Orioles unfazed by season-long 4-game skid?

BALTIMORE -- It may have been the loudest Camden Yards has been this season. The announced crowd of 40,012 that filled the seats Saturday evening -- many of whom were donning the orange Hawaiian shirt giveaway -- wanted nothing more than to see the Orioles walk off for a win in the ninth inning.

The fans rose to their feet. They were locked in on every pitch. They tried to will Baltimore to victory.

But that didn’t happen. And now, at the midway point of their 2023 campaign, the Orioles find themselves in an unfamiliar position. They’ve lost a season-high four consecutive games and need to find a way to avoid a prolonged skid.

The solution is to get the offense going. On Saturday, the Orioles lost, 1-0, to the Twins, producing only three hits (all singles) while getting shut out for the sixth time this year. Two of those knocks came against right-hander Bailey Ober, who retired 21 of the 24 Baltimore batters he faced over seven dominant innings.

The Orioles have scored nine total runs over their four-game losing streak, and seven of those came against the Reds on Wednesday. Baltimore has plated a run in only four of 36 innings over that span, during which it is batting .156 (20-for-128).

Any cause for concern?

“I think this team’s capable of doing a lot of great things, and we’ve kind of shown that this year already,” center fielder Cedric Mullins said. “Four-game losing streak? I don’t think it worries us too much. Come back, compete the next day.”

Through 81 games, Baltimore is 48-33. That puts the club at a 96-win pace. If the Orioles play similarly well over the second half of their schedule, they’ll surely be heading to the postseason for the first time since 2016.

But Baltimore can’t let its longest rough patch thus far spiral too far in the wrong direction.

It hasn’t helped the Orioles that numerous key offensive contributors are slumping at the same time. Mullins (4-for-24 in six games since his return from the injured list), Ryan O’Hearn (2-for-23 in his past seven games) and Aaron Hicks (2-for-24 in his past eight games) aren’t producing much right now. Adley Rutschman is coming off a June in which he slashed .222/.293/.367.

Adam Frazier is 4-for-his-last-21. Jorge Mateo is in a 2-for-24 skid. Anthony Santander is in a shorter slump of 2-for-17, but he also had one of Baltimore’s three hits Saturday.

Sometimes, hitters have to tip their hats to the competition, though.

“I thought Ober threw the ball great. Pablo López is really good, who we faced [Friday] night,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “So we’ve faced a couple of really good starters that were on, and we just had a tough time offensively.”

The Orioles gave their supporters hope in Saturday’s ninth, when Rutschman reached on a one-out infield single and Mateo pinch-ran and stole second. But Santander flied out to foul territory in the right-field corner -- where Max Kepler made a stellar sliding catch -- and O’Hearn grounded out against lights-out Twins closer Jhoan Duran to end it.

The lack of offense gave Baltimore right-hander Kyle Bradish a hard-luck loss. The 26-year-old again pitched well, scattering seven hits and striking out seven over six innings of one-run ball. His lone blemish was a two-out solo homer by Joey Gallo in the fourth, which accounted for the game’s lone run.

Bradish has recorded a 2.16 ERA over his past four starts, a stretch that has lowered his season ERA to 3.58. That ranks second among Orioles starters, behind only Tyler Wells (3.21).

“He’s really, really improved. The command has gotten so much better,” Hyde said of Bradish. “He’s got a really great fastball he can go to both sides with, with the sinker and the cutter. The curveball’s continuing to improve. And he’s got the changeup that’s hard, but he’s keeping it down in the zone. He’s doing a great job.”

Prior to this losing streak, Baltimore had dropped three consecutive games only once this season (May 6-8). It still hasn’t been swept in a series, a mark it will aim to keep intact in Sunday’s finale.

Bradish and Mullins share a similar mindset -- there’s no reason to panic. The rest of the Orioles’ clubhouse would likely agree.

“I say it a lot, but it’s baseball. It’s going to happen,” Bradish said. “We’re not going to put up 10 runs every game, but we’re right in there.”

Added Mullins: “162 games, bound to have some stretches like that. Attribute that to baseball. I feel like we’re coming up there with a plan, with an approach. Just not getting the results we want right now.”