Here’s how awful these Orioles have been

How bad are these 2018 Orioles?

Let me count the ways.

Or, better, let me give you some stats after Thursday night’s 9-5 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays:

The Orioles’ 6-19 record is the second-worst, 25-game start in club history, better than only the 2-23 disaster by the 1988 Orioles squad that lost 21 straight to open the season.

Let that sink in for a moment, because there have been some awful Orioles’ teams in the past two decades.

The Orioles have dropped 11 of 12 and have lost five straight. And that’s bad.

But consider this is their third streak of five losses or more already this season. And it is April 26.

They didn’t have their first five-game losing streak last year until May 21-28, when they dropped seven straight. That team finished in last place and had a total of five losing streaks of five or more games the entire season.

They have one winning streak in 2018, And it is two-games long.

We’ve discussed previously how difficult this year’s early schedule was. The Orioles played all five of the 2017 AL playoff teams and were 5-12. Sure, that’s unfortunate scheduling.

But these Orioles are now 1-7 in games not played against 2017 playoff teams. No excuses there.

They’ve allowed eight runs or more on consecutive nights and six times in 25 games. The Orioles had 16 hits, their most for a nine-inning game in 2018, and still lost by four Thursday, 9-5.

The Orioles have played eight series so far, and lost seven. They haven’t been swept at home by the Rays — albeit the series was only two games — since 2013. Take away the improbable 3-1 record at Yankee Stadium, and these Orioles are 3-18 against everyone else.

Not much more to write. I think you get the point, oh educated reader. But here’s what manager Buck Showalter had to say after the game.

“I try to stay in the now and the now is not good, so we need to do something to change that. That’s up to us. Our guys know what’s at stake,” Showalter said. “It’s not ‘Oh, we’ll get them tomorrow.’ It’s every day. Every day you are trying to figure out a way to get going in the right direction. It’s not just a matter of waiting for people to get healthy. You can’t do that. The season doesn’t stop.”