Baltimore Orioles come up short vs. ChiSox

There’s one problem with winning streaks: they at some point will undoubtedly come to an end. That’s part of why I tell people that they shouldn’t worry when things don’t seem to be going poorly for the Baltimore Orioles; at some point things will turn around. They should worry when it appears the team can do no wrong. That might be a little too much reverse psychology, however I think the point is well-taken.

Nevertheless, the O’s had strung together a few wins but last night that came to an end. Many people cite games like this as proof that this team isn’t very good given that they can’t seem to win more than three or four games in a row. But keep in mind that they also don’t lose nine or ten in a row as some teams do. Nevertheless, Miguel Gonzalez was just a bit off last night, yet

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he kept the Orioles in a position to win. Gonzalez’s line: 5 IP, 9 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 1 K.

The O’s trailed almost right from the beginning when Gordon Beckham hit a deep homer to left field in the first inning to give Chicago a 1-0 lead. A De Aza RBI-single in the second would put the O’s behind 2-0, however Gonzalez did limit the damage. He in fact had a similar start to what we saw from Chicago’s Chris Sale on Monday night; he struggled but he also didn’t allow the opposition to totally knock him out of the game.

Chicago’s Flowers would add on an RBI-single in the fourth to run the lead to 3-0; but a big part of this game was the fact that Chicago starter Jose Quintana xhut the O’s down. Quintana shut down a lineup that had problems with RISP last night, but was in fact able to at least get runners on base. However Steve Pearce led off the sixth inning with a deep solo shot to left, and the Orioles had some life. However following a Jones double, the Orioles went down quietly with two strikeouts and a line out.

Chicago would put another across in the eighth on a fielder’s choice which resulted from a Caleb Joseph passed ball.  The O’s challenged in the last of the ninth much like Monday night, and they were able to put a run across on Delmon Young‘s pinch hit RBI-single. However Chicago’s closer Belisario managed to struggle his way into the final two outs of the inning on a double-play, and the Birds fell 4-2.

It begins and ends with starting pitching as I’ve said many times before. Gonzalez put the team in a position to have a chance to win, but the fact is that sometimes it’s tough to battle out of a hole. From Chicago’s standpoint, they snapped a five-game losing streak overall, and they snapped an eight-game losing streak on the road.

Some fans might question how the O’s could fall to a team that had lost five straight, but I would point to the law of averages evening things out eventually.

The Birds will still have an opportunity to win the series this evening, as they’ll face Chicago for the third and final time at Camden Yards. Ubaldo Jimenez will take to the mound for the Orioles, and he’ll be opposed by Chicago’s Hector Noesi.