TORONTO — When the Orioles arrived back in Baltimore early Friday morning, I wonder whether they were welcomed home by a falling sky.
There's no mistaking the Orioles' play for good baseball. When things aren't going well, there are many things you can pick apart, and there were plenty over the past four games, all Orioles losses.
The Orioles committed three errors in their rain-shortened Patriots' Day loss to the Boston Red Sox. They lost their cool during Tuesday's drama with Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista. Two costly base-running errors cost them Wednesday, and on Thursday they gave away extra bases when they didn't cut off throws from the outfield.
But ultimately, as manager Buck Showalter often says, it's about the pitching, and the Orioles' rotation simply hasn't done its job in the season's early going.
Thursday's 7-6 loss marked the eighth straight game in which an Orioles starting pitcher did not reach six full innings. The last starter to do so was Miguel Gonzalez, who hopes to stop the bleeding tonight against Boston. Gonzalez went seven innings and allowed one run on four hits with 10 strikeouts and a walk on April 14.
Over the past eight games, Orioles starters are averaging just 4 1/3 innings.
Right-hander Chris Tillman issued five walks Thursday, and over the three games in Toronto, starters combined for 11 walks. The entire staff issued 15 in three games.
"Fifteen, fourteen walks in a three-game series is not very characteristic," Showalter said. "That's too good of a club over there to give them that kind of help. They earned the walks. They were selective.
"We made them get their closer in the game, but at the end of the day, it's a small thing to be positive about," Showalter added, referring to the Orioles' four-run ninth, which made it a one-run game and forced Blue Jays closer Miguel Castro into the game. "I said the year before last and last year and this year, if we get consistently deep into game with our starting pitching, we'll have some fun."
Through 16 games last season, the Orioles recorded just seven starts of six innings or more. Orioles starters went six innings in just two of their first eight starts.
But this season, the Orioles have just four starts of six innings or more in their first 16 games.
Told that the team also struggled to avoid short starts early last season, Showalter didn't take any comfort in the similarity.
"That's a convenient excuse if you chose to use it," Showalter said. "Every game you play counts. I can sit here and talk about how many games are left, but our guys are better. They're frustrated, and I'm frustrated for them."