Peter Schmuck: Opportunity knocked and, once again, the Orioles had no answer

Everybody who cares about the Orioles already knows this, but it still has to be said.

If not for the miracle catch by Colton Cowser in the ninth inning on Monday night, the O’s – at one of the truly pivotal junctures in this frustrating season – would have been swept by the team that woke up the next morning with the worst record in all of Major League Baseball.

What does that tell you?

The Orioles had to watch on Wednesday afternoon as the Colorado Rockies celebrated like they won the World Series instead of a team that had just jumped over the Los Angeles Angels to have only the worst record, by far, in the National League.

Wait, it gets worse. The Orioles were one strike away from winning Wednesday in two different innings and each time was undone by a guy you never heard of.

Somebody named Zac Veen tied the game in the ninth inning with a double off O’s adhoc closer Andrew Kittredge that gave him his milestone 10th career RBI, and Brett Sullivan won the game with a two-run single off Grant Wolfram that raised his on-base percentage this year to .290.

So much for going into Thursday night’s homestand opener against the Boston Red Sox with any momentum, even though a 6-3 road trip would normally be something to applaud.

There’s just something about this team that does not allow it to make the most of even the most promising opportunity. These guys should just have “If only” embroidered on their sleeves.

Like, if only they hadn’t needed rookie pitcher Luis De León to make his major league debut in the seventh inning of a 2-2 game on Tuesday night. Or, for that matter, if only they hadn’t scored just two runs for the second night in a row against one of the worse pitching staffs, well, maybe ever.

If only they could have squeezed one more run out of their 11th-inning rally Wednesday, since they had runners at first and second and one down. But the guy who was Monday’s big hero had his 13th straight hitless at-bat and Jackson Holliday struck out. Then, as previously stated, the Rockies somehow managed to score three runs in the bottom of the inning and sent the 900-or-so fans still at Coors Field into hysterics.

Well, at least it looked like only a few hundred on TV.

How does this bode for the big home series against the Red Sox, who are expected to send three left-handed starters to the mound over this long weekend? Or the next series against the Cleveland Guardians, who currently hold the final American League wild-card slot that the Orioles got a sniff or last week.

Who can say? The O’s, oddly enough, seem to play better against the better teams, so maybe they can tease us a little bit longer.