Tillman's Terrible Start Dooms O's

The Orioles were blown out for the second consecutive game, falling 10-2 to the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.

Chris Tillman allowed a run in the first inning, but Matt Wieters drilled a solo shot in the second to tie the game. Tillman couldn't follow that blast with a zero, and allowed five runs to cross the plate in the bottom of the inning.

Another short outing for a starter spelled disaster for the offensively-challenged O's, who were down 6-1 heading into the third inning. The Birds have now been outscored 21-6 over the last two "games".

Besides Wieters' shot, the only other Oriole that showed power was Ty Wigginton...Wiggy had two doubles and knocked in the O's second run. Wigginton should have been credited with his 14th homer of the season, but a blown call cost him and he was given a double.

Speaking of blown calls, the umps were of no help to the Birds all game long...there were three blatant blown calls throughout the game: early on, the umps gave the Giants an inning-ending double-play although the runner was clearly safe at second base...the fielder didn't even have the ball in his hand before the runner slid into second base. In the ninth inning, Cesar Izturis was called out at first base after hustling down the line and beating the throw by a step. And of course, Wigginton's homer that was ruled a double but would have been a solo shot if challenged on a replay.

The O's are now 17-47, 30 games under .500, and have the exact same record as the 1988 O's that started the season 0-21. The Birds need three wins to win 20 games, and three losses to hit 50 losses for the season. I wonder which will happen first...

Jake Arrieta, the only O's starter to win a game in the past 18 contests, takes the mound for the Birds Tuesday night. Please, Jake, stop the bleeding...