With the team ERA rising, can the pitchers step up? (O's rained out)

With nine outs to go for a 9-2 start, it unraveled for the Orioles in the seventh inning last night at Texas. The same inning where their bats exploded about 24 hours earlier.

Obviously, the Orioles pitching needs to turn it around. They have allowed 23 runs during a 1-3 stretch. The rotation ERA is 5.14 on the year and an unsightly 7.05 over the last seven games. The Orioles have just one quality start all year and their starters have pitched just 56 innings over 11 games.

For a team that is in first place at 8-3, it seems there is some real concern over the Birds right now.

I wasn't as surprised as some fans when Buck Showalter had starter Yovani Gallardo take the mound in the seventh inning. But when he walked the No. 9 hitter, I was surprised he stayed in at that point. He would get one more batter and Delino DeShields doubled.

Wanting to stay away from some relievers last night, Showalter turned to left-hander T. J. McFarland with three lefty batters due up in a four-batter stretch. He got two ground balls, but was late covering first base on the first one and the inning unraveled from there. It got ugly.

If the rain holds off this afternoon, it will be interesting to see how the Orioles respond to that loss. How will Mike Wright do on the mound in a big spot? Will they need to score a bunch of runs to win?

The O's last three wins have come by scores of 9-7, 9-5 and 11-5. The club has had to outscore their opponent to win.

The pitching soon needs to take a turn for the better. Does is happen today at Texas?

Who gets canned first?: From the online sportsbook Bovada, here are their odds on which manager will be the first in the majors to be fired this season:

1/1 - Fredi Gonzalez
7/2 - Walt Weiss
4/1 - Paul Molitor
8/1 - Terry Collins
10/1 - Joe Girardi
12/1 - Mike Scioscia
25/1 - Don Mattingly

Radio day: Join me today at noon when I will host a talk show on the O's flagship station, 105.7 the Fan in Baltimore. I'll take your calls and talk O's from noon-2 p.m. before "Orioles Baseball Tonight." Click here to listen live.

Rainout day: Today's scheduled game between the Orioles and Rangers has been postponed by rain and will be made up on Monday, June 20. The time will be determined later.