'Remember who you are': O's stay upbeat as AL East lead shrinks

BALTIMORE -- This week, the Orioles are getting a taste of what late-September/October baseball is like -- tense games, electric atmospheres, crowds hanging on every pitch. There are a lot of youngsters on Baltimore’s roster who’ve never experienced anything like it before.

The Orioles are now getting a taste of what it’s like to be in a rut, as well, which is also something they haven’t experienced before -- at least not in 2023, up until this point.

It’s not coming at the best time, either.

On Friday, Baltimore fell for the fourth consecutive night, taking a 7-1 loss to Tampa Bay in front of a sellout crowd of 43,359. After dropping the first two games of this crucial American League East series, the Orioles are no longer alone at the top of the division, as the Rays grabbed a share of first place for the first time since the end of play on July 21.

• Games remaining (15): vs. TB (2), at HOU (3), at CLE (4), vs. WSH (2), vs. BOS (4)
• Standings update: The Orioles (91-56) need to win one of the next two games to win the season series and hold the tiebreaker over the Rays (92-57), who now have a share of the American League East division lead. The team that ends up in first is likely to finish with the best record in the AL, meaning it won’t have to play a best-of-three Wild Card Series and would instead head to the best-of-five AL Division Series as the No. 1 seed.
• Magic number: 3 for postseason berth

“Nobody said this was going to be easy,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “These things happen, and you’ve got to just stay positive.”

Rays starter Zach Eflin certainly didn’t make it easy on the Orioles’ slumping bats on Friday. The right-hander carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning and tossed seven dominant frames, allowing only one hit -- the first of Heston Kjerstad’s career, as the Orioles’ No. 3 prospect (per MLB Pipeline) opened the sixth with a home run that accounted for Baltimore’s lone run.

This is only the second time this season the O’s have lost four consecutive games. They also dropped four in a row from June 27-July 1 (two to the Reds and two to the Twins).

Baltimore’s lack of offense has been the primary reason for its recent struggles. The Orioles have scored only six runs during their four-game skid, a stretch that included a shutout loss in the series finale vs. the Cardinals (the last-place team in the National League Central).

“We’re just in a little bit of a team funk offensively,” Hyde said. “But I think you give Zach Eflin a ton of credit, honestly. I thought he was excellent, and he gave us a tough time.”

Jack Flaherty matched Eflin over the first three innings, as the Orioles right-hander retired nine of the first 10 Rays batters without allowing a run. However, things took a turn in the fourth, when Tampa Bay scored a pair of runs on a Brandon Lowe leadoff homer and an RBI single by Manuel Margot.

The Rays chased Flaherty in the fifth, before adding another run on a Lowe sacrifice fly.

Since arriving from St. Louis in an Aug. 1 trade, Flaherty has a 7.11 ERA over seven starts for Baltimore. He had a solid O’s debut at Toronto on Aug. 3 (one run allowed over six innings), but he’s recorded an 8.42 ERA in his six outings since.

Hyde said the Orioles are continuing to go “day by day” with the plans for their rotation (which has six starters, including Flaherty, at the moment). Meanwhile, Flaherty’s confidence in himself has not wavered.

“Rough stretches happen. Why would confidence change?” Flaherty said. “It’d be like asking the same question for this team, like, ‘Where’s my confidence at in this team?’ It’s still through the roof. You go through rough stretches, no matter what.”

Adley Rutschman, who is mired in an 0-for-13 slump, expressed similar faith in his team.

“Every team goes through ups and downs,” Rutschman said. “Tomorrow is a new day, and we’re going to try and bounce back.”

It’s hugely important that the Orioles win at least one of their final two games against the Rays. Baltimore has a 6-5 lead in the season series, with its next victory over Tampa Bay ensuring it would have the advantage in a potential AL East tiebreaker.

So even if the Rays win Saturday -- which would put them alone in first place for the first time since the end of play on July 18 -- it’s crucial for the Orioles to bounce back and win Sunday. Of course, they also haven’t been swept in 86 consecutive multi-game series.

How does Baltimore respond and keep that streak alive?

“Just remember who you are,” Flaherty said. “I’ve only been here for a month and some change, but they’ve been good all year for a reason. Every team is going to go through it at some point, but you just remember who you are, remember how you got to this point.”