ST. PETERSBURG, FL – JUNE 23: Manager Buck Showalter #26 of the Baltimore Orioles comes out to take pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez off the mound during the third inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on June 23, 2017 at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Brian Blanco/Getty Images)
MLBBy Matt Clapp on

In mid-May, the Baltimore Orioles were 10 games over .500 and one of the clear surprises in baseball. Even entering June 8th, they were five games over .500, right in the thick of the AL East race and the AL Wild Card race.

While the Orioles were playing well, the computers and projection systems weren’t buying it, and waited for the Orioles to regress. That’s happened. Baltimore is now 35-38, six games back in the AL East and 3.5 games back in the Wild Card race.

And the main reason for the Orioles’ (expected) decline in performance? Their pitching staff has been absolutely awful, particularly the starting rotation (which has a 5.79 ERA).

Ubaldo Jimenez — 9 earned runs in 2 1/3 innings — and the Orioles were pummeled 15-5 by the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday. That made for the 20th consecutive game the Orioles have allowed at least five runs! That ties an MLB record set 93 years ago by the 1924 Philadelphia Phillies.

Yikes.

The Orioles hope to snap this embarrassing streak and not have the record to themselves, when Dylan Bundy — an actually talented pitcher with a 3.72 ERA — gets the start against the Rays at Tropicana Field on Saturday.

UPDATE: The Orioles snapped the streak with an 8-3 win! So they won’t have the record all to themselves.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.

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