On a night when Chris Tillman looked more like a batting-practice pitcher than a major league one, the offense made another opposing starter resemble a Cy Young Award candidate and the bullpen allowed the latest loss to morph into a humiliating rout, there was one image that summed up the Orioles' misery.
One Orioles fan at AT&T; Park for the team's 10-2 series-opening loss to the San Francisco Giants before an announced 33.822 was shown on local television wearing a paper bag over his or her head with the words: "I flew from Columbia, MD to watch this?"
It is, indeed, getting harder and harder to fathom the depths to which this once-proud organization has sunk. With the loss Monday night, the team's fourth straight and 16th in the past 18 games, the Orioles fell to 17-47 and have the same record that the woeful 1988 Orioles had after 64 games.
That, of course, was the team that started 0-21 and finished 54-107, the worst mark in Orioles history. It now has company.
"It's been tough," said catcher Matt Wieters, who provided one of the few highlights for the visitors with a solo homer in the second off an otherwise strong Jonathan Sanchez. "We've been getting behind early, and teams have been extending the lead on us. It's something where the offense has to do a better job coming back and the pitching staff has to do a better job as far as keeping them down and putting zeros up on the board. These games are going to happen throughout the course of the year. We just have to start playing better."
It will have to happen in every phase of the game for the Orioles to suddenly become competitive. During their four-game losing streak, they've been outscored 29-8. During their current 2-16 stretch, the Orioles have lost nine games by five runs or more.
Their offense has been dreadful, allowing an astonishing 17 of the past 18 starters they've faced to turn in quality starts. Sanchez (5-5) continued that trend by surrendering only Wieters' solo homer, which ended the catcher's career-long homerless streak at 102 at-bats, and Ty Wigginton's RBI double over 7 2/3 innings.
The Orioles' starting pitching has fallen into disarray, though nobody has looked as thoroughly overwhelmed as Tillman did Monday. He allowed six runs on six hits in just two innings, his ERA soaring to 8.40 and his hold on a rotation spot loosening with every hard-hit ball he gave up.
"We're trying to figure out what we're going to do," interim manager Juan Samuel said when asked whether Tillman (0-3) will make his next start. "We will sleep on it and see which direction we're going to go with the off day [on Thursday]."
It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement by Samuel, but then again, Tillman's performance didn't warrant one. His pitches, most of them traveling 90 mph or less, arrived at home plate with no detectable movement and often settled right down the middle, belt-high or above.
The Giants simply did what you would expect them or any other big league team to do with such charity.
"It's a little bit frustrating to us," said Samuel, who fell to 2-10 since taking over for the fired Dave Trembley. "We would just like to see him throw the ball with more conviction. It looks like he just wants to throw strikes. You have to keep the ball down in the zone, you have to pitch inside, you have to make the hitters feel uncomfortable up there. Facing good hitters, you are not going to be able to get by with a fastball up in the zone, and we've seen that. Against [the New York Yankees], he pitched better because his breaking ball was a little bit better. But today we didn't see a whole lot."
The solo homer Tillman gave up to Pat Burrell in the second inning was on a 90 mph, belt-high fastball. The triple he surrendered to Andres Torres to lead off the game was on a letter-high 88 mph fastball.
There were many more pitches like those two for Tillman, who allowed a homer, a triple, two doubles and two singles, along with several other hard-hit outs, including Freddy Sanchez's first-inning sacrifice fly that left fielder Corey Patterson ran down at the wall. The five runs Tillman allowed in the bottom of the second -- after Wieters had tied the score in the top of the frame -- represented the 10th time this season the Orioles have given up five runs or more in an inning.
"I don't think its confidence at all," Tillman said. "I just couldn't get it going. In the bullpen, I couldn't get a fastball below Matt's mask. It just wasn't there tonight. That curveball came a long way from last start. The changeup was there, but it was all in the fastball command and there was nothing behind it today.
"Physically, I felt great, felt strong. It just wasn't there tonight."
That was painfully obvious to Wieters, whose mitt was often grasping at air as Giant hitters took one mighty swing after another.
"I think his confidence is fine," Wieters said. "I think it's just a matter of going after it a little bit harder. He's trying to pitch like a guy who is just trying to spot up. His fastball is too good to where he just has to spot it up. He needs to really let it go and throw his 93 or 94 [mph] so that they have to respect it more. Then, his curveball could be even more effective."
In 15 career big league starts, Tillman, a 23-year-old right-hander, is 2-8 with a 5.96 ERA. His success in the minor leagues hasn't translated to the big leagues, and now the Orioles are left to decide how long they can stick with him in the rotation.
"I haven't even put any thought into it," Tillman said when asked about making his next start. "I was just too worried about what went on tonight."