Since the Orioles stopped playing the brand of baseball that propelled them to owning the major leagues’ best record in mid-May, their most basic consolation was that no matter how far they fell, it was never too far out of the playoff race.
This weekend's three-game sweep, which dropped them back to 71-72 and a losing record for the first time since Aug. 26, might put that to the test.
Sitting three games out of the second wild-card playoff spot and with three teams between them and the Minnesota Twins, who hold that spot, the Orioles might find the 19 games remaining too few to make a difference.