Is Orioles' well-earned three-game losing streak cause for concern?

In the long term, there is no reason to be concerned over a 7-8 record for the Orioles right now. No one is red-hot in the division, and the Orioles are certainly OK in the standings with so much baseball remaining.

But in the short term, their play has been poor and they've made some physical and mental mistakes that were not often seen during last year's 96-win season, a year that ended one step short of the World Series.

These numbers have led to losses:

* The Orioles have made six errors the last three games.

* O's starters have allowed 18 runs in 12 innings the past three games.

* O's starters have worked 5 1/3 innings or less for seven consecutive games. They have pitched six or fewer innings 12 times in 15 games.

* The Orioles have been outscored 24-9 during a three-game losing streak.

* O's batters are 3-for-26 (.115) with runners in scoring position the past three games and have gone 9-for-52 (.173) the past six games.

So yeah, pitching, hitting and defense have all had some issues so far this year. You look at some of the above numbers and 7-8 almost doesn't seem bad at all.

But we've also seen our share of O's mental mistakes, which has to be concerning to Buck Showalter at any point in the season. We've seen outfielders miss the cutoff man. Last night, we saw Jimmy Paredes doubled off a base on a line drive and Alejandro De Aza get caught stealing third with two outs and Chris Davis up when down by two runs in the seventh inning.

We are just not used to seeing the Orioles beating themselves.

Suddenly, the headline is about poor play and not bean balls.

My sense is that this too shall pass and the Orioles will get back to playing the heads-up, clean and sharp baseball we are used to seeing very soon. I don't see this going on much longer.

For now, they are fine in the standings but they have a few things on which to work on the field.

What is your take on the Orioles after 15 games?