The barkeep’s a little irritated today. Wasn’t a particularly good night at the Tap Room last evening. I spent hours cleaning up glass after someone threw the one unmounted TV in this joint through the front window.

It happened with Chris Davis at the plate, two strikes, two outs, and the bases loaded in the top of the ninth of a 7-6 nailbiter with the Seattle Mariners.

We were in total suspense. Had no idea what happened.

To the TV and the window, that is. The rest wasn’t hard to figure out.

Jokes aside, the Orioles’ head-shaking loss to the Mariners dropped them to 59-62 on the season, 24-39 on the road and 4-6 on the crucial West Coast trip to Los Angeles, Oakland and Seattle.

The Orioles resume play Friday against the Los Angeles Angels, whom they currently trail by three games for the second AL Wild Card spot.

To make matters worse in this dive, not only did we lose a TV, but we might have lost a chunk of our female patronage. The Joey Rickard Fan Club that meets most game nights here isn’t pleased that the young outfielder was sent back to Triple-A on Wednesday evening.

It’ll be a short stay in the minors for Rickard, who was holding his own offensively and playing good defense. He’ll be back when rosters expand Sept. 1. But the Orioles needed to make room for Rule 5 outfielder Anthony Santander (forearm strain), whose rehab assignment has expired. The Orioles didn’t want to risk losing veteran Craig Gentry to waivers, so they optioned Rickard to Norfolk for a spell. A little surprising, but it was a simple roster management decision. Still, try to explain that to a bunch of paying customers in No. 23 jerseys.

Anyway, if you frequent this fake watering hole, you know my thoughts about what needed to happen during the West Coast road trip. And you know what happened; the Orioles dropped two series and split the other.

I realize if the Orioles sweep the Angels this weekend, they are, once again, right back in the Wild Card race.

But they just haven’t shown me enough consistently – heck, from game to game, inning to inning – to make me think this is the club that will catch fire in the final weeks. At this point, I think that’s going to be some other team.

That’s my glass-covered soapbox. Now, it’s your turn. Watch your step.

Tap-In Question: What’s your take on these Orioles after the 4-6 road trip?