Baltimore Orioles player of the month: Where would the O's be without this man?

The month of August has mercifully come to a close and the Baltimore Orioles have continued to struggle. Not much has gone right for them since the All-Star break and they have posted a losing record for the second straight month. The only thing that has been consistent is the mounting injuries that continued to pile up in August.

One of those injuries came on August 6 when Grayson Rodriguez removed himself from a game just prior to the start. But from the ashes a phoenix arose. Albert Suarez stepped in, with virtually no notice, and was lights out. He shutout the Toronto Blue Jays over 5.0 innings allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out six batters.

Suarez was good enough to earn another start and kept the good times rolling. Five days later Suarez took on another division foe, the Tampa Bay Rays, and held them scoreless for 6.2 innings, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out five. It was the furthest Suarez had ever pitched into a game in the major leagues.

At this point Suarez had the hot hand and Brandon Hyde stuck with him. Facing his third AL East rival in as many games, Suarez took on the Boston Red Sox on August 18. He was able to scatter seven hits over 6.0 innings with six more strikeouts and no walks. Suarez had held his opponents scoreless in three consecutive starts for a total of 17.2 innings.

Albert Suarez's scoreless streak was one of the Orioles' few bright spots in August

The scoreless innings streak ended with a leadoff home run in his next start against the Houston Astros, but Suarez still put together a strong performance. He pitched 5.2 innings and held a powerful Astros offense to just four hits, but his appearances was bookended by solo shots. Suarez kept the game close and the O's took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the sixth on a Jackson Holliday three run double and held on for the win.

Suarez made a fifth start of the month against the Colorado Rockies and outdid himself setting a new career high in innings pitched for the second time in the month. Suarez completed 7.0 innings surrendering two runs with four strikeouts while scattering eight hits.

Thanks to his incredible month Suarez now has a firm hold on a rotation spot. In his five August starts, Suarez went 2-0 while allowing just four runs over 30.1 innings pitched for a sparkling 1.19 ERA and 24 strikeouts against 25 hits allowed. Suarez did make a relief appearance on August 1 where he allowed three runs in just 1.2 innings but even that brings his ERA for the month up to just 1.97.

With the rest of the rotation in shambles, Suarez will be relied about to anchor the rotation through the final month of the season. Suarez should be the comeback player of the year come the end of the season. Where would the Orioles be without him?