Showalter: "The trust factor has to come into play"

The Orioles failed again last night to get a quality start. To find a reliever in their system who was ready for the responsibility placed in front of him. To unload at the plate and cover for the shortcomings on the mound.

To return to their winning ways and begin the long climb up their division.

They're left to wonder exactly when this slide will come to a merciful end. And when they will more closely resemble the team that offered such promise in April.

"It's the same group that was 22-10, the best record in baseball, and some of those teams that everybody was ready to throw a blanket over the first month are now back in it, so you've got to keep that in mind," said manager Buck Showalter.

"It doesn't make it any more pleasurable or whatever the word is. It's frustrating. I wish I could come up with a better word for it. But it's a good time to take a look around. The trust factor has to come into play. And it's a challenge because players, you can never give in to, 'Hey, this is just something that all teams go in and we've got to go through it.' No. You want to shorten it. You want it to stop yesterday. But I'm not one of those who just hangs it on one phase of the game, either.

"We've had a lot of times the first 30-40 games where we didn't pitch very well and the offense did something or we made a play defensively. Or we pitched real well and we didn't score many runs. There's a lot of different parts of it. Sometimes there's those years where you don't get everybody on the field. There are some playoff games I can remind you of some guys who weren't even in the lineup - whether it be (Manny) Machado or - or weren't even available."

The frustration increases when players fail to contribute after being recalled or having their contracts purchased from Triple-A Norfolk. Left-hander Vidal Nuño is getting another chance this weekend. Gabriel Ynoa was summoned despite having a 6.93 ERA and 1.91 WHIP and allowing 10 runs in his last two starts over 9 1/3 innings.

Nuño surrendered a home run last night in the ninth inning. Ynoa served up three home runs in 1 1/3 innings. Showalter talks about pitchers keeping a team engaged in a game. This looked more like a nasty divorce.

Ynoa went on the disabled list with a strained hamstring immediately after throwing six scoreless relief innings against the White Sox, and he hasn't been the same. He didn't earn a promotion based on his numbers, but there aren't a lot of guys dealing at Norfolk.

Left-hander Chris Lee went through a rough stretch, but he's allowed two runs in 12 innings in his last two starts. Double-A Bowie left-hander Tanner Scott may be the organization's top pitcher for the first half. Could he do any worse than what we've seen?

"There are some opportunities that we've been able to give out to some guys down below (and) no one's really come up and grasp a job that was there to be won," Showalter said. "We haven't sent out anybody who's pitched well here."

Logan Verrett is one exception, heading back to Norfolk after his scoreless 10th and 11th innings on April 30 at Yankee Stadium. A fresher arm was needed.

The Orioles could use a fresh start. They can't let their tumble down the standings take up residence in their heads and compound the issue.

"It's a challenge," Showalter said. "You can't get in that, 'This happened yesterday, so that means this is going to happen today.' There's a certain atmosphere, karma, around certain parts of the season and it's a challenge to not get in that 'here we go again' mode. Or we've got to do something to change it. And sometimes that's the hardest thing to juggle because trying too hard doesn't work when you get up here. Pitchers are trying to torque their best slider and trying to throw their best fastball and sometimes that creates a lot of anxiety that you miss location.

"Fastball command has been a challenge for us. But we're also having some guys having real good years - (Dylan) Bundy and Brad (Brach) and Mychal (Givens). (Alec) Asher's probably having his most productive major league season, all things considered. There's a couple others. So, I try to keep that in mind. You look hard enough, you can find something positive."

A win would qualify. It's not happening if players continue to press.

"It's more of a team effort," said Hyun Soo Kim, "so when we're going well, everybody is doing well. When we're not, it's the whole team. That's how we think about it."