Tonight I have lost all hope.

[clapdiddy]

Can't only score 3 runs and expect to win.

We scored 6 and lost yesterday.

[LAOSfan]

Definitely not one to overreact, but I agree. I knew what we did in close games last year was not sustainable this year, but it seems like we are going in the opposite direction and finding new ways to lose. I just don't think we are as good as Tampa, Boston, Oakland or Texas.

[Lawlbringer]

This team hasn't won more than 5 games in a row all year, or win a good chunk of games like Tampa/KC/LA have...this is a huge sign of inconsistency.

With the season winding down, this is starting to look more and more like a 85-88 win season that won't make the playoffs.

[SteveO]

Its not going to happen folks. We are done. Just a matter of who kills us each different night.

Its a little premature to be throwing in the towel, a nice run like say 14.or 15 out of twenty games could change a lot. That said it's hard to go on that kinda run when the pen can't hold a lead. I get the concern but not throwing in the towel just yet

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 4

[JTrea81]

We scored 6 and lost yesterday.

Just saying its not the pitching. These guys are not shutdown pitchers so you can't expect them to shut down offenses.

Our offense has to score 4 or more for us to have a chance. That's how this team is built.

[eddie83]

We scored 6 and lost yesterday.

Sick and tired hearing about the offense. We are much better offensively this year and yet the pen isn't getting the job done.

[JTrea81]

This team hasn't won more than 5 games in a row all year, or win a good chunk of games like Tampa/KC/LA have...this is a huge sign of inconsistency.

With the season winding down, this is starting to look more and more like a 85-88 win season that won't make the playoffs.

Look up the 1996 Red Sox. Same exact thing happened to them - little offseason movement = missed playoffs.

[eddie83]

Just saying its not the pitching. These guys are not shutdown pitchers so you can't expect them to shut down offenses.

Our offense has to score 4 or more for us to have a chance. That's how this team is built.

Bottom line no matter how many freaking runs we score or don't when you give the lead to pen it's there job to close the door. We didn't do that 2 nights in a row.

[FlipTheBird]

Sick and tired hearing about the offense. We are much better offensively this year and yet the pen isn't getting the job done.

The offense has certainly produced some flashy numbers, but it has a habit of being very sporadic. And overly reliant on the homer. When they're not homering, they're not scoring.

[JTrea81]

Sick and tired hearing about the offense. We are much better offensively this year and yet the pen isn't getting the job done.

We were much better offensively earlier this year. We hit a lot of HRs but don't score a lot of runs because we can't get anybody on base.

[CaptainRedbeard]

I can't even get up off the couch right now to get in bed. I know the players are infinitely more resilient than the fans but this has to be getting to them.

[JTrea81]

Bottom line no matter how many freaking runs we score or don't when you give the lead to pen it's there job to close the door. We didn't do that 2 nights in a row.

The bullpen has been used too much lately because there have been too many close games. The offense is supposed to support the pitching, not the other way around.

[centralpaosfan]

Just saying its not the pitching. These guys are not shutdown pitchers so you can't expect them to shut down offenses.

Our offense has to score 4 or more for us to have a chance. That's how this team is built.

Yes...totally unreasonable to expect a person who is getting paid 6.5 million dollars to get 3 outs to actually get 3 outs without blowing the game. I am amazed at what I read on here sometimes.

[eddie83]

We were much better offensively earlier this year. We hit a lot of HRs but don't score a lot of runs because we can't get anybody on base.

Our pen has 3 blown saves since Friday for God's sake. We won one of the games. Yes our offense hasn't been as good as they were early but that isn't the point. The last month to six weeks we have lost a lot of games late.

[thatbearflies]

Definitely not one to overreact, but I agree. I knew what we did in close games last year was not sustainable this year, but it seems like we are going in the opposite direction and finding new ways to lose. I just don't think we are as good as Tampa, Boston, Oakland or Texas.

I agree. I would probably even add the Royals to that list if they maintain this level of play. That being said, while the Orioles have suffered several painful losses this season and definitely had disappointing series losses, this team is not totally inept. It may not be a 2013 playoff team, but this is still a strong contender and teams have to come to play every night.

The Orioles clearly have some critical flaws. The offense can explode at any point, but they also have long stretches where the entire line up can disappear. The starting pitching can be strong for an entire week or even game, but then in one inning or start completely fall off the wagon. Same goes for the bullpen. Jim Johnson obviously just hasn't been the closer of last year for most of the season.

At some point though, despite the disappointments, we need to appreciate that we are still contending and that we do still get to care about the games, which is more than many other fans get to say about their teams right now. We see the flaws in our team, we hope that they overcome then and make the playoffs, but if not, we have strong foundation for next season and hopefully we actually make some moves to make a push to win because this team has strong potential. If they didn't, we wouldn't all care so much!