Orioles flattened
O’s leave Canada with worst record in majors after four-game sweep
TORONTO — The Orioles’ season hit a new low in multiple ways Sunday afternoon at Rogers Centre, swept out of Toronto with an ugly 13-3 loss, tying their worst margin of defeat this season while sinking a seasonmost 26 games under .500.
This club continues to set standards for what rock bottom can be, and on Sunday, right-hander Alex Cobb was blasted for a career-high nine runs, unable to get through the fourth inning.
The Orioles, who opened their six-game road trip with two hard-fought, low-scoring wins in New York against the Mets, lost all four games in Toronto — including two in extra innings — by a total of 16 runs.
The momentum stalled after the Orioles blew a three-run ninthinning lead in Thursday night’s series-opening 10-inning loss. They walked in the game-winning run in the 10th on Saturday, and Sunday’s game was one of their most uncompetitive of the season, marking the first time the Orioles have been swept in a four-game series since Sept. 9-12, 2016, in Boston.
“Yeah, it’s tough,” left fielder Trey Mancini said. “We were feeling pretty good coming in here after the series in New York. They played really well over there, and that first game was a tough loss obviously. Unfortunately, we didn’t really bouncebackwellfromthatandkind of let that spiral into the whole weekend.”
And now after losing 11 of their past 13 games, the Orioles leave Toronto with the majors’ worst record at 19-45. Sunday’s loss marked the seventh time the Orioles have been swept in a three- or four-game series this season.
The Orioles have allowed 10 or more runs nine times in their first 64 games, tied with the Kansas City Royals for the most in the major leagues. They own a majors-worst .250 winning percentage on the road (9-27), and are 9-20 against AL East competition with the heavyhitting Boston Red Sox coming to Camden Yards tonight to open a three-game series.
Cobb — who was coming off his best outing of the season (a onerun, two-hit, six-inning performance Wednesday against the Mets) — unraveled in a fourth inning during which the Blue Jays scored six runs and sent 11 batters to the plate.
“I mean, we gave up 19 hits and only scored three runs,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. “That’s not a very good recipe for success.”
Cobb struggled to locate his Orioles left fielder Trey Mancini dives but can’t catch a two-run double by the Blue Jays’ Curtis Granderson in the second inning. curveball and splitter, allowing the Blue Jays hitters to sit on his fastball.
After giving upapairofsingles on liners that camethrough the mound and nearly struck Cobb, Curtis Granderson hit a 3-0 fastball over the right-center-field fence to give the Blue Jays a 6-1lead.
Yangervis Solarte and Kendrys Morales followed with back-toback singles, and both scored two batters later on Kevin Pillar’s twoout single that chased Cobb from the game.
Cobb was hoping to build on his previous start, but Sunday’s outing was the fifth time in 11 starts this season he’s allowed 10 hits — and in four of those outings, he’s allowed at least five runs.
“I thought I was trending in the right direction, for sure,” Cobb said. “But you know these games this year where I struggled, I’ve really struggled. I mean they were just terrible outings and no good can really come from them. You’re hurting the bullpen and not giving your team a chance to win. That’s tough to swallow.”
Orioles pitching allowed four homers Sunday — two off Cobb and two off Rule 5 draft pick Pedro Araujo, whoallowed four runs in an inning of work in relief of Cobb.
Two of the Orioles’ three runs came on solo homers as longslumping sluggers Mancini and Jonathan Schoop each connected on solo shots.
Mancini’s second-inning blast marked his first RBI in 13 games, and Schoop’s homer in the seventh ended a 0-for-18 stretch for him.
After Mancini’s blast gave the Orioles a 1-0 lead, he made an unsuccessful diving attempt at a bloop into shallow left off the bat of Granderson, and the ball got by him, enabling two runs to score in an inning that didn’t include any hard-hit balls. Morales hit an opposite-field homer to left off Cobb in the third inning to give Toronto a 3-1 lead.
“You know, it’s tough because the [first] two runs [Cobb] gave up, he gives up a ground ball that sinks through the infield and a swinging bunt and a popup, and the next thing you know, he’s given up two,” Showalter said. “That took a little air out of our [and] his sails I’m sure. We started out winning the two games on the road in New York, and then wecamehere and then it’s certainly gotten away from us.”