ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. _ With the Orioles already entrenched in their early-season tailspin at the beginning of this month, executive vice president Dan Duquette placed a Memorial Day timetable on determining the team's ability to win in 2018.
Now, the Orioles approach Memorial Day on Monday having done little to improve the perception of the team from four weeks ago _ that they are a wildly inconsistent club struggling to put together any winning momentum, thus further burying themselves in the American League East cellar.
They went into Sunday's series finale at Tropicana Field able to collect their second road series win of the season, but with an 8-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Orioles (17-36) recorded their eighth non-winning road series out of nine this season as their majors-worst road record fell to 7-23.
The Orioles reach Memorial Day having lost more than twice as many games as they've won this season, buried 20 games back of the division-leading Boston Red Sox and eight games behind Tampa Bay just for fourth place.
The club's decision-making brass still might not be ready to tear this team apart yet _ still uncommitted to trading pieces from a group of pending free agents, including superstar Manny Machado, who were core pieces to the team's success from 2012 to '16 _ instead gearing for a July 31 sale at the trade deadline.
But this three-game series at Tampa Bay put the Orioles' inadequacies on display. They scored just three runs in the first three games of the series, then scored just as many in a heady three-run first inning that showed their promise, but then right-hander Kevin Gausman _ who has been the team's most consistent starter this season _ not only failed to hold that lead but couldn't get out of the third inning while being blasted for a season-high seven runs.
Gausman, who has allowed two runs or fewer in six of his past seven starts, fell victim to a six-run third inning during which the Rays brought 12 batters to the plate, marking Gausman's shortest nonejection game in 41 starts since a 2 2/3-inning outing April 18, 2017, in Cincinnati.
As the 27-year-old right-hander walked off the mound, he flung a wad of bubble gum in frustration and went into the Orioles dugout, where he sat hunched over with his face in a towel.
Gausman was Sunday's poster boy for the Orioles' season-long struggles, but he's by no means is the one to blame. But in some ways, he's the perfect example of how the Orioles have rarely been able to get on the same page this season. Despite quality starts in six of his 11 starts, the Orioles are 4-7 in games Gausman has started.
His three best starts of the season _ an eight-inning, two-run effort against the Cleveland Indians on April 23, a nine-inning shutout effort on May 5 in Oakland and 6 1/3 innings of scoreless ball with a career-high 10 strikeouts in his last start in Chicago against the White Sox _ were all Orioles losses.
In one outing, Gausman's season ERA ballooned from 3.48 to 4.31.
On Sunday, Gausman was gifted a three-run first-inning lead as the Orioles took early momentum. For the third straight game, the Rays pitched a reliever _ this time setup man Sergio Romo _ to open the game to face the top of the batter order once before giving way to pitcher who could provide more length.
Orioles manager Buck Showalter, guessing that right-hander Austin Pruitt would enter for Romo, put four left-handed hitters in his starting lineup. But when Romo landed in quick trouble by loading the bases four outs into the game, Rays manager Kevin Cash turned to left-hander Vidal Nuno to face Chris Davis.
The Orioles overcame the poker play that inning. Davis drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to center field. With first base open, Danny Valencia was intentionally walked to set up a lefty-vs.-lefty matchup against Chance Sisco, but Sisco walked on five pitches to score a second run.
No. 8 hitter Craig Gentry then dropped a bunt to the left of the mound, making a difficult play for Nuno, who didn't have a play at home and had to turn his body to throw to first. Gentry beat out a single to give the Orioles a 3-0 lead.
That wouldn't be enough for Gausman, who allowed a 432-foot home run to the first hitter he faced, Brad Miller, who drove a 2-2 fastball over the plate to the Trop's D-ring catwalk in right field.
Gausman hit the next batter, and needed a 4-6-3 double play to avoid more damage that inning, but his command problems cost him in the third. He opened the inning by walking Christian Arroyo, allowed a single to No. 9 hitter Rob Refsnyder, and gave up a two-run double to Miller.
Gausman allowed six hits, walked three and hit a batter in the inning, ending his day on Arroyo's two-run single with two outs in the inning. He left the game trailing 7-3 after allowing six runs in the third.
The Orioles bullpen was forced to account for 5 1/3 innings, allowing just one run _ Carlos Gomez's solo homer off Pedro Araujo _ and that workload could cost the team for the coming days as the team is in the midst of games on 19 consecutive days. The Orioles have played every day since May 16, and their next off day isn't until a week from Monday.
In finishing a 4-7 three-city road trip in Tampa Bay, the Orioles opened the series with a rare low-scoring win, the first time in 19 games they won when scoring two runs or fewer. The victory gave the Orioles back-to-back road wins for just the second time this season, but they failed to build from there. They couldn't come back after a five-run second inning deficit Saturday and after Sunday's first inning, the Orioles produced no offense.
While Nuno allowed all three inherited runners to score in the first, he allowed no runs charged to him over three innings despite allowing seven base runners (three hits and four walks). Right-hander Austin Pruitt then tossed 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
