Pitching woes have Orioles wobbling as they prepare for Dodgers

The Orioles have put the Seattle series behind them. It's in the past. It's done. However, their pitching woes won't budge from in front of their faces.

They may as well be jumping up and down and waving their arms. You can't miss them.

The rotation has pitched to a 7.76 ERA in the first six games of the road trip, including four straight losses to match the club's season high. The bullpen no longer is covering for the sins, in large part because the Orioles are scrambling without Darren O'Day.

O'Day isn't close to returning from the disabled list. This isn't your typical hamstring strain, the location higher up the leg and O'Day's need to get down low in his delivery conspiring to slow the healing process.

The Orioles have tried Ashur Tolliver, T.J. McFarland, Oliver Drake, Chaz Roe and Ariel Miranda at various points. They activated Vance Worley from the disabled list. But the bleeding hasn't slowed.

Miranda gave up three runs and four hits over two innings yesterday in his major league debut. The four strikeouts were nice. Worley allowed three runs and five hits and walked two batters Saturday in 2 2/3 innings. Roe allowed a hit and walked two batters in the eighth inning of the same game without surrendering a run, but he gave up two runs on a hit and two walks in the eighth the previous night.

Drake was optioned after allowing six runs in 2 1/3 innings in San Diego. McFarland went back on the disabled list after working one inning in San Diego and surrendering three runs.

The rotation may consist of only four pitchers for a while with Thursday's off-day and the All-Star break that begins on July 11. The Orioles won't need a fifth starter until July 19.

Tyler Wilson was optioned yesterday to give the Orioles another bullpen arm. The short starts are killing them. And Wilson has allowed 16 runs and 28 hits in his last three starts over 14 innings.

The Orioles want to freshen him up. Sounds like a plan. But what about the rest of the rotation? What about Ubaldo Jimenez, whose ERA climbed to 6.95 after he surrendered six runs in 4 1/3 innings?

Can't just save him for the Padres.

Jimenez walked three more batters. He gets in too many 3-2 counts and issues too many free passes, which inevitably come back to haunt him.

None of this should be cause for panic. The Orioles reached the halfway point in the season with a 47-34 record and a three-game lead in the American League East. Lots of teams would trade places with them.

O'Day will come back to join closer Zach Britton, who lowered his ERA yesterday to 0.80 and remains perfect in save situations, and Brad Brach, who lowered his ERA to 1.01 and deserves inclusion on the American League's All-Star team.

Despite the initial fears, Dylan Bundy isn't a liability in the bullpen. He's been effective working on a starter's schedule and could become a more serious rotation candidate in the second half.

The offense will continue to mash, and Jonathan Schoop's breakout season is a thing of beauty.

The problem is a rotation that was a concern over the winter, heading into spring training and again when the Orioles broke camp. Just too many question marks, too many uncertainties. It needs to be addressed and executive vice president Dan Duquette is trying to find a match on the trade market.

The Orioles won seven in row. They've lost four straight heading into tonight's series opener against the Dodgers. More streaks are coming. It's a long season.

Buckle up.