Baltimore Orioles vs Boston Red Sox: 3 takeaways

The Orioles are incapable of rallying

The Orioles were outscored 21-12 over the course of the four games, but with 11 extra-base hits, they did display some power. In fact, the Birds were done in by their utter inability to pick each other up.

Take Sunday’s game as an example. The Birds collected 13 hits — more than the Red Sox — but left 14 men stranded on base, leading to an embarrassing 5-0 loss. They had at least one baserunner in every single inning, and what’s more, they had a man in scoring position in five of them. It still wasn’t enough to get on the board.

Sure, the league dynamics over the past few years have encouraged hitters to take an all-or-nothing approach, but it doesn’t take a sabermetrician to see that the Birds need to improve their situational hitting. Unfortunately, with players like Chris Davis, Adam Jones and Mark Trumbo — none of whom have an on-base percentage above .300 — the Orioles are built for quick bursts of power rather than methodical marathons on the basepaths. It’s an approach that can work, but with a mere .399 slugging percentage in 2018, the main result for the Birds has been a bunch of strikeouts.

Throw in their 13 whiffs on Saturday, and it’s plain to see that the O’s need to get better about stringing their hits together. Otherwise they’ll continue to leave wins on the table.