More concerns emerge as O's lose opener at New York

So much for the feel-good vibe that surrounded the Orioles on Wednesday night after Trey Mancini's heroics against the Pittsburgh Pirates. They went back on the road and the losing resumed. They've scored three runs in two games at Washington and New York. Their bullpen collapsed late in the game last night. Doom and gloom returned to Birdland.

The bigger concern is that a stretch of 12 losses in 18 games has the Orioles currently looking nothing like the team that was 22-10 on May 9. A bigger concern yet is the Yankees look like the better team right now and have opened a 4 1/2-game lead on the Orioles. Are they falling too far back in the division race? Can they recover to win the next two games?

If the 18-game stretch of losing turns into a 30- or 40-game stretch, the Orioles may have to consider trading off some major talent and begin rebuilding and reloading. It is too soon to ponder that, but a time is coming when it won't be.

The Orioles have not looked good the last few days, and even the Pittsburgh games featured lackluster play that was bailed out by two dramatic late comebacks. But the Orioles could not build on that.

On top of that, reliever Darren O'Day has now joined Zach Britton on the disabled list, and third baseman Manny Machado might have to join them. Adam Jones is banged up. J.J. Hardy is struggling and the middle of the order has not produced consistently. The Norfolk-Baltimore shuttle produced some positive early results, but now pitchers are strugging and not just in Baltimore. Some of the ERAs in Norfolk look rough, too.

Dylan Bundy pitched well enough to win on most nights Friday, but the Orioles didn't score after Jonathan Schoop's two-run homer in the second. Over his past 12 games, Schoop is batting .340 (16-for-47) with five homers and 14 RBIs. He is emerging as a real bright spot along with Bundy and Mancini. It is nice to see the O's produce that young talent at a time when their farm system gets ripped too often and sometimes unfairly. But we digress. Those three need more help.

The Orioles' road losing streak has reached seven games and they have lost 11 of their last 12 on the road with an overall record of 10-18 away from Camden Yards. Their team ERA is a respectable 3.63 at home but only 5.34 on the road.

Yankees batters have cleaned up on O's pitching in four games this season at Yankee Stadium. In those games, they are batting .320 with 38 runs and 13 homers. They have scored 14, 12, four and eight runs.

Somehow, someway the Orioles need to find some answers the next two games in the Bronx. The incredible wins over the Pirates are in the rear-view mirror now.