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Orioles' prolonged postseason woes by the numbers
Baltimore Orioles fans have had it rough in the postseason for a significant amount of time.
The team was swept Wednesday in their opening postseason series for the second straight year, falling 2-1 in Game 2 of the American League Wild Card series to the Kansas City Royals.
It marks the fourth straight playoff series and the 10th straight playoff game the franchise has lost since 2014, when it swept the Detroit Tigers in the divisional round but were ultimately swept themselves, ironically, by the Royals in the championship series.
The Baltimore Orioles have now lost ten straight postseason games dating back to 2014, the longest active streak in the majors.
— Abby Jones (@_abigaiiiil) October 2, 2024
The Kansas City Royals advance to take on the New York Yankees in the ALDS.
pic.twitter.com/QTAg8QCbvJ
Baltimore had five straight losing seasons from 2017-21 and failed to make the playoffs in 2022 after winning more than 80 games for the first time since 2016 — the last time it made the postseason before 2023.
After winning the American League East division for the first time since 2014 last year, Baltimore was swept by the eventual World Series champion Texas Rangers. It extended the franchise's championship-less streak to 41 years, the sixth-longest in league history (1983 World Series champions).
2023 and 2024 marked the first time the team had won 90+ games in back-to-back seasons since 1982-83 and also the first time since 1996-97 that it appeared in the postseason two straight years.
But when Baltimore's starters needed to show up, they went ice cold — only recording a lone run in the wild-card series.
The team's best batter this season, Gunnar Henderson, batted .281 in the regular season but never logged a hit in two games against Kansas City.
Last year, Ryan O'Hearn, batted .289 in the regular season but only put up a meager .200 in three games against Texas.
And Baltimore's pitchers weren't the problem this year like they were in 2023. They only gave up a collective three runs to Kansas City compared to a whopping 21 to Texas.
After several years of top draft picks and making significant trades for high-caliber players like pitcher Corbin Burnes this year, Baltimore has to go back to the drawing board yet again to figure out how to get over its playoff slump.
More must-reads:
- Bobby Witt Jr., Royals sweep Orioles out of playoffs
- Orioles rookie Colton Cowser hit on hand, leaves game
- The 'American League WAR leaders' quiz
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