Much Deserved Separation in the Standings

[Don_Aase_Fan]

31.5 games out in early August? Holy crap, that's a special kind of terrible.

What a difference a Buck makes.

[hoosiers]

This team is on some kind of roll - thanks mostly to strong starting pitching IMO, but it's an impressive run given our competition. So I agree the recent expansion of our division lead is well-deserved. Really, since Manny has come back fully healthy, this team has been dominating.

Baseball seasons take many twists and turns so let's ride this one as long as we can. The combination of balanced, strong starting pitching and a lock down bullpen give us a chance every night and is the primary reason why this team has not had a protracted downturn.

It would be strange to look back at the events which might derail this train, but the tracks appear clear right now.

[SilentJames]

The Orioles have 50 games left.

They need to win 26 games, to get to 90 wins.

That is a pretty strong position to be in right now.

[primetime]

The thing about that is this, the Orioles have been playing consistent baseball all year long, while the teams around them have waxed and waned like the tides. The Jays got super hot, went on an unsustainable run, and came crashing back to Earth. They are a team that has trouble staying healthy, with an inconsistent pitching staff and no real bullpen to speak of.

This is an interesting point, Silent. They haven't been streaky at all this year, really, the Orioles. They've just churned along. It reminds me of 2012 a bit. We mainly just won one series after another. I wonder how much Buck and his "grinder" personality has to do with that. It seems to me like a consistency/effort thing as much as anything else.

Peter Gammons did a radio interview right around the All Star break and he said that there is no other team in baseball that can match the effort of the Baltimore Orioles on a nightly basis. He said there's no team that can rival our intensity for 27 outs.

We hear Buck, we hear the players; they all echo the same thing, the grind, grinding, grind it out, etc. In a lot of instances, hearing those types of sound bites are along the lines of generic, "coachspeak" type BS. But with this team, they epitomize it, they really and truly are grinding, every single pitch, every single night.

This mentality is exactly how a team can get to 16 games over .500 despite not having a winning streak longer than 5 games.

[bluedog]

Well, the Orioles are five games back of the Athletics. Same distance as the Blue Jays are back of the Orioles. It's possible.

4 games back after tonight!

[El Gordo]

4 games back after tonight!

So much for separation.

[foxfield]

So much for separation.

They were 4 back at the break. 19 games later they have crawled back to 4 games back. Perspective my friend.

[El Gordo]

They were 4 back at the break. 19 games later they have crawled back to 4 games back. Perspective my friend.

We could have put TOR away with a sweep. They lack the killer instinct. Hope they can win tomorrow but I doubt it.

[CA-ORIOLE]

Just gotta flush that game down the toilet.

[OFFNY]

Just gotta flush that game down the toilet.

The Orioles already have.

They always do, as evidenced by all of their wins this season immediately following several pretty devastating losses.

[VeveJones007]

It's crazy that this team has the best record in the league since June 1 and only has one sweep in that time frame. Oh well, I'm not going to be picky. Just keep winning each series.

[flyhighbirds]

The thing is, you can just dismiss it with the"its just baseball" jive line, and of course you can't win every night. Maybe what really bugs me tonight is that it was a BIG game on the road and we had our "best pitcher"in terms of on a roll, and we were facing a guy who has been banged around for weeks by EVERYONE. Im sorry, this is a game you need to win to keep the pressure on Toronto. WE WERE LOUSY TONIGHT. Hutchinson isn't that great. Now we really need to win tomorrow and Happ is tough and Miguel is hard to figure.We will see. I hated like hell to lose tonight.

I hate to lose any game too, but if we win tomorrow, we still gain a game on them and I would consider that a successful series for us.

[TonySoprano]

The thing is, you can just dismiss it with the"its just baseball" jive line, and of course you can't win every night. Maybe what really bugs me tonight is that it was a BIG game on the road and we had our "best pitcher"in terms of on a roll, and we were facing a guy who has been banged around for weeks by EVERYONE. Im sorry, this is a game you need to win to keep the pressure on Toronto. WE WERE LOUSY TONIGHT. Hutchinson isn't that great. Now we really need to win tomorrow and Happ is tough and Miguel is hard to figure.We will see. I hated like hell to lose tonight.

I never expected us to sweep the series, but it sure as heck would have been great to be in a position to do just that.

[weams]

I never expected us to sweep the series, but it sure as heck would have been great to be in a position to do just that.

Yeah. This.

[Fuzzball22]

The thing is, you can just dismiss it with the"its just baseball" jive line, and of course you can't win every night. Maybe what really bugs me tonight is that it was a BIG game on the road and we had our "best pitcher"in terms of on a roll, and we were facing a guy who has been banged around for weeks by EVERYONE. Im sorry, this is a game you need to win to keep the pressure on Toronto. WE WERE LOUSY TONIGHT. Hutchinson isn't that great. Now we really need to win tomorrow and Happ is tough and Miguel is hard to figure.We will see. I hated like hell to lose tonight.

Just curious, what will you consider an acceptable loss the rest of the season? The O's are going to lose at least 20 more times this year. Every loss is tough. Some times you just have to give credit to the other guy and move on. Hutchison has pitched some good games this year. Maybe not lately but he is capable and Chen was due for a clunker. it happens. The 69 O's lost 3 times to the expansion Seattle Pilots.