The Orioles need to shake off Tuesday night's embarrassing 19-strikeout performance against the Houston Astros. But if that means rationalizing it as some sort of immutable genetic characteristic of their lineup, they need to think about what they want to be when they grow up.
It certainly won't be a world champion.
Adam Jones is right to acknowledge that a power-packed lineup is going to strike out a lot more than a bunch of pesky singles hitters, but the fact that striking out is "part of our DNA" doesn't mean that it's okay for the Orioles' sluggers to leave their brains in the on-deck circle.
For example, if a pitcher with a high pitch count throws two straight breaking balls in the dirt to run up a 2-0 count, there is nothing in anybody's DNA that says you have to swing at the next three straight breaking balls that are also out of the strike zone.
There were all sorts of examples like that on Tuesday night. The Orioles spent the first two innings squeezing veteran slow-baller Doug Fister into what was looking like a five-inning, 100-pitch box, then simply abandoned that strategy and pretty much swung from their heels the rest of the way.
There were some exceptions, but 19 strikeouts is 19 strikeouts.
Give Fister and the Astros' bullpen credit for figuring out how to strike out every player in the Orioles lineup -- yes, every player -- but even manager Buck Showalter acknowledged that the whole good-pitching-beats-good-hitting axiom only goes so far.
He was clearly frustrated during his post-game MASN interview and he had every right to be. The Orioles adopted the mindset that they would just swing hard until they hit one, but two solo home runs over 13 innings isn't exactly a meteor shower.
Jones also acknowledged after the game that the team had abandoned the pass-the-baton approach that helped the Orioles get off to such a great start. They need to rediscover it in a hurry, because the Boston Red Sox just passed them in the standings and the Sox have a long history of patience in clutch situations.
What has happened over the past few days might have set a dangerous precedent, since Fister and soft-throwing Jared Weaver showed opposing advance scouts just how vulnerable the Orioles are to a steady diet of offspeed stuff that breaks under and around the strike zone.
If that's really in their DNA, they need to change their genes. They might get to the playoffs waiting for three home runs per game from their muscular lineup, but they won't get much further.