Less than two hours before Wednesday's game, manager Dave Trembley summoned the Orioles' 13 position players into his office for a quick talk. Fed up with his team's recent play, Trembley gave a brief and stern lecture that focused on playing hard and smart, but most importantly, playing team baseball.
The Orioles then went out and proved why such a talk was needed. Finding different ways to squander scoring chances and getting another uneven start from rookie Jason Berken, the Orioles were beaten, 6-3, by the Oakland Athletics in front of an announced 19,128 Wednesday at Camden Yards.
"We just didn't do enough things to win the game. That's all," said a dejected Trembley, whose team was outscored 38-12 in losing five of six games this season to the A's, who are in last place in the American League West. "They did [score]. That's what it usually boils down to."
The Orioles, 47-67 overall and 7-19 in the second half, have not won a series after the All-Star break. Their play in Wednesday's series finale indicated a team in the midst of a serious slide.
One of Oakland's runs scored on a wild pitch and another was aided by a throwing error by rookie catcher Matt Wieters. The Orioles, meanwhile, went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and are 8-for-49 in such situations over the past five games.
"It's tough," said outfielder Nick Markakis, who had three hits but made a key base-running gaffe in the seventh inning. "This game is not easy, especially when you get in pressure situations and you got guys in scoring position. For the most part, I think guys are pressing too much with runners in scoring position, even myself lately. We're trying to scrounge up runs any way we can."
While their pitching problems have been well documented and continued Wednesday with Berken allowing four runs (three earned) over five innings, statistics show that the Orioles' offense has been in deep decline during the past three months.
Since May 15, the Orioles are third to last in the AL in runs per game (4.26), and second to last in homers (68), in OPS, the statistic that measure slugging plus on-base percentage (.722), and in pitchers per plate appearance (3.76). They've also hit into a league-high 77 double plays during that span.
"I think this team obviously took a lot of pride in our hitting from spring training on," third baseman Ty Wigginton said. "You'd expect us to be better. You can talk about luck, but over time, a stat like that sticks out and you have to find a way to right that ship."
