The Orioles’ oft-lacking defense isn’t the only reason they lost Tuesday night in Cleveland, or the night before.
Until they fix it, the 7-2 loss Tuesday at Progressive Field that represented their club-record 17th straight defeat on the road won’t be the last.
This time, it started early, with a second error by Stevie Wilkerson in as many nights extending the first inning so a leadoff walk from Matt Harvey could come around to score on a single by Bobby Bradley.
The Orioles answered back with a single by Freddy Galvis putting him in position to score on a double by Maikel Franco, but a big inning for Cleveland arrived in the third and featured another costly error, this when Cedric Mullins’ throw from center field on a run-scoring hit by Ernie Clement sailed over everyone and opened the floodgates.
Two more runs scored off Harvey before he gave way to Cole Sulser, who allowed both the runners he inherited to score. Harvey, who pitched well earlier in the season despite some shoddy glovework behind him, ended up charged with six runs (five earned) on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts, with his ERA up to 7.76.
Trey Mancini had a run-scoring double in the top of the fifth, and Cleveland extended its lead back to five with a home run by Bradley off his old teammate Adam Plutko.
The Orioles (22-44) have now lost six straight games overall, dropping to 5-7 in June after beginning the month with the league’s best offense and a 5-1 record.
More errors
There were two costly errors against the Orioles, but two others went unpunished.
Franco made a two-out error at third base in the second inning, and Wilkerson had his third in two nights in the eighth inning.
Losing battles
The Orioles offense is scuffling again, especially with runners in scoring position, but that’s not to say everyone’s giving at-bats away. Mancini and Galvis had three of their seven hits Tuesday, but also had some of their toughest at-bats.
In the seventh with Mullins on first, Mancini saw 11 pitches before grounding into a double play while Galvis grounded out after an 11-pitch at-bat to begin the ninth.
