One reason why the Orioles are where they are right now is they just can’t keep up a consistent high level of play. This is playing out in miniature over the first two games against the Rockies. Monday’s game brought the highest of highs with Colton Cowser’s amazing game-ending home run robbery to give the Orioles a fourth straight victory. Last night brought frustration and disappointment as the Orioles lost a game against a starting pitcher they had no business losing a game against.
Now, the Orioles need a win in the series finale so that we can all feel a little better. Losing two out of three to the Rockies, one of MLB’s worst teams, would not be a very auspicious beginning to the September stretch run that the Orioles are going to have to make. You can’t go around scoring two runs per game in Coors Field, against the Rockies pitching staff and get anywhere good. They lost a game to the Guardians with last night’s loss, so now they’re 1.5 games back – tied with the Rangers – in the wild card race.
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It’s maddening with these guys. They should be better than this, even with all of the challenges they’ve faced this season. They just aren’t. Maybe they can be better over the final 23 games. They probably need to go 14-9 from this point on. Or, you know. Maybe they can’t be at least as good as that.
We are running a poll this week that is asking Orioles fans which area of the team they are most worried about when it comes to postseason contention. Have you voted yet? I’ll make it easy for you and embed it right here:
The performance of the hitters over the first two games of this series may tilt the poll a particular way. We’ll see! Results will be shared on Friday or Saturday.
Orioles lineup
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Trevor Rogers gets the start for the Orioles. As you all probably remember, he’s been pretty good since June 1, though he was also not good in his last start, giving up six runs in five innings. It did not help the season ERA. He’s going to need to have a good September in order to get that number down to 3.something before the end of the season.
I hope Luis Robert Jr. makes a nice first impression on Orioles fans in his first start. I actually don’t have any hopes but it would be nice if he did it anyway.
Rockies lineup
Familiar face Tomoyuki Sugano is starting for the Rockies. He has an ERA over five. These guys better score more than two runs. Preferably more than four.
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