Orioles' sloppy play puts a stake in their win streak and threatens any chance at the playoffs

Over the past couple of weeks, the two hottest teams in baseball have been the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox. Those two teams collided with each other last night, each riding an extended win streak into the matchup. Only one streak could survive, and at the end of the night it was the Red Sox celebrating a 14th consecutive victory and the Orioles hanging their heads.

During the game, the Orioles outhit the Red Sox, drew more walks than the Red Sox, and were better with runners in scoring position than the Red Sox. So how did they lose? They committed multiple errors that led directly to runs that kept the Red Sox in the game long enough for them to eventually deliver the knockout blow in the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Orioles could have easily won last night's game if they had been defensively sound

In total, the Orioles made four errors during last night's game, three of which were responsible for runs scoring. In a game where the Orioles went on to lose by one, you can point to those plays and very easily say that if the Orioles had just had a three-error night instead of a four-error night, they would have won that game against the Red Sox quite easily. Instead, they did have a four-error night, and they lost.

This is not a new development or an isolated incident. This season, the Orioles are fourth in total errors but first in unearned runs by a significant margin. They are one of the sloppiest teams in baseball, and when they make a mistake, they make sure to pay for it.

What is most frustrating about these errors is how avoidable most of them are. Gunnar Henderson's throwing error that allowed Wilyer Abreu to advance to third and then later score wasn't just inaccurate, but it was unnecessary; there was no play at the plate to be made, and there was no reason to make that throw. Taylor Ward's throwing error in the seventh inning that allowed a runner to advance into scoring position was becuase he missed the cutoff man. Hitting the cutoff man is little league stuff. If you have a cannon, you can maybe get away with it, but Ward has a total noodle arm; there's no reason for him to be playing hero ball from left field.

Being a poor defender with bad range or a weak arm is one thing. There's not a lot a bad defender can do to become a good defender over the course of the season. It's not reasonable to put a bad defender on the field and demand gold glove-caliber defense. However, it is completely reasonable to put a bad defender in the field and expect them to come through on basic fundamental plays.

What makes this whole situation even more disappointing is how much new manager Craig Albernaz stressed that the Orioles were going to focus on defense and fundamentals during spring training. When asked if he was concerned about all of the errors and general sloppy play, his answer was very short: "No".

With how the Orioles have played defense all season and the obvious lack of accountability for making costly and avoidable errors, it's hard to see this improving anytime soon. Last night was not the last time that the Orioles are going to lose a game becuase their defense gives away outs. In a playoff race that might come down to a single game, it's hard to overlook the impact of all of this sloppiness.

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