Thu May 8 17:29:54 2008

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Long, hard road taking its toll on Orioles

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(Sports Network) - Hitting the road for a lengthy period of time appears to have the Baltimore Orioles hitting a wall as well.

Baltimore was one of baseball's pleasant surprises over this season's first four weeks, but the talent-challenged club has found its way back to the bottom of the American League East standings following a current rocky stretch. The Orioles suffered their fifth consecutive defeat with Wednesday's 6-5, 10-inning setback at Oakland and are 2-9-1 over their last 12 games, which includes a suspended contest in Chicago on April 28.

Having played the majority of that sequence away from the scenic sights of the Inner Harbor has likely contributed to the Orioles' downturn. Wednesday's loss to the Athletics was Baltimore's 13th road test within a 16-day span and the sixth tilt on a grueling 10-game, three-city sojourn that will conclude in Kansas City this coming weekend.

The extended journey seems to have tired the Orioles' hitters. During the first five games of the trip, Baltimore batted a collective .219 and mustered just 13 runs. In the 11 games prior to Wednesday's defeat, the Birds scored a meager total of 24 runs.

"It's been pretty frustrating offensively," designated hitter Aubrey Huff recently told the team's official site. "When we do get our hits, they're all singles. It seems like everybody is pressing right now trying to put a home run on the board when we're not scoring a lot of runs."

Baltimore had a mild breakout in the finale of the Oakland series, as the offense produced 13 hits and rallied for three eighth-inning runs to take a short-lived 5-4 lead. The A's wound up tying the game with an unearned run in the bottom of the frame, then later won it in the 10th on a Mark Ellis home run.

The tailspin led to manager Dave Trembley holding a short team meeting prior to Tuesday's 4-2 loss to the Athletics. The second-year skipper described the gathering as more of a pep talk to his young charges, with the club having had to deal with an inordinate amount of close losses during this rough patch.

If recent history is any indication, the Orioles could be primed for a quick turnaround. On Thursday, Baltimore starts up a four-game series with a Kansas City Royals squad it has defeated nine consecutive times and owns a 16-3 record against since the start of the 2005 campaign. The O's have compiled a 7-2 mark at Kauffman Stadium over that time period.

In their lone visit to Kansas City last season, the Orioles swept the Royals in a three-game set from May 28-30, 2007.

CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR

Wednesday's extra-inning loss to Oakland marked the Orioles' seventh straight game that has been decided by two runs or less. Baltimore has emerged victorious only once during that time, however, a reversal of fortune from the team's early-season blueprint of success.

The Orioles often found themselves on the winning side of close contests upon building an impressive 14-9 record through their first 23 matchups of this season. Trembley's troops are still a solid 8-5 in one-run games on the year, which entered Thursday's play tied with St. Louis (8-5), Philadelphia (8-7) and San Francisco (8-8) for the most in the majors.

Another positive sign is the way Baltimore was able to fight back from late deficits during the Oakland series. In Monday's opener, the Orioles scratched out a run in the top of the ninth inning to erase a 1-0 deficit, and Baltimore scored three times in the eighth to briefly grab a one-run advantage on Wednesday.

"We've been doing it all year," said pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who was spared a potential loss due to Wednesday's late comeback. "I don't think there's been any stretch where we've folded in the tent because of a deficit late in the game. We're always battling, first through the ninth inning, and it's going to come back and benefit us in the long run."

OFF TRACH

One potential shakeup that could be looming regarding the Orioles exists in the starting rotation, where veteran Steve Trachsel delivered another subpar performance in a 6-5 loss to the Angels on Sunday. The slow-working righty was yanked after just three innings and was shellacked for six runs on seven hits -- including three home runs -- before exiting.

That marked the third time in Trachsel's last four starts he failed to make it out of the fourth frame. In his outing prior to Sunday's defeat, the 37-year- old yielded five runs (4 earned) and issued five walks in three-plus innings of work.

Trachsel has also lost four consecutive decisions since defeating Seattle in his season debut on April 4 and has produced an ugly 7.42 earned run average over his six starts.

Trembley indicated that Trachsel will take his next scheduled turn in the rotation when the Orioles visit Kansas City on Friday, but it appears the 16th-year pro is on a very short leash. Swingman Matt Albers has acquitted himself well in a pair of spot starts earlier this season and owns a 2.13 ERA over 25 1/3 innings so far on the year.

Albers made an emergency start against Tampa Bay on April 30 and held the Rays to three runs and four hits over six innings, although he wound up with the loss in Baltimore's 8-1 setback.

WHO'S HOT

Youngster Garrett Olson has delivered two straight sharp outings since replacing the injured Adam Loewen in the Baltimore rotation. The 24-year-old lefty held Tampa Bay to two runs over 6 2/3 innings to pick up a win on April 29, then allowed just one run and four hits through 6 1/3 frames in Monday's no decision at Oakland. Olson also established a career best with seven strikeouts against the A's.

Third baseman Melvin Mora is batting .391 (9-for-23) with a homer and four RBI so far on the Orioles' current road trip and has hit safely in all six of those contests.

WHO'S NOT

Center fielder Adam Jones has gone just 1-for-19 on the road trip and has struck out 28 times in 119 at-bats this season.

Closer George Sherrill is tied for second in the American League with 11 saves, but the southpaw has blown two of his last four opportunities and has a 5.87 ERA over the course of his eight most recent appearances.

ON DECK

The Orioles start up their four-game series with the Royals on Thursday. Daniel Cabrera (2-1, 4.06) gets the call for the Birds in the opener and will be opposed by rookie Luke Hochevar (2-1, 4.86), with Trachsel (1-4, 7.42) facing Gil Meche (2-4, 5.98) on Friday. Olson (1-0, 2.08) will toe the rubber on Saturday against Brett Tomko (1-3, 4.98), while Brian Burres (3-3, 3.19) goes head-to-head with the Royals' Brian Bannister (3-4, 4.46) in Sunday's finale.