Interim manager Juan Samuel expects inconsistency from his young pitchers; he knows ups and downs are what he's going to get when he writes their names on the lineup card.
That still doesn't make it easy to deal with what he has received the past two games, when the organization's two most-heralded young hurlers heading into the season were chased early in thorough and embarrassing losses, the latest Monday's 8-1 thrashing by the Tampa Bay Rays.
"It's getting to the point where we don't know which guy is going to show," Samuel said. "Whether that's inexperience of these guys to follow up on a good outing and build from there or pitching through some tough times when they don't feel that they have their good stuff. I think that's what some of the good ones do, make some adjustments on the fly. We know these guys are young, but I still think they could do that."
Monday's victim was 22-year-old right-hander Chris Tillman, who followed up perhaps the best-pitched game by an Oriole this season — his two-hit outing July 10 against the Texas Rangers — with the biggest clunker of his brief career.
Tillman allowed a career-high eight earned runs in 2 2/3 innings, including a disastrous third inning in which he recorded just two outs and was charged with seven earned runs, putting the Orioles into an 8-0 hole.
"I think the main thing is the command. It just wasn't there tonight," said Tillman, who gave up seven hits, issued four walks and hit a batter. "I think that's obviously first and foremost with me; that's what I've been working on every time I've gone down [to Triple-A] this season. Tonight it just wasn't there, and you can't get too many outs when you can't command the baseball."
His poor outing comes on the heels of Sunday's disaster from rookie left-hander Brian Matusz, who allowed six runs in 1 2/3 innings against the Toronto Blue Jays, cementing a three-game sweep. Monday's loss to the Rays (56-36) was the Orioles' fourth straight since the second half began and dropped them to a major league-worst 29-63 on the season.
"For a couple nights in a row, we haven't seen good pitching from our young guys. Very inconsistent," Samuel said. Tillman's "command was very, very bad. He was a different guy than what we saw in Texas. We were hoping that he would build on that, but we did not see that."
In Texas, Tillman used his cut fastball adeptly, lasting 7 1/3 innings while giving up just one unearned run. On Monday, he couldn't properly locate his new pitch, abandoned it and watched the Rays unload on him in the third, pushing his ERA from 5.64 to 7.92.
With the Orioles trailing 1-0 heading into the top of the third, Tillman (1-4) failed to retire the first six batters he faced. He didn't get an out until Sean Rodriguez dropped a safety squeeze bunt that scored B.J. Upton for the Rays' fifth run of the inning.
Tillman came within a home run of allowing an RBI cycle in the inning. He gave up an RBI walk, a two-run single, an RBI double and an RBI triple. He also hit a batter and allowed a second walk.
"I felt strong until that third inning, but I got out of my game plan," said Tillman, who didn't pitch off his fastball and had trouble locating his off-speed pitches.
When Samuel came out to get Tillman after Carl Crawford's run-scoring triple, some in the announced crowd of 12.972 at Camden Yards booed the Orioles' young right-hander.
"These guys are young. Tillman doesn't even have a full year in the show, same thing with Matusz and all these young guys who have struggled," said designated hitter Luke Scott, who was 1-for-4 in his return from the disabled list with a strained hamstring. "They haven't been in the majors for a full year. And it's unfair to put that type of pressure on them."
Matusz, who was the most hyped of the group, is 3-10 with a 5.21 ERA. Brad Bergesen, the most effective in 2009, is 3-7 with a 6.37 ERA. Jake Arrieta, tonight's starter, has been the brightest spot so far, going 3-2 with a 4.38 ERA. But he has made just seven big league starts.
"These guys need to develop. This is not an easy game," Scott said. "They've got the talent. They've got good stuff, but I believe there is too much pressure put on them to go out and perform like someone who has got seven, 10 years of experience in the major leagues."
After allowing a single to Evan Longoria to make it 8-0 in the third, reliever Matt Albers stopped the bleeding. He didn't allow another hit in 3 1/3 innings and combined with three relievers to keep the Rays scoreless for the rest of the night.
It didn't matter after the third.
Rays starter Wade Davis (7-9), who entered Camden Yards with a 4.69 ERA on the season, allowed just one run in eight innings, his longest stint of 2010. The longest outing of his career came in September, a complete-game win at Camden Yards.
The 24-year-old rookie has just nine career victories; three have come against the Orioles. He retired the first seven Orioles he faced Monday before Craig Tatum singled in the third. The Orioles scored their lone run in the fifth when Scott Moore walked, Tatum singled and Cesar Izturis singled up the middle to score Moore.
It was their only hit with runners in scoring position in seven opportunities. The Orioles are 9-31 in 40 games against the American League East. Tillman is 0-3 in his four starts against divisional opponents.
"We are competing in the East, against the most dominating hitting and pitching in baseball, seasoned vets. When you make mistakes in this league, especially in this division, it is going to be magnified," Scott said. The young pitchers "have proven everything they can prove in the minors. They don't belong there. They do have to make adjustments here and get better, just like the rest of us."
Despite their recent struggles, the Orioles have no alternative but to keep putting their young pitchers on the mound and hoping they can learn on the job — that starts like Tillman's on Monday end up as the exception and not the rule.
"Those guys are scheduled to make their next start, and right now we are going to give them their next start," Samuel said. "You don't want them to take a beating, and that's why we were very careful with some of these young guys."
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