Peter Schmuck: Once again, the Orioles face early elimination

BALTIMORE–So here they are again, looking for all the world like the team that was swept away in last year’s Division Series and looking down the barrel at another Cy Young-worthy starting pitcher on Wednesday afternoon.

If the box score doesn’t tell the whole story, it doesn’t miss by much. The Orioles were beguiled by Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Cole Ragans for six innings and couldn’t take advantage when he had to exit the game with a very low pitch count because of a calf cramp.

Making it all the more galling was letting a terrific performance by O’s ace and pending free agent Corbin Burnes go to waste. He pitched into the ninth inning, something no Orioles pitcher did during the regular season, and gave up just a run on five hits in the 1-0 loss, leaving open the very real possibility that he has thrown his last pitch in an Orioles uniform.

In an era when most successful starting pitchers average about six innings per game, only two Oriole starters – Burnes and rookie Cade Povich – went as far as 7 ⅓ innings during the regular season.

Want to rub a little more salt in this wound? The only run of the game was driven in by young superstar Bobby Witt Jr., whom the Orioles could have drafted instead when they chose franchise catcher Adley Rutschman in the 2019 amateur draft.

The Royals will send 16-game winner Seth Lugo to the mound in Game 2 against Orioles midseason acquisition Zach Eflin, who has pitched wonderfully since he arrived in the injury-depleted Orioles rotation. He’s a veteran who should be able to handle the pressure of this win-or-stay home situation, but Tuesday’s offensive performance proved his best might not be enough.

So much for the notion that the Orioles regained their mojo with their 5-1 season-ending road trip. There was a lot of talk over the past week about carrying some momentum into the playoffs after struggling to play .500 ball during the second half, but Tuesday proved the baseball adage that momentum is only as good as the next day’s starting pitcher.

Ragans was only in any real trouble in the fifth inning, when Ramón Urías doubled to left center and Cedric Mullins followed with a single to put runners at the corners with one out, but he escaped by striking out James McCann and Gunnar Henderson.

“We didn’t have many opportunities because Ragans was very good and their bullpen did a nice job,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We had the two punch-outs with runners on first and third, but their pitchers were absolutely fantastic. Ragans is really hard to hit and their bullpen guys that came in after were tough on us.”

The big question now is how well the young Orioles bounce back with their season on the line. They were not able to do that a year ago when the Rangers outpitched and outplayed them in the Division Series.

Hyde doesn’t think it’s particularly complicated. To get back to the Division Series will require them to win two games in a row, which is not exactly out of the question for a team that survived the loss of almost an entire starting rotation to win 91 games to make a second straight playoff appearance for the first time in this century.

“We just have to turn the page,’’ he said. “Our backs are up against the wall and we have to play well tomorrow.”