Orioles Look to Start Hitting Consistently

BALTIMORE -- Statistics can sometimes lie, but the numbers certainly give an accurate description of the what's happened with the Orioles offense this season.

The Orioles were averaging 6.3 runs per game in their seven wins coming into Monday's game. But they were averaging just 2.8 runs in the five losses. Manager Dave Trembley wants the team to start hitting more consistently but doesn't want to shake up the lineup just yet.

Simply put, he thinks it's too soon, so Trembley kept the lineup pretty much the way it's been throughout the season's first two weeks for Monday's series opener against the Blue Jays.

"I think the team would react on how I do things and the [way] that I'm doing things," Trembley said. "I think the worst thing for me to do is to try and change things right away. I think the best thing is to show confidence in them."

Six of the nine starters are hitting .244 or lower, but players also have been effective in different ways. Aubrey Huff has the .244 average, but leads the team with 11 RBIs. Ramon Hernandez is hitting just .194, but already has two homers and seven RBIs.

The Orioles ranked ninth in the American League with a .252 average heading into Monday's game.

Trembley said he thinks the Orioles were a little too impatient during the five-game trip to Texas and Tampa Bay. The Orioles dropped four games on the trip and didn't get as many hits in clutch situations.

Trembley said he wants the team to take its time and get away from chasing pitches it shouldn't, something the club did a little too much on the trip, especially in the losses.

"It's not on any one guy," Trembley said. "I think if guys would be somewhat more patient, wait for their pitch, maybe take the walk [and do] what other teams are doing to us, we can do to them."

But Trembley also said he doesn't want the team to try to fix all of the offensive problems in one game. Baseball's a game that takes time, and that's something Trembley understands.

"We need to get back to the approach that we had the first seven or eight games," Trembley said. "Don't assume or try to do too much and just leave it alone and see where it goes."