It was a dismal effort all around for the Orioles, who, in falling, 10-1, on Sunday to the Toronto Blue Jays to complete a three-game sweep, looked nothing like the team that took four games from the Texas Rangers before the All-Star break and everything like the bumbling club with the worst record in the major leagues.
There was left fielder Felix Pie taking several circuitous routes on balls that wound up either bouncing in front of him or behind him. There was first baseman Ty Wigginton double-clutching on Adam Lind's ground ball and costing the Orioles an inning-ending double play. And then there was the offense's continued ineptitude with runners in scoring position; the Orioles went 1-for-15 in such situations during the game and stranded 11 base runners.
But the most discouraging image of all was Brian Matusz, the 23-year-old left-hander who was expected to contend for American League Rookie of the Year honors, jogging off the mound to a smattering of boos from the announced 14,032 at Camden Yards after surrendering six second-inning runs while getting just two outs.
Recently acquired shortstop Yunel Escobar hit his first career grand slam on an 88 mph fastball, and the Blue Jays teed off on Matusz on their way to improving to 9-0 against the hapless Orioles (29-62) this season.
Toronto has outscored the Orioles 48-16 in those nine games.
"Today was a tough day," Matusz said. "I felt really good in the first inning, throwing good pitches, and in the second inning, I got out of my groove a little bit. It's tough. Days like this are never fun."
This season hasn't been much fun for Matusz, who is 3-10 with a 5.21 ERA. He and teammate Jeremy Guthrie are tied for the most losses in the American League.
Matusz seemed to right himself when he threw seven shutout innings against the Boston Red Sox on July 4 at Fenway Park, but in two starts since, he has gone just 4 1/3 total innings and allowed 10 earned runs, 11 hits and six walks. In two career starts against Toronto, Matusz has allowed 11 runs and 12 hits in 4 1/3 innings.
"Individually, I've had times where I've thrown together a couple of good starts, [and] I've had a couple of starts where I haven't been able to make it through three innings," said Matusz, who has failed to go more than four innings in four of his 19 starts this season. "As a starting pitcher, you want to go deep and try to keep your team in the game as long as possible. You hear it all the time about consistency. It's the toughest part of the game."
Matusz acknowledged that he is going through mechanical problems and flying open in his delivery, which is leading him to leave too many pitches over the plate. He pledged to work out those issues during his bullpen session with pitching coach Rick Kranitz leading up to his next start.
With veteran Kevin Millwood expected to return to the rotation this week, the Orioles will have a surplus of starters, but interim manager Juan Samuel said the club is not considering sending the rookie down to Triple-A Norfolk to work on his mechanics.
"Hopefully, he can get things straightened out with Kranny [with] the bullpen [session] and a look at some video to see what's going on with him," Samuel said. "We saw the same thing in Texas where he was rolling and just lost it there. Hopefully, it's nothing we have to be concerned with, and it can be worked out."
Asked again about the possibility of demoting Matusz, Samuel said firmly, "Not at this point, not in my mind."
Sunday's outing was disappointing because things had started so well. Matusz gave up a leadoff single to Fred Lewis, but his stuff was very sharp in the first. He fell behind 3-0 to Vernon Wells and then threw a fastball for a strike and consecutive changeups to send the All-Star back to the dugout and end the inning.
The Orioles scored in the bottom of the first on Adam Jones' RBI single off Shaun Marcum, who was making his first start since July 1 after a stay on the disabled list with elbow inflammation.
Marcum (8-4) allowed at least one base runner in all five of his innings but only the one run. Nick Markakis twice hit a leadoff double during that span and never moved off second base.
Toronto (47-45), meanwhile, went 5-for-13 with runners in scoring position in overmatching the Orioles once again.
The last time the Orioles dropped nine straight games to a single opponent to begin a season was in 1988, when they lost their first nine against the Cleveland Indians.
"I don't have an answer for you," Wigginton said of the Orioles' struggles against Toronto.
"The only thing I can think of is they've got some good, young talented pitchers over there that move the ball around. And their team, offensively, if you make a mistake, they are not hitting singles. They are hitting homers and doubles. They've just caught breaks against us and outplayed us."
Matusz by the numbers
1 2/3
Innings pitched by the Orioles' Brian Matusz, the shortest start of his major league career
5.21
ERA for Matusz after he lasted three innings or fewer for the second consecutive outing
6
Runs allowed by Matusz, four of them on a grand slam by Yunel Escobar, all in the second inning
10
Losses this season for Matusz, tied with fellow Oriole Jeremy Guthrie for most in the American League