Rebuilding O’s ‘reality’

Orioles, fans feeling effects of emotional backlash

aybe the Orioles have turned in a new direction, but you’d never know it by their performance in the first two games after they packed Manny Machado off to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

They lost Friday night because of two middle-infield breakdowns in the 10th inning. They lost Saturday because they handed the Toronto Blue Jays four runs — three of them unearned and the other on a balk by veteran starting pitcher Alex Cobb.

What exactly did anyone expect? Machado was See SCHMUCK, page 6

MO’S FALL TO BLUE JAYS, 4-1

TORONTO — The Orioles’ rebuild has begun, and the team’s players and staff realize that things are going to start looking a little different now.

The remainder of the season will focus on setting a foundation for the future as the Orioles reach for their “next competitive window,” as Orioles executive vice president Dan Duquette said.

The Orioles have long fought this moment, entering this season trying to make one more run at the postseason. But everything that made recent Orioles teams successful — top-to-bottom power in the batting order, a seamless defense and an unmeasurable mojo to do the little things that won close games — didn’t show.

“It’s reality,” Orioles manager Buck Showalter said Saturday. “I could sit here and put my head in the sand, but it’s reality. It’s sad because they’ve had a connection with some really great times here, but we’re preparing for great times in the future. See ORIOLES, page 5