After that ghastly stretch in August where the Orioles lost 12 of 13 to, well really, just vastly superior teams, Kansas City was just the magic cure this club needed. Since the Royals galloped into town on August 19, the Orioles have been a slightly-better-than .500 team, taking two of three from KC and splitting their series with Tampa Bay and the Nationals.
On paper, the Royals are a better team than the Orioles, but that’s kind of splitting hairs. The Royals are 47-88 to Baltimore’s 44-89, which also puts them above Detroit (39-92), but being the third-worst team in baseball is certainly nothing to brag about.