— Maybe this should have been obvious before Luke Scott's back seized up during his first at-bat and Brian Matusz hobbled off the field in the sixth inning of the Orioles' 4-2 loss to the Washington Nationals Saturday afternoon, but the 2011 season is hanging by a thread.
President of baseball operations Andy MacPhail obviously sensed that, since he alluded to the tenuous nature of his shaky ballclub even before the Orioles took the field for the second game of their interleague series at Nationals Park.
"We're teetering," MacPhail said. "We could teeter good. We could teeter bad. I can see things getting better, but a lot of things have to happen."
The most important of those things was a healthy rebound by Matusz, who raised all sorts of red flags in his previous start. He put up a fight this time and dueled Nationals right-hander Jordan Zimmermann to a draw until Michael Morse launched a tie-breaking two-run homer into the Nationals bullpen in the sixth, but veteran first baseman Derrek Lee saw something in Matusz's manner that didn't look right and waved manager Buck Showalter and trainer Richie Bancells to the mound.
Matusz was escorted off the field and helped down the dugout steps. The club announced later in the game that he had suffered cramping in his left hamstring and is listed as day-to-day.
That was the last thing MacPhail and Showalter wanted to deal with on the day after they made another wave of roster moves to solidify the bullpen and add a more dependable utility infielder. Though the hamstring problem apparently is not serious, it's hard not to be concerned when you stack it on top of Matusz's recent intercostal injury and the troublesome questions raised by his waning velocity.
MacPhail admitted before the game that it was an extremely important start for Matusz and the team, which has now lost six of its past seven games and fallen six games under .500. The Orioles also have fallen to a double-digit deficit in the American League East, but this is more about the day-to-day competitiveness of the team than its place in the standings.
"We're a little beat up, we're not as deep as we'd like to be and we're streaky as hell," MacPhail said.
The latest Matusz injury only complicates an already disjointed pitching situation. The Orioles still don't know if Jeremy Guthrie will be about to start Tuesday night's game in Pittsburgh — though he got through his throwing session on Saturday without incident — and the bullpen clearly has been negatively affected by the hamstring injury that forced Alfredo Simon onto the disabled list. That's why Brad Bergesen was called up Friday night, because he can fill either role.
The Orioles are also battling their usual demons at the plate. They had 18 hits on Friday night and managed to score only four runs. They got 13 hits from Lee, Adam Jones and Nick Markakis in that game and not one of those hits produced a run. They routinely squander no-out, multiple-base runner opportunities and seem incapable of putting pressure on vulnerable pitchers. They sorely miss Brian Roberts and now they have to wait and see how long Scott will need to recover from the middle-back spasms that left him looking very uncomfortable after the game.
Showalter can't explain it, but he wondered on Saturday whether some of his hitters are just letting the gravity of the team's offensive problems weigh them down at the plate.
"Sometimes, the more emphasis you put on it … the more it is brought to light … maybe there is anxiety in those RBI situations," he said. "Right now, I take some positives out of creating those situations, but there are two parts to that equation — getting them out there and getting them in."
In other words, the Orioles are teetering, but the events of the past week make you wonder if things really could go either way. Right now, this team seems to be pointed decidedly in the wrong direction.
"It's frustrating," Scott said. "It's hard to express in words, but tomorrow is another day. We need to focus on the opportunities that are ahead of us."
That's a good thought, but the way things are going at the moment, the Orioles have reason to be wary of what tomorrow will bring.
Listen to Peter Schmuck on "The Week in Review" on Friday's at noon on WBAL (1090AM) and WBAL.com.