The Orioles are mired in another one of those mini-slumps during which they look like they'll never win another game, but they have been there before and they have always climbed right back out.
They've scored just two runs in three games at Yankee Stadium -- with the series finale coming up Thursday afternoon -- but even that stretch of offensive futility is not unprecedented. They did the same thing over a three-game span April 24-26 against the Kansas City Royals and Tampa Bay Rays, then went on a 12-4 run that boosted them from three games above .500 to 11 games over.
When they struck out an MLB record 52 times in one three-game series against the Houston Astros, it looked like the wheels, the axle and the drive train had fallen off their surprising season, but they rebounded with 10 wins in their next 14 games.
In each of those cases, the Orioles' big rebounds took place largely at home, which is where they will be starting Friday night to begin a stretch of 13 games of which nine are at Camden Yards.
Everyone knows they have the best home record of any major league team (33-14) -- by a lot. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results, but it certainly suggests that this is no time to panic.
They fell out of first place on Wednesday night -- dropping a half-game behind the surging Boston Red Sox -- but that isn't unprecedented either. The Orioles have held the top spot in the division for all but 16 days of the season, climbing back quickly to reclaim the lead each of the other four times they were overtaken.