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Patrick Semansky / AP

It was difficult to justify too much criticism of the Orioles offense until Sunday afternoon, unless you want to call out the hitters for not keeping pace with a Cubs attack that struck early and often to build up huge leads in the first two games of the series. The O’s get credit for staying engaged Friday night and erasing an 8-0 lead before losing on a solo homer in the ninth. The O’s also fell far behind Saturday night and managed only three runs, but there isn’t a lot of room for offensive strategy when you’re that far down and a pitcher such as Jake Arrieta isn’t willing to let you up. So, while the offensive performance wasn’t the major problem over the weekend, it was anemic after Friday night’s comeback.

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