Under manager Brandon Hyde, the major league representative of a franchise focused on the future, the Orioles have had one true mandate this season: compete for nine innings and make the plays you're supposed to make. And if that happens, they can live with whatever results come.
After a pair of miserable losses to the Boston Red Sox this weekend at Camden Yards, Hyde felt the need to publicly let his team know it wasn’t even living up to that, neither in Friday's 13-2 loss nor Saturday's 7-2 result.
"We're taking inventory of what we have, and that's the way to look at it," Hyde said, acknowledging it was a borrowed concept from his old boss, Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon, from when he managed the Tampa Bay Rays.