O's Show Resiliency In Split Vs Mariners

After a brutal start vs the Mariners, the Orioles rallied back to split the series. We look at the highs and the lows of this four-game series, and share post-game audio from manager Craig Albernaz! #Birdland #BaltimoreOrioles #MLBonX

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:29

No, it's not a series win, but after the 72 hours from hell, spanning Sunday afternoon all the way to Tuesday evening, the Orioles earning a split against the Seattle Mariners almost feels like a series win in and of itself. Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome into another episode of the Charmed City Sports Podcast. I'm your host, Jay Hollahan. We're getting right into it here. The Orioles, I'll tell you, when we last spoke Sunday evening, it was a pretty low feeling, I think, to have lost two of three to the Toronto Blue Jays. And I believe I previewed the Seattle Mariners series as a three-game series and not a four-game series. I don't know really what happened there as to why I didn't preview the fourth game, but apologies on that. I thought it was a three-game series for whatever reason. I'm not sure where where the misconnect was in me getting that information out, but clearly a a complete mistake on my part. And even went back to revise the episode too when I found out Chris Bassett wasn't going to be starting on uh on Monday for the O's. So, again, a thousand apologies on my end for that one. However, let's get down to business here. The Orioles, they find a way. They find a way to get a split. That Sunday afternoon loss, I'll tell you, that was about as annoyed as I've been at an outlying factor for the Baltimore Orioles. I I mean I I can't remember the last time I was so irked with the fact that the feeling was the uh umpiring, the way that game was officiated, took it right out of the Orioles sales because of the momentum that the Blue Jays carried, the fact that the Orioles just were done a bad bad hand there late in the game, and then it carried over into Monday. And I thought that this had the ability to happen, right? And if the Orioles could get at the time a solid outing out of Chris Passett, although we knew that he was dealing with back issues against the Boston Red Sox, and the thought was, well, there could be a chance he misses some time. And we were kind of waiting around to hear what would happen, and we haven't heard anything through the weekend, and they're gonna reevaluate him, he's gonna go through further testing. Well, as it turns out, they announce on Monday that Bassett hits the shelf for the 15-day IL, and they're calling up Trey Gibson. And I mentioned that Gibson was right in line to make a start that evening for Norfolk. It had been five days since his last outing. I don't know if the Oriol meaningly paired him with Chris Bassett or if that was just a total coincidence, just in case Bassett was going down. You know, maybe they knew he was feeling something in his back, potentially. But they call him up. Now, I'd like to think, because we get the announcement that day that Chris Bassett's hitting the I. Trey Gibson is not preparing to face the Seattle Mariners that evening. But I gotta tell you, I watched the Netflix series, the comeback on the 04 Boston Red Sox, and there's a start in there with where Bronson Arroyo in the uh, I don't know if you've seen it, it's a great documentary, but uh there was an expected rain delay, a postponement between the Sox and the Yankees. Yankees think the game's being postponed because that's what the Red Sox are saying, yada yada yada. And Bronson Arroyo said he was asleep in the training room, and someone woke him up and said, Hey, 30 minutes, you gotta get ready to go start. And he's like, it usually takes me about an hour to warm up. Thirty minutes, I mean, come on. So my point is it would not surprise me if it was the morning of or really less than twenty-four hours of notice for Trey Gibson. However, be that as it may, Gibson went out there and pitched pretty well. I mean, the Orioles got him in early lead. It was one to nothing in the bottom of the third off of Pete Alonso's sack fly. But in the top of the fifth, after Gibson was solid through four, he loads the bases. The Mariners get a run back, two away, uh runner at first, after the sack fly by Bliss, and then again, Gibson loads it to the bases after that. They turn to Anthony Nunez, he gives up a grand slam off Josh Naylor, fastball up and in, and Josh Naylor sends it over the right field fence. Mariners five, O's one. Now naturally you're the feeling is you're pretty irked. I mean, clearly Trey Gibson was done at that point, but you just kind of sit there and go, My goodness, wh why Anthony Nunez? But as I spoke to a lot of people, you know, out amongst the masses after the game, what else could Craig Albernaz have gone to in that situation? Anthony Nunez just has not been himself. Uh, I think, or has not been the same guy, you know, that we saw earlier in the year. And they're trying to kind of ease him back into this, and it just doesn't look like it's really catching at the moment. If there were better options, maybe you would see him get sent down, but that's kind of where things sit right now for the O's. Now, what would have been interesting, and the only real argument you could make here is Gibson goes through four and two thirds, and Nunez, after giving up the grand slam, went on to pitch um into the into the seventh. So he gives up the grand slam, but you know, kind of like a starter giving up a beginning in the first, he kind of settled in a little bit. Granted, you know, you're down five to one. And maybe that's where they need to just say, you know what? Pitching with a deficit is where you are best suited to give us an opportunity to come back late in the game. Now, granted, that's kind of what they're looking to do there in that situation, but maybe a clean inning, no runners on. But regardless, you're in the big leagues, dude, you gotta bear down. You gotta bear down and get outs. You know, if you're coming in with inherited runners or not. And yeah, Trey Gibson, obviously, a bulk of those earned runs go to him. I mean, actually, they they split it two and two, but still, you have to be able to make the outs and make the pitches when you need to, and he didn't. Now, the Orioles, they would get an RBI single from Blaze Alexander. But this was where in the bottom of the eighth, I think it was kind of like, man, there are those gremlins again with the Orioles, and this just, after what happened the day before, this just makes it all the more, you know, like an of course factor. It's a 6-3 game. You've got Samuel Basayo at the plate, runners at the corners, one out, tying run at the plate, go ahead run on deck, a chance for a big inning. You know, no doubt it's creeping into everyone's mind. Hey, can the Orioles offense explode? Can we have a fantastic finish to this game like we've seen so many times before? And unfortunately, Samuel Basal flies out to deep center field, drops the bat, thinks he's got it. Julio Rodriguez right on it, but it's deep enough to tag up Jackson Holiday to make it a two-run game. Holiday charges the plate, runs hard through through home, he's safe. Or so it would appear as you watch the angle from the Orioles on deck view, like, hey, it's 6-4 game. But Blaze Alexander tags up, and Blaze Alexander gets doubled off at second. Check the replay. Jackson Holiday did not touch home before Blaze Alexander was out at second. And it's 6-3, and that did the Ozin for that evening. And you're just saying to yourself, Fundamentals. Fundamentals of the game. And we had then, the following night, a similar situation, late in the game. Uh, we for both of this, we we've got audio from Craig Albernaz Monday night and Tuesday night, and I'll tell you, after Tuesday night's loss, listening to Albernaz after the game, you know, I to get in that guy's way because he seemed incredibly irked at that loss and just frustrated overall. The Orioles get an okay start from Trevor Rogers, an okay start. I mean, not he hasn't been I mean, it's like there's just if he could just tighten up the swing and miss, if he could just tighten up, you know, the ground ball outs and different things of that nature, the ball not finding a hole, different things like that. You know, because he's been effective, but he hasn't been able to go out there in his last couple starts and really look like the Trevor Rogers we saw last year. Not even like 90% of the Trevor Rogers we saw last year. Goes five and two thirds innings, gives up three runs on six hits, walks one, three strikeouts, and a homer. Again, the Orioles give an early lead to their starting pitcher with a Leody Taveras uh sack fly. But in the top of the fourth, Mitch Garver sends a three-run blast, two outs, three-two pitch, and he unloads on a four-seam fastball, low and in, and it's three-one Mariners, and it's like, gosh, you know, here we go again. Kind of a similar result to the night before. You get an early lead. Mariners get it back on a big homer. They get some more insurance with an with a Randy Orozarena RBI single there in the sixth, um, as Andrew Kittrich came into the game. Bottom seven. Orioles get two on, nobody out. Tyler O'Neill grounds out into a double play. It's like uh, you know, you had the tying run at the plate. Fortunately, though, Kobe Mayo at third is able to score on a wild pitch to make it 4-2. And Samuel Basal gets called out. Samuel Basal and Adley Rutschman, who we'll get to in a moment, dealing with some injuries, some nagging injuries currently, uh, but we'll get to them in a moment. Hopefully, nothing that will continue to harm them too much, but something to monitor. Orioles go quietly through the eight. One, two, three, and the nine for Tyler Wells, who is really impactful in this series. And then the bottom of the ninth. And Kobe Mayo belts a 3-2 sinker over the left field, left center field wall, 422 feet. His ninth homer of the year, and it's 4-3. And that's of course with one out. Jeremiah Jackson follows up with a single. Go ahead, run at the plate, and it's Tyler O'Neill. Runner at first with Jackson. And Tyler O'Neill, I gotta tell you, when you think about, you know, saying, man, the ball just did not bounce your way, that ground rule double over the right field wall that would have potentially scored Jeremiah Jackson, or at least I have to think they would have potentially sent him to tie it up at four. And maybe, you know, with one out, maybe not, because hey, you have an opportunity to win it, and so on and so forth. And they get the tying run anyway, with Samuel Basayos showing the poise to be able to hit into a fielder's choice and just at least put bat to ball, you know, not trying to cr a 58.9 miles per hour off the bat and a little dribbler up the up the right side and able to score standing up is Jeremiah Jackson, puts runners at the corners, tying run 90 feet away, and after Taylor Ward walks to load the bases, here's Gunnar Henderson. And unfortunately, what does Gunnar Henderson do? He grounds out into a force out at the plate. And then Pete Alonzo would ground into a force, and this is where things got really unfortunate. Because Gunnar Henderson, who's supposed to be, you know, going on contact, and you know, granted, the ball was hit fairly well, but you would hope that Gunnar Henderson would have been able to slide in safe, you know, if he was because remember, the other thing part of the other part about it too, it's 3-2. So he's off and running anyways. Everyone's off and running. And you know the ball he he's gotta throw a strike. You like to think, and while again, the ball wasn't hit all that all too softly, you would have at least expected potentially Gunnar Henderson to have been safe at second. And the walk-off RBI, whatever you'd give it to, Pete Alonzo, fielder's choice, would have, you know, however way they would have scored it, would have won the game, and it didn't. And we go to extras. Randy Rosarina against Rico Garcia, boom, two-run blast, 6-4. Now, to his credit, Rico Garcia gets out of it, and we go to the bottom of the tenth. Bottom 10, Blaze Alexander, hit by pitch. Leoni Tavares, runners at first and second. RBI single in the right. Okay, here we go. Again, runners at the corners. Tying run at third, go ahead and run at first, and Kobe Mayo pops out to the second baseman, Ryan Bliss. Gets under a sinker. Unfortunately, no dice. Then Jeremiah Jackson comes to the plate in what was a really unfortunate play. Because at 78.4 miles per hour, he sends a slider low and in to third baseman Patrick Wisdom, who fields it well, and Blaze Alexander is going on contact, comes to the plate, slides, and he is out at the plate. Great job by the Mariners, third baseman Wisdom on that play. To, you know, I mean, have the wherewithal to see where Blaze is going, throws home to Mitch Garver, gives him a perfect throw, and Blaze is out at the plate. Now originally I was saying, well, could Blaze have held up? Was he trying to force a throw and just didn't read it correctly? And then as I saw it again, Blaze was going on contact. He was way ahead of wisdom when he fired that ball home. You know, there was no going back there. He he was uh he was dead to rights to tie the game at six, and unfortunately didn't. And it wasn't, you know, a base running blunder that I thought it was originally, or a questionable base running decision by Blaze. Um, but it it didn't mean it didn't sting, you know, all the less when uh when he was out at the plate. Because the runners are at the corners, he can, you know, it's not a force at the plate. He doesn't have to break break home. So it was unfortunate that that's how it ended up, um, unlike the night before with the tag up. But Craig Albernaz after the game, after Tyler O'Neill struck out and the Orioles lose 6-5, they lost they've lost three straight. They're now six games under 500. And things again were looking pretty bleak in Birdland. And here was Albernaz after the last the night before with the Blaze Alexander tag up. You'll hear that first, and the Gunnar Henderson force out the following night.

SPEAKER_01 19:10

I love the aggressiveness. But like I told Blaze and him being an infielder, he knows the cutoff and how it gets aligned and configured. And first pace is vacant by a position, so there's no one at first. So him tagging up and then running is the right play. But he has the ability to read the throw, and he can really stop and just walk back to first. And that's what we talked about. Like once he sees the throw online, and we all know who you're looking to throw. Like he's a premium defender in center field. It surprised me that he kept going. But it's one of those things where I love the aggressive nive. It's just smart aggressiveness and knowing and reading the throw and getting back. And Holiday did an outstanding job of running hard through home. That was the first thing I looked at on the high home. Like he was he tagged up and he didn't let up running hard through home. So Holiday did an outstanding job on that. It's just we Blade just has to read the throw and just get back to first.

SPEAKER_02 20:10

Gonna initially, you know, it's not sprinting right away, obviously, at the bottom. Is that a situation where he should be running harder initially? Because it ends up being a really close play, it's that can work a couple inches of the fuck couldn't make a difference.

SPEAKER_01 20:25

Yeah, it's one of those plays where you have to empty the tank to get there. I haven't watched the actual video yet, but knowing Gunner, you always would say there was something more that he could do. Yeah, but in that situation, like his his effort going into the bag, obviously watching the play, you pick it up at the last second. So there's there's a lot of teaching moments in this game, just like in any game. And and that's how we have to get better to win those margins, whatever that is. So just like anyone with Gunner and everybody else, it's looking at how we can get better and make adjustments.

SPEAKER_00 21:04

You can hear the difference with the Monday n Monday loss compared to the Tuesday loss in his voice. And at this moment in time, you're just thinking, man, this is just one of those things where it could really eat them up because you can just tell that the managers in that moment going I know it's June 9th, and I know this is our I think sixty-ninth game of the season at that point. And he's just saying to himself or sixty-eighth game of the season, I'm sorry, and he's just saying to himself, man, we had an opportunity. We had one taken from us on Sunday. Felt like it boiled into the following day, and tonight we had an opportunity to win it with the runner ninety feet away. Less than Two outs bottom of the ninth. And we didn't. Now, here he was talking about the loss itself. And he was asked after the game, not only about the tag, you know, or about the force out at second with Gunnar Henderson, but Gunner, who after Tuesday night batting 220 with a 693 OPS, as they say, really grinding through this season. And here was Craig on both the loss and Gunner.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

Extremely frustrating on a lot of counts. One the biggest thing is didn't win the game. Made him work. We had him on the ropes. We just couldn't get the the big hit. A couple really good swings, two of them with some good bounces that bounce over the or bad bounces that bounce over the wall. Yeah, it's just one of those games where every 90 feet, everything matters, and it ultimately just ended up in a one-run loss. But like you said, I'm proud of our boys, how they fought. Never down, they never give up. Still in it. The crowd was awesome. Like we felt it in the dugout during the rally. It was it just sucks that we just couldn't pull it up. Gunner is this game is really hard, and Gunner is working through a lot, and he's one of those players where he's such a dynamic impact player where it's gonna click for him, and he has like he's had good at bats, but just hasn't got the results he wanted. And he's a main piece in what we do. And I know everyone's enamored with results, and rightfully so. And so is Gunner, but he will get those results.

SPEAKER_00 23:51

Every young player, and I know Gunner's technically, you know, a veteran at this point, three years removed from his rookie season in 2023, but still relatively on the younger side, you're gonna go through slumps. And I think we all assumed last year was the year that Gunner really underperformed due to injury and this, that, and the next, and this was going to be a real season where he could break out of that with the exciting signing of Pete Alonso with I would say the newfound r uh jubilation and life into the ball club as well, as we began the season, just with the new year and you know, new manager, a different voice in the clubhouse, which we'll get to in a minute. I thought Gunnar Henderson was poised for a big year. I think everyone did. And it just hasn't come through to fruition. And not only is he struggling at the plate, but it's clear he's struggling mentally as well. But then you see Adley Rutchman a couple nights sitting well standing on the bench, and you know, he's been able to avoid knock on wood, the I. With the hamstring tightness. Anytime you see hamstring tightness, you're completely like, oh my goodness, you know, your eyebrows lift. Then you have Samuel Basal, who is managing left wrist discomfort and a bony growth in his wrist. Now, Alberna spoke about that, and it was interesting because he said that Basal had basically been dealing that, been dealing with that throughout his career, and it's just something he's going to have to manage. Well, from what I took from that was kind of him saying, dude, you gotta buck up and play through the pain. Now that may not be the way he intended on saying it, but if you listen to the way he kind of voiced it, it was kind of like, hey, we need you out there. Like, it's we're at the point of the year where we gotta get our season going. Like, it there is very little margin for error. And I think I heard that in his voice after Tuesday night. He was basically saying, if we don't have urgency now, we're never gonna have the urgency that we need to have in order to truly get back into this thing. Yes, we're still in a wild card race, but you can only sit there in the filth with teams that are below 500 for so long because eventually teams are going to run into other bad teams or teams that are playing worse than them, they're gonna hit a pocket, and if you're gonna continue to play like crap, other teams are gonna pass you. That's just the way it is. It's June. You can June bloom or June swoon. And I always say the most important month of the year for a baseball season is June. It's June. And the Orioles, I gotta tell you, it was a BS loss on Sunday that boiled into Monday, that then I think somewhat boiled into Tuesday, although both Monday and Tuesday they had their opportunities, but Tuesday was even, I think, more disheartening, and I think a lot of people will agree with me on that. So heading into Wednesday's game, it was like, my lord, there is no way, there is no way it feels like they're going to be able to put this behind them, get through this series with losing three or four, or God forbid, being swept. I know they're still in it, but it would just feel like such a low for the ball club. Fortunately, Wednesday saw once again Brandon Young go out there, and he pitched brilliantly. You know, I don't know what it is about this Orioles pitching staff, but they have been able to do a remarkable job. I gotta give credit where credit's due. They've done a remarkable job the last couple years with guys who come into the year as real unknowns. I mean, granted, Brandon Young is a younger player compared to Trevor Rogers last year, and I have to say Albert Suarez two years prior was like similar to what you're seeing Brandon Young doing. Now, he wasn't going seven innings and this, that, and the next, but he was surprisingly at times, you know, one of your more reliable starters behind Corbin Burns and company. And I gotta tell you, Brandon Young, I never would have said this in the beginning of the year, but as of all the starters right now, I have the most faith in him to be able to go out there and pitch six dominant innings. Brad is in doing it. Roger sure is heck in doing it. Shane Baz has pitched better of late, granted, but Brandon Young, as a collective of the season, is the one guy that I'm going, man, he has been pitching his you know what off, and he's been doing it with results. As he would go, seven innings, giving up no runs on two hits, walking two, and striking out five. The O's would have a big sixth inning, plating three runs, Pete Alonzo a huge home run, and then Jackson Holiday on Bark in the Park night. He hit a grand slam last year on Bark in the Park night. He hit another one again to put the O's up big, and they wouldn't look back, and they get the win. And then it was kind of like, okay, we win tonight. Tomorrow we got KB going. Let's see if he can put behind him the poorish start last Saturday. Unfortunately, that didn't necessarily happen, but the offense delivered big time. Pete Alonso, two-run blast, following a Colton Kowser homer, Jackson Holiday scoring on a wild pitch. This was all in the third inning, as they would score six. So let's go in in order. Colton Kowser solo blasted, tied the game up at one. Jackson Holiday scoring on a wild pitch. Edley Rutschman, two-run double, and Pete Alonzo, a two-run blast. That I gotta tell you, Kobe Mayo has the longest home run of the season for the Orioles, but that home run by Pete Alonzo was the most holy you know what home run I've seen this year, where it was just jaw-dropping. It was so loud, and I mean you knew it when you saw him swing that that ball was gone. He didn't even make contact yet, and you were like, he's he's gonna blast this and boom. Boom. Pete Alonzo makes it a 6-1 game, and the Mariners don't know what hit them. Unfortunately for the Orioles, Kyle Bradish would then really struggle in the fourth. He would only go four innings, giving up five runs. Four of them obviously coming in that fourth inning. Now, Adley Rutchman later would give the O's insurance with an RBI single. So Rutschman, who sat out first couple games in the series back in the lineup, and produced with an RBI single. But I gotta tell you, the O's bullpen, because it was a two-run game, one run game, and then two-run game after the Rutch insurance, they did masterful. And Tyler Wells was damn near perfect. Aside from giving up a walk, three innings of scoreless baseball, terrific performance by Tyler Wells. Andrew Kittrich records the save. That was big time, and the Orioles earn the split. But again, we would not have had the opportunity, I think, and I know they put up seven runs that night, but Brandon Young was such a tone setter. It's why we began the episode with his walkout song. We could have gone with Rutch, we could have gone with you know Pete Alonzo as well, we could have gone with a couple guys, but we decided to go with Brandon Young, and here is Craig Albanz on his young starting pitcher.

SPEAKER_01 32:34

B UI has been he's been outstanding. Tonight was awesome. Um attack in the strike zone, the split was real again. Like it's uh that pitch is a great equalizer for him, but just the way he throws strikes right now on command in the strike zone, attacking with all of his pitches, getting the curveball goal and the slider and both fastballs. Yeah, it was an awesome performance by BY tonight.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Beautifully pitched ball game by Brandon Young, and that leads us right into our starting pitching preview against the San Diego Padres. Now we're not going to see Brandon Young, but what we are going to see tonight is Shane Boz taking the mound, three and six with a 409 ERA. He's 2-0 with a 1-5-0 ERA, Baz is versus the Padres since 2023. In two starts since then, he's gone 12 innings, giving up two runs on six hits with five walks and 11 punch-outs. So, obviously, as I mentioned earlier, you know, I think Brandon Young has been the most reliable starter in the collective of the season. Shane's been right there with him at number two, and especially recently. Although KB, I mean, you have to have faith he's gonna turn it around again after two rough starts, but I gotta tell you, something about Baz when he is on, he is as dialed in as any starting pitcher in the game. And I hope to God that Sunday's blow-up, that wasn't his fault, because he thinks he's out of the inning. And I'm not gonna go down the rabbit hole of that again, but I hope he's going to be able to put that behind him. And he's gonna be able to go out there and give them a big start tonight against San Diego. You'll see the return of Manny Machado back to Baltimore, and Griffin Canning will take them out for the Padres tonight. He's 0-4 with a 6-3-4 ERA. Since 2023 against the So's team, he's 1-2 with a 6-4-6 ERA. In those three starts, he's gone 15-3rd innings. He's gone through fifth each time, but he's given up 11 runs on 21 hits with five walks and 10 strikeouts. You can imagine the Orioles looking at some of these numbers should be licking their chops. Game two tomorrow on Saturday. Trey Gibson takes him out. One and one with a 4-2-4 ERA. He's only gone five innings once this season through four starts. Now, the opposition is not necessarily crushing the ball against him. It's just A, the offense isn't really scoring in droves for him, and B, he's just kind of given up runs at the worst time, if that makes sense. And it's just if they can catch him on a day where he's just going out there and he's just pitching as solid as you could as can be, and the offense can give him a big start, I have faith they'll be able to win this game. And they'll see Randy Vasquez, who's 5-4 at the 3-6-3 ERA. The former Yankee has started twice against the Orioles. He's 0-1 with a 7-7-1 ERA. He's gone just seven innings, so five-one start and just two and another. He's given up six runs on seven hits, seven walks, and three K's. And then that leads us to game three. With potentially an opportunity to sweep, Trevor Rogers will take them out. He's 3-6 with a 6-1-5 ERA. He's faced this Padres team only once since 23. He's given up a run on six hits and five and a third innings, giving up two walks and three strikeouts. This was back in 2024 when he was with the Marlins. And then Walker Bueller takes the bump for the Padres. He's 3-3 this year with a 4-3-3 ERA. He's 0-1 with a 3-9-5 ERA versus the Orioles. He's pitched in overall 13-2 thirds innings, giving up six runs and 13 hits, 8 walks and 11 strikeouts, and 3 starts since 2023. I gotta tell you, with all the numbers I've just given, my faith is in the Orioles to be able to win this series. At minimum, take two of three. And now they've had to kind of start this thing back over again, in which, hey, you're no worse than when you open that series against the Seattle Mariners, you're a half a game back on the Toronto Blue Jays for getting us, you know, that spot which is fifth for the wild card, the A's are fourth, you're a game back on them, you're two back on the Rangers who hold the final spot, who are literally 500 flat 34 and 34. So you're right there. Now again, it pains me to say what could have been if the Oriol win that game on Sunday. Maybe that momentum rides into Monday. Maybe it doesn't. But maybe they come back Tuesday and they end up winning. Who knows? If they had two more wins at their disposal and they're 35, I mean, I kind of hate doing this to ourselves, but if they're 35 and and 35 right now, obviously we're feeling a lot better about things. Now, the Orioles are going against a San Diego Padres team. When I talk about swooning, the Padres are swooning. They're 3-7 in their last 10. They have not been good in this month of June. They have been just teetering. Their offense isn't hitting. I mean, it's it should hit, and it's not. In this month of June, they've seen since the start of June, they've seen a four-game losing streak, which overall was a six-game losing streak since the end of May. And currently they are three and six. Now the Orioles not necessarily much better when all things are said and done, but I do think that from what you've seen them do, they've been able to go out there and I think they played they've played better baseball. I I I really believe that. Um while they're five and five this month of June, so just a little bit better than the Padres. When you're looking at when when you're watching these games, I think from what you've seen from early to mid-May compared to now, they are playing better baseball. But in order to truly, truly, you know, get back into one, you gotta win games, but two, they they've got to tighten the just the little on the margins part of their game. Base running, obviously a biggie. Defensive mistakes as well. The holes in the bullpen that are you know probably going to need to be fixed, and that's gonna need to come from making trades and finding guys that can come up and and really help you, getting guys to play better, like an Anthony Nunez out of your bullpen, hopefully getting uh Helsley back uh who looked terrific in his rehab start um in de down in Norfolk. Um but obviously when you talk about your bullpen at the moment, having your closer to give Rico Garcia and Yunir Kano a little bit of a break from the ninth inning, that could make all the difference in the world for the Orioles bullpen, and hopefully that happens sooner rather than later. Alright, folks, thanks for tuning in. I know this was a bit of a long one. It tends to be that way when you're recapping a four-game series, and especially one as, in my opinion, important as the one the Orioles just played. But thanks everyone for tuning in, and we'll talk to you next time.

SPEAKER_03 40:38

Something magic happens every time you go, you make the magic happen. Magic of Orioles baseball when the game is closed.