Dan Connolly

Reality check: O’s offense, this is now all on you

By Dan Connolly

Posted on September 23, 2016

It’s time for a reality check. Maybe it’s way past due.

The Orioles are falling apart at the wrong time.

Frankly, they’ve been fracturing for weeks, just not so rapidly and at such a critical juncture as now.

I don’t care who they were playing. Losing six of eight at home in your last homestand with your team holding onto a playoff spot is unacceptable.

Here’s what has to happen:

Those high-priced, high-powered, high-profile sluggers that were chasing the majors’ home run record for a while? Well, they need to earn their keep. No excuses. Just hit.

Hit more homers if you like. Use the sacrifice fly. Ground out to the right side to score a run. Drag bunt. I don’t care.

But get on base and score runs. Stop looking so tight, stop squeezing the sawdust out of your bats. Stop flailing at obvious pitches out of the strike zone. Stop getting yourself out. And start acting like you have been here before.

Because most of you have been here before. That should give you an advantage over a lot of the competition.

For all the complaints about the starting pitching, this downward spiral is squarely on the offense’s shoulders.

The major league leaders in home runs combined for eight runs in four games versus Boston, getting outscored, 20-8. The Orioles hit three homers in the four-game series: One by Adam Jones and two by rookie Trey Mancini in his first two big-league starts.

Here’s how the core of the lineup did in this series: Chris Davis, 2-for-15; Mark Trumbo, 2-for-16; Jones, 2-for-16, one homer; Machado, 2-for-14; Jonathan Schoop, 4-for-15; Matt Wieters, 0-for-10; J.J. Hardy, 3-for-13.

Add it up and those guys are 15-for-99 (.152 average) with four RBIs.

Mancini was 3-for-7 with four RBIs.

Not acceptable fellas, no matter how good the opposing team’s pitcher is. Not now.

This is crunch time. This is the time for the Orioles to show they are more than just all-or-nothing hackers.

Or if that’s not possible, then this is the time to get all instead of nothing.

Or go home.