Bob Haynie: Orioles Lose To Astros... Quietly
Time to start banging the pots and pans together or playing the drum kit. Maybe get the dog to start barking at four in the morning. Any kind of annoying or loud noise will do.
Because something needs to wake up the bats of the Baltimore Orioles.
Houston pitchers Scott Feldman, Pat Neshek, Chad Qualls and Luke Gregerson kept the Baltimore offense in Slumberland as the Astros beat the Orioles 4-1 on Tuesday night at Camden Yards. Houston's win evened the three-game series at 1-1 with the rubber game coming up on Wednesday afternoon.
Feldman, a former Oriole, was efficient in holding the Birds to four hits and one run in six innings of work. He also got the Orioles to hit into a season-high tying three double plays. All three DP's were of the inning-ending variety.
The Orioles have scored only four runs over their last 40 innings as May run production continues to be inconsistent. They are now 1-16 when scoring less than four runs and 0-20 when trialing after seven innings.
I know the Orioles are dealing with injuries, but there are still quality players in manager Buck Showalter's lineup. They just aren't getting the job done, at this time.
After an outstanding April, CF Adam Jones has struggled with the bat in May. This month, the four-time All-Star is batting just .237 with a .276 OBP. Jones has not homered since May 11 and hit just one since April 19.
1B Chris Davis, who is mired in a 4-for-42 slump, is hitting an anemic .154 with a .247 OBP in May. Davis also hasn't homered since May 11 and has already struck out 64 times in 149 AB's in 2015.
The Orioles have scored 75 runs in May which places them 29th in Major League Baseball. For the month, the team is batting .228 with a .286 OBP.
I'm not Earl Weaver, but even I know those are some poor numbers.
Thankfully, there are only a couple of days left in the month of May. Hopefully, the Birds can close it out with a bang and set themselves up for a positive June.
