V332 Series Wrap-Up - Where Did the O Go?

The bats really let the Orioles down in a very frustrating series loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Camden Yards. Tillman and Norris pitched arguably – probably – the best games of their major-league careers and the Orioles only managed to win one of them. 

Wasting Tilman's gem on Friday night created a debt that will need to be repaid. Without getting too philosophical, to contend, a team must win a game they should lose for every game they lost that they should have won. They don't want to be in a position where they need too many of those "miracle wins."

What I liked: Tillman showed that he is an ace. Again. Norris showed that he can be dominant at times. That's more than you need from your fifth starter. Clevenger called a fantastic game for Norris. Wieters continues to look strong the plate. Davis finally hit a bomb, and maybe that will get him going.

What concerns me: the offense is obviously not producing the runs that most anticipated it would produce, and not enough for a contendingball-club. Several of the headers-Jones, Cruz, and Davis come to mind-appear to be far too conscious of the homerun and pitchers are successfully using their aggressiveness against them. The resulst are short innings and an inability to consistently get to the soft part of the opponent's bullpen. I also must mention Jimenez, who has turned in three similarly ugly starts. He is a traditional slow starter, but needs to turn things around in a hurry. The organization has invested too much money for him to pitch like a fifth starter. Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone if the offense gets rolling by the time he takes the mound again and stakes him to an early lead and some confidence.

5-7 is not a disaster, but the Orioles need a series victory against the Rays about as badly as any team can 12 games into the season.