Peter Schmuck: Orioles prove it’s not who you play … it’s how you play

I’m pretty sure it has come to everyone’s attention that the Orioles have developed a bad habit of making bad teams look good.

The series against the last-place Miami Marlins was just the latest evidence of what has been an unexplainable trend that would be a real problem if the Orioles weren’t so good at beating the good ones.

The Marlins were barely averaging over three runs per game when the O’s arrived in town, but they suddenly found out that it’s better to occasionally score three per inning, which is how they nearly swept the three-game series at loanDepot Park.

Interestingly, it was the one game the Orioles won that was the best example of what manager Brandon Hyde was talking about when he said afterward that he was “Pretty frustrated, really.”

He was talking specifically about the fact that the Orioles had a 6-0 lead late in the game and ended up having to sweat out Thursday’s game in extra innings. But he could also have been talking about the way his team stumbled around in the late innings, assisting the Marlins in their five-run comeback in the eighth and ninth.

That featured an error by Gunnar Henderson and rookie Connor Norby falling down while charging a ground ball. It also featured another ugly blown save by closer Craig Kimbrel, though he certainly had some help. Throw in the weird baserunning double play that helped keep it a one-run lead in the 10^th and, well, it was great to get out of Florida with more than a sun burn from Monday’s offday.

“I think our guys are very, very aware that we should have won that game handily,” Hyde said. “I think some guys are individually frustrated with their performance right now.”

It would be easy enough to chalk it up to their grueling June or the fact that four of their position players didn’t get a lot of rest during the All-Star break, but it is not a new phenomenon. The O’s have had trouble tacking on runs after their early offensive outbursts all season…and they have had trouble “stepping on” (Hyde’s term) teams they should be kicking to the curb on a regular basis.

If you recall, they did not end their no-sweep streak against the Yankees or Phillies. They have winning records against both of those elite teams. They were finally swept by the St. Louis Cardinals, who were 20-26 at the time and in fourth place in the National League Central. The only other two times they have been swept were by the 36-40 Astros in late June and the last-place Cubs earlier this month.

And almost this week against the previously punchless Marlins.

Perhaps they woke up just in time to give a rude greeting to the playoff bound Padres this weekend at Oriole Park.