Gary Lambrecht, The Examiner
2008-07-04 07:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

The Orioles went 15-12 in the month of June, maintaining a pace that could produce the franchise’s first winning season since 1997.

They did it with an offense that finally carried them for an extended stretch, and got plenty of help from the bullpen that set the tone for this encouraging rebuilding effort in April. And with the exception of Jeremy Guthrie, the Orioles pulled off a winning June by dealing with a trouble spot that could send this team into a second-half tailspin many fans probably are awaiting.

That cracking noise you’re hearing is the sound of a backbone being bent to its limit. That warning sign you’re seeing is a youthful starting rotation that has lost an alarming amount of steam, and threatens to wear out a bullpen that is the heart and soul of this year’s feel-good story.

It’s not simply happenstance that middle relievers Matt Albers and Jamie Walker are on the disabled list, or that closer George Sherrill — the team’s first-half MVP and prime All-Star candidate with 27 saves — began this week by blowing back-to-back save chances in come-from-ahead losses to Washington and Kansas City.

The starting rotation, the unit that makes or breaks a baseball team, needs to snap out of its funk, something it appeared to start to do Wednesday night following Daniel Cabrera’s complete game win over the Royals. The Orioles‚ starters must follow Cabrera’s lead and get back to going deep into games and holding opponents down early again. The hitters and the bullpen can’t keep combining on come-from-behind wins.

In June, the starters were pretty much horrendous. They led the way to a major-league worst 123 walks issued by the Baltimore staff. The starters ranked dead last in the American League with a 5.99 ERA, had recurring problems getting into the sixth inning and were credited with only eight of the team’s 15 victories.

And that’s with staff ace Guthrie (4-7, 3.50 ERA, team-high 115.2 innings) doing his job almost without fail, even though the offense continues to fail him.

Look at the rest of this mess.

Cabrera (6-4), who pitched brilliantly during the season’s first seven weeks, hadn’t won since May 20 before allowing two runs on seven hits and walking none in the Orioles 5-2 win over the Royals Wednesday. In June, he went 0-3 with a 7.20 ERA over five starts. Brian Burres, tied with Garrett Olson for the team lead with six wins, went 2-1 with a 7.27 ERA last month.

Olson (2-2, 5.81 in June) wasn’t much better. Radhames Liz (2-0, 5.70) was adequate, but averaged fewer than five innings in his five starts.

The Gang of Four each started five games in June. No one reached 30 innings for the month. With so many nights yielding fewer than six innings from the starters, it’s no wonder the bullpen is looking fatigued. Sherrill, for example, already has battled stiffness in his left shoulder, after taking on by far the heaviest workload of his career.

When starters fail with too much regularity, the domino effect inevitably takes shape. The injuries to Albers and Walker forced the Orioles to call up Ryan Bukvich and Fernando Cabrera, both of whom still belong at Triple-A Norfolk. Bukvich has looked overmatched in his few outings up here.

At least Adam Loewen is back from the disabled list, working in the bullpen to build up his arm strength and stamina. Sheer necessity could force him to rejoin the starting rotation sooner than the team would prefer.

Somebody besides Guthrie had better start eating some innings. That was supposed to be the job of veteran Steve Trachsel. But after watching Trachsel struggle to get past the fourth inning, the Orioles had no choice but to release him early last month.

The plight of the starters is hardly a shock. It’s practically a kiddie corps.

Liz just turned 25, and is pitching in the big leagues earlier than expected. Olson needs to sharpen his toughness and focus. He’s only 24. Burress, 27, came into this season with 17 major-league starts. Cabrera, 28, is barely into his second decade of playing baseball. At 29, Guthrie is the grizzled veteran, with one full big-league season behind him.

The stumbling starters could not obscure the fact that Orioles completed the first half of the season with a 41-40 record by giving their fans more hope than they’ve had in a decade. The future still looks bright, especially if more trades bring another bag of prospects in the coming weeks.

But it would be nice of the Orioles not to repeat a staple of their recent past - the late-season nosedive. Unless the starting rotation regains the footing it established in April and May, the swoon is going to happen again.

Gary Lambrecht writes about the NFL, Major League Baseball and college sports. He can be reached at glambrecht@baltimoreexaminer.com