Orioles 100th loss in 2018 was a debacle in every way imaginable

The Baltimore Orioles reached one of Major League Baseball’s least desirable milestones Friday. With their 14-2 blowout loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, the Orioles became the first team to reach 100 losses during the 2018 MLB season.

But it wasn’t just the number attached to the loss or the lopsided loss itself that encapsulated a truly miserable season in Baltimore. It was an event before the game and a record established during the game that appropriately symbolized the disaster it has become.

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A truly miserable season

The Orioles loss dropped them to 41-100, and will leave them 55.5 games behind the Boston Red Sox with three weeks left to play.

Reaching this grand stage of ineptitude is far from a surprise for Baltimore. The Orioles have been on a 100-loss pace since the very beginning of the season after failing to upgrade an aging and declining roster in the offseason. Their losing pace picked up even more steam mid-season thanks to a flurry of trades involving key players like Manny Machado, Zach Britton and Jonathan Schoop, just to name a few.

Those trades marked the beginning of a certain long-term rebuild, while Friday’s 100th loss served as a strong reminder of just how long that rebuild might take. They’re a long way away from being close to competitive, meaning Orioles fans are likely to experience at least a few years of baseball misery.

With that in mind, we can’t imagine too many games actually being worse than Friday’s loss. That’s because of the incredibly wide range of things that went wrong. Including an odd pregame mishap.

The Orioles aren’t good at football either

The Orioles bad day started well before Friday’s game started. It all began when Saturday’s scheduled starting pitcher, David Hess, decided to run some pass patterns in the outfield at Tropicana Field.

Right in the eye.

It’s not unusual to see baseball players and particularly pitchers doing pregame work involving a football. For some it’s even routine. However, this is the first time we’ve seen one of those workouts result in a visit to the eye doctor.

That’s where Hess spent part of his Friday afternoon before returning to the dugout wearing an LSU football helmet. Fortunately, everything checked out OK and Hess will be clear to make his Saturday start.

Dylan Bundy’s awful home run record

As for Friday’s starting pitcher, he had a rough night, too. Dylan Bundy was roughed up for six earned runs over four innings. Bundy allowed a season-high five walks during the outing, and was tagged for two home runs. The first of which set a dreadful team record.

Not good for the pitcher Baltimore hoped would develop into their ace this season. Instead, the 25-year-old right-hander has taken more lumps than anyone.

Even the worst MLB seasons tend to have a few silver linings. At this point, it’s difficult to find any for the 2018 Orioles.

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