Some of the posters here have been taking me to task for mentioning all the bad luck the Orioles have had lately. I'd like to stress that I don't mention that to make any excuse for them, since there is no excusing seven straight losses, a winless opening homestand and a 1-9 overall record, but I'm often amazed at how a slumping team finds ways to lose.
To some extent, of course, you make your own luck. The Orioles, obviously, are not a good team, so they already figured to lose more than half of their games. The difference between 4-6 -- which might have been expected -- and 1-9 is really just three bad innings, so maybe this season-opening swoon isn't really off the charts.
But that's not the point I'm trying to make here. The thing that amazed me last night was the way the Oakland A's suddenly morphed into one of the best defensive teams in the league -- making diving catches all over the field to keep the Orioles from getting a hit with runners in scoring position.
You never would have imagined -- unless you go to the MLB fielding standings -- that the Orioles actually rank third in the major leagues in fielding percentage and the A's rank 24th. In fact, only two of the 30 teams in the majors have made more errors than the A's so far this season.