Channeling Costanza

Man, there are bad weeks, but this one takes the cake. It reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George Costanza did the exact opposite of everything he normally did. For George, it worked well. For the Orioles, it turned a winning team into a losing team. The Orioles failed in the clutch. They made boneheaded plays. The bullpen failed at inopportune times. Despite relatively solid starting pitching (save for Bedard's first start and Wright's not-so-triumphant return), they lost 6 of 7. They blew the comeback against the A's thanks to a series of brain freezes. Did the same in Game 2 in big spots. And then the bullpen failed the starters against the Sox--on a couple of bloops in the first game and one big blast in the second. By the time Jeremy Guthrie was surrendering an inside-the-parker to Grady Sizemore, you just knew the Orioles were going through a rough stretch. Now, they are off to Comerica to face the Tigers. The real Orioles need to come back out and assert themselves (unless this week is the REAL team, in which case, we have a LONG five months ahead). They need to pick up the power production (1 garbage-time HR this weekend), get the bullpen back, and start believing in themselves. Saturday was exactly what the Orioles need to do to win. Solid starting pitching. Great work by the bullpen. Clutch hits by Patterson and Hernandez. Baez and Ray shutting the door. With the Yankees suffering, it's hard to enjoy when the Orioles struggle as well. Win on Monday and they finish 500 for the month--acceptable given the roller coaster that we've endured...