O's head to Little League Classic still searching for consistent offense

If you want to be surprised by a stat, how about this one: In August, the Orioles rank second in the American League in runs scored. That sure seems unlikely but they have scored 90 runs in 18 games, going 11-7 in the month.

But recent losses sure do stand out and many of them came because the offense didn't produce big numbers. Sure there was a 15-run breakout on Friday but it didn't carry into Saturday when Boston's Michael Wacha held the Orioles scoreless over 5 2/3 and the Red Sox evened this series with a 4-3 win.

"We had a tough time getting a rally going against (Wacha)," said manager Brandon Hyde after the game. "Good to see us make a run late like usual but just came up a run short today."

The Orioles have scored just 13 runs in their past seven losses, scoring one, three, two, one, one, two and three runs. 

They have lost three of four games, going without a homer in the three losses but hitting five in the one win.

So there is some inconsistency to try and iron out as the O's head north to Williamsport, Pa. tonight for the Little League Classic on ESPN in the series finale with Boston.

A stat sheet can tell that us that no team has a better team OPS this month in the American League than the Orioles at .773. That seems improbable with all these low scoring games, but it's a fact with the O's atop the team leaderboard for this month. Since the All-Star break, the O's team OPS of .737 ranks third-best in the AL.

The Orioles (62-58) have lost three of their last four and five of the past eight games as they have now fallen 2.5 games out of the third and final AL wild card playoff spot. They are losing ground and putting themselves in a tough spot with 42 games to play.

Of course no one expected them to be in this spot at all when the season began or even well into this 2022 year.

The O's faced a hot pitcher Saturday and didn't do much against Wacha. Tonight they face Boston right-hander Nick Pivetta (9-9, 4.28 ERA) and he is coming off an outing where he threw seven scoreless on one hit Tuesday at Pittsburgh.

The O's need some of members of their lineup to get the bats heated up soon to pull out some wins and stay in the wild card race.

Today the Orioles will fly into Williamsport the site of the Little League World Series and players will head to the Little League Complex to hang out with some of the players and take in some of the games at Lamade Stadium and other facilities there.

Tonight Historic Bowman Field will host the O's and Red Sox series finale, which is officially a home game for the Orioles.

The ballpark was opened in 1926, then as Memorial Field and stands as one of the oldest ballparks in America. The current dimensions show a left field of 320 feet away with the wall at 411 in center and 328 in right.

A $4 million dollar renovation took place prior to the 2017 season. The ballpark is home to the Williamsport Crosscutters a founding member of the new MLB Draft League which began play in 2021. The team was previously part of the 14-team short-season Single-A New York-Penn League from 1994-2020. The league, and all short season teams, were eliminated as part of MLB’s recent restructuring of Minor League Baseball.

The MLB Draft League features the top draft-eligible prospects from across the country showcasing their talents while attempting to raise their draft stock. The 80-game season runs early June until Labor Day weekend. A total of six Williamsport Crosscutters were chosen in the 2022 MLB Draft. The 2022 Williamsport team is managed by former Blue Jays pitcher Jesse Litsch.