Lumber slumber has led Orioles to brink of series sweep

More changes came to the Orioles last night beyond their status as the road team inside their own ballpark.

Can't wipe the weirdness slate clean.

Rather than wait until later today, the Orioles further reduced their roster to 28 players by optioning outfielder DJ Stewart to the alternate camp site in Bowie.

Coupled with pitcher John Means going on the bereavement list, the Orioles can stop tweaking the roster unless they want to swap out personnel before playing tonight's series finale against the Marlins.

Catcher Bryan Holaday stays with the club rather than shifting to the taxi squad for trips to D.C. and Philadelphia. He's out of options and apparently the Orioles are willing to carry four catchers while on the road.

Means is able to stay on the bereavement list for a maximum of seven days. The Orioles didn't make a corresponding move yesterday, which hinted at their intentions.

Meanwhile, the Orioles have been held to one run and 10 hits while losing the first three games to the Marlins, who aren't offering a selection of top-shelf pitching.

Guys need to heat up. It's hard to cover for so many who aren't hitting.

Chris Davis wasn't in the lineup last night for the second game of yesterday's doubleheader. He's 1-for-19 with two walks and five strikeouts.

"It looks like he's pulling off a little bit, a little bit late on the heater right now," manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday in his Zoom conference call. "The time off might have gotten his timing off, the time off he had from sitting for a few days. It looks like he's a little late.

"I'd just like to see him get a little bit more aggressive and start putting the ball in play a little bit more earlier in the count."

Stewart was hitless in 2020. He walked in his only plate appearance in the nightcap and was removed for a pinch-hitter in the fourth after the Marlins brought in left-hander Brian Moran.

Austin Hays batted for Stewart and struck out. He had two hits Tuesday night but is 6-for-38 on the season and no longer atop the order.

At the plate last night with the tying runs on base and two outs in the sixth, Hays fell behind 1-2 in the count and drove in the Orioles' lone run of the series with a chopper that deflected off the gloves of Jonathan Villar and Eddy Alvarez.

Hays is trying to snap out of this funk, collecting three hits against the Marlins on balls with a combined exit velocity that's probably under triple digits.

His luck is changing.

The stats should follow.

Stewart could use a few kind hops. He was 0-for-14 with eight strikeouts, but he's also drawn six walks, the latest coming in his only plate appearance in the nightcap.

This was a golden opportunity for the former first round pick out of Florida State. He made the opening day roster and was starting with Trey Mancini out for the season. But he appeared to be pressing and now is hitting the reset button at Bowie.

Andrew Velazquez has become the regular shortstop with José Iglesias playing through discomfort in his left quadriceps muscle. He's a pretty slick fielder and is versatile, but he's also 1-for-17 at the plate.

Former Orioles farmhand Stephen Tarpley issued a leadoff walk to Velazquez in the seventh inning of the second game. Wasn't his finest moment. But Holaday grounded into a double play.

The lone hit for Velazquez was a bunt single that the official scorer changed to an error and switched back to a single.

Dwight Smith Jr. went 0-for-2 with a strikeout, hit by pitch and bouncer to the mound in the opener and is 3-for-18.

Cedric Mullins is 1-for-12 after going 6-for-64 last season. He had two hits in his last 40 at-bats in 2019.

The Orioles had better at-bats against the likes of Gerrit Cole, J.A. Happ, Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow. The Marlins are tying them up in knots.

"I don't want to take credit away from their guys," Hyde said after the doubleheader. "I thought they pieced it together fairly nicely out of the 'pen. They've given us some different looks.

"I don't know if we're trying too hard. I'm not sure what it is, to be honest with you. It's one of those little funks that we've gone through here in a couple days. But we swung the bat good against Tampa just a couple days ago and then had the off-day, and we've had a tough time putting a rally together or score a run these last two days here.

"I can't really put my finger on it. We're not driving the baseball. I think guys are trying to do too much and maybe carrying too big of a load instead of just trying to get the next guy up, try to win every pitch. But yeah, we're just having a tough time getting on base to start a rally and then putting good ABs together after it."