Orioles Skipper Makes Surprising Admission About Team's Prolonged Struggles

The Baltimore Orioles manager has opened up about his thoughts during the team's prolonged struggles.

Aug 30, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Baltimore Orioles manager Brandon Hyde (18) looks on during the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field / Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

On Thursday, the Baltimore Orioles got a much needed victory when their star slugger Anthony Santander hit a walk-off two-run homer.

That ended their three-game losing streak and got them back into the win column when they had to have it, cutting their deficit in the AL East to four after the New York Yankees dropped their finale against the Seattle Mariners.

While winning the division might be an uphill battle at this point, there is still a massive series looming between the Orioles and Yankees beginning on Aug. 24 that could still decide who comes out on top.

If that's going to happen, though, Baltimore has to start playing better baseball than they have recently with their 3-7 record over their last 10 contests.

They're hoping what happened on Thursday snaps them out of their funk, propelling them to right the ship and start stacking wins like they did throughout the majority of the season when they were one of the best teams in the MLB.

Zach Eflin thinks it might, saying, "It was a breath of fresh air, for sure. A lot of emotion in the win today with Tony's walk-off homer. I think that helps everybody out, so we're looking to take that momentum into the next series," per Roch Kubatko of MASN.

The confidence of the Orioles seemed to be shaken, whether they were willing to admit it or not.

Manager Brandon Hyde has been positive throughout this prolonged stretch of losing, but even he admitted it was hard to maintain that mentality.

"Yeah, I'm trying to stay patient and positive. It's hard right now. You try to check in with players as much as you possibly can. Try to be patient in here (interview room), too, and positive. Sometimes I don't feel very positive. I try to be as positive as I possibly can, and I want the players to see that we believe in them and I believe in them and we're going to pull out of this," he said.

Not having multiple star players available because of injuries has certainly played a role in these late-season struggles. It's hard to maintain status as a top team in the league throughout the year when talent is out of the lineup or not available to pitch.

But, the Orioles have been dealing with the absences for quite some time now and they have found ways to win in spite of that fact.

"I think that we're a lot better team than how we've played the last couple months, especially as of late. That our offense is way better than how we're performing and we should be performing. I was thinking today, we probably had eight or nine guys who could have made the All-Star team. And the second half has been rough for most of them. That's just unfortunate, but there's nothing you can do. Nobody's gonna feel sorry for you, and you've got to buckle up and try to perform and try to stick behind them as much as you possibly can," Hyde added.

Maybe that walk-off was exactly what Baltimore needed to lock in for the final three series of the year.

They're not out of the division race yet, but they will need to build upon this performance and start stringing together victories if they're going to win the AL East in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 1973-74.