Blue Jays AL East Recap: Jays Still Can’t Land at .500

Eastbound and Down
31-30

The Orioles continued to fall further this week, as their season is quickly unwinding. At one point the Orioles were among the dominant division leaders, but have since fallen from first to fourth. They now sit 6.5 games outside of first and only one game above .500. They started the week off well enough, sweeping the Pirates in two games. That is where things started to unwind. They lost a pickup game against the Nationals and then were demolished by the Yankees. They managed just 8 runs in the series, but let up 38 in the three-game set. Chris Tillman has been ineffective in his return and hasn’t been the ace for a rotation that really needs one. The poor performances by their rotation arm have put a strain on their rotation already without their ace closer.

Things only got worse off the field. Darren O’Day has landed on the DL making a taxed rotation that much worse. Star third baseman Manny Machado is also day to day. Baltimore will need him back in the lineup as soon as possible as their once dominant offense has been very quiet as of late. They get a 4 game set in Chicago against the White Sox, before hosting the Cardinals to start the week. Hopefully, some time away from AL East Competition will do them some good.

Final Takeaway:

The Orioles are not looking much like themselves lately. As the rest of the division has looked lively, they have looked lost. They could quickly wind south of .500 if their rotation and bats continue to underwhelm.

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