 11th in a row, the Orioles are 13-56 (.188) in the other 69 games.

So there have been some stretches of competitive, even winning baseball for 41 percent of the games so far, but some miserable stretches of baseball in the other 59 percent.

What to make of that?

I'm not really sure. Maybe it tells us when it gets going bad for the Orioles, it snowballs on them and they just can't turn around the losing quicker than they or their fans would like.

The Orioles lost 14 in a row from May 18-31. From June 9-17, they lost eight in a row. After a win, they lost another six in a row. Now the latest streak is at 11.

It is wearing on fans and the team alike. How could it not?

On Saturday, manager Brandon Hyde said: "We've just got to get better in all areas. We're a long ways away."

That was before the latest loss. And while Orioles pitchers have given up 104 runs during the skid, the hitters scored just five runs in three games at Boston and have gone 3-for-46 with runners in scoring position over the past six games.

It's a team effort when a losing streak reaches 11.

Beyond that, this club seems unlucky at times too. Ryan Mountcastle gets whacked on the head trying to steal a base and has to deal with concussion symptoms. Lefty Bruce Zimmermann rehabs his arm from left biceps tendinitis, throws a strong game at Triple-A and just as he is ready to rejoin the rotation, sprains his ankle training. There is no guarantee he can make it back this year, but the club is hopeful he will.

So, yeah, rough.

Losses can mount in baseball and it's not like a struggling team - the Orioles or any other, for that matter - can just take a few days off to regroup or make some massive changes in August. There is always another game and another challenge.

The Orioles keep turning over the roster, especially with the pitching, looking for some combination to get more outs more often. They made a waiver claim of infielder Jorge Mateo, who added some speed and athleticism.

But right now, Adley Rutschman and Grayson Rodriguez are not walking through that clubhouse door. Their day is coming, likely sometime in 2022, but not now.

Birdland can be encouraged by some things happening on the farm and look ahead to a better day but it's tougher to keep the optimism up amid mounting losses with the big club.

Did you miss this?: If you did, you can click here to watch, via MASN's Orioles YouTube channel, my appearance on the "O's Xtra" pregame show Sunday. We talked about a couple of young pitchers, one that could make it to the Orioles this year and one that is starting to make a name for himself on the farm at just 20. We also discussed Gunnar Henderson's recent hitting at high Single-A Aberdeen.