Actually, you don't want to "keep going out there and swinging" when the ball is not in the zone for you to swing at.

Adam needs to get back to his confident, relaxed groove.

He will.

Hendrickson has all the intimidating presence of a swan.

Well they are all right. Hitting a baseball is tough, I guess you should look at the positive, they had a lot of hits and walks, so something will break soon. At least Trembley put Markakis back in the three hole and Jones number two. It is simple you have to have timely hitting, good defense and great pitching. One of these days, but really as much as I like Trembley, they are not producing for him. Maybe it is time for a change. .

are people surprised? the orioles are going to have lousy streaks. Its not an excuse but at the same time people (in general, not you Peter) can't treat it like it's unacceptable, like this is the '27 yankees doing this. Everything will be fine and for the record I think Trembley should stay. I think he is a quality guy and manager and when the players get better people will actually be able to see how good he is. A genius works with what he has but Trembley has been in the middle of the storm trying to help put back together a horrible, horrible franchise.

Pete, The twelve hits may be a good sign, but the shift in fortune needs to start soon. And even better hitting won't help unless the pitchers do their part.

I know that the conventional wisdom is that Dave Trembley has quite a bit of slack and likely will be back next season as the Orioles' skipper, and that no doubt is true. However, there are limits to how long the team can play as poorly as it has before it's deemed that he's lost the team.

And while I don't think it's reached that point yet, the time may be sooner than a lot of people think.

Watching a clip of Friday's postgame press conference, I seemed to detect something I've not seen before with Trembley: a shell-shocked, "deer caught in the headlights" look. It's gotten to where he's wearied of all the questions about how to explain yet another loss.

That's understandable, and while more losses than wins were expected going into the season, an all-out freefall before the All-Star break wasn't. The Orioles were supposed to be at least maginally better than 2008, but, surprisingly, they're significantly worse.

This year through 61 games the O's are 25-36. Last season in the same number of games, they actually had a winning record at 31-30.

How much of the club struggles can be attributed to Dave Trembley? Hard to say. I'd be inclined at this point to say not a great deal. We knew there would be question marks with the pitching staff going into the offseason, as a number of comebacks from injuries had to be taken into account.

I don't think anyone could have expected Jeremy Guthrie to regress so badly; indeed, he was someone who many thought would get some run support, bullpen help and finally blossom into a 15+ win hurler. So far, he's been the biggest disappointment, as far as I'm concerned.

Andy MacPhail didn't do Trembley many favors in the offseason, either. Koji Uehara was a decent sign, but anyone with any baseball sense had to wonder what was the point of getting pitchers who had proven themselves to be mediocre at best (and even that very rarely in their careers) in Adam Eaton and Mark Hendrickson.

Those signings weren't MacPhail at his best, that's for sure, and he added insult to injury when he intimated that Pedro Martinez couldn't help the staff (but Eaton and Hendrickson could???).

Now, Tom Glavine's been released by the Braves I seriously doubt that MacPhail will bother to contact his agent, given the indifference shown Martinez. Like Pedro, Tom Glavine is past his prime. That's the MacPhail justification for bypassing them, but the bottom line is that a past-his-prime Glavine or Martinez is still better than what the Orioles have right now (they've forgotten more about pitching than most of the current staff will ever know).

The hitting should come around, yes, but so far this team has shown itself to be a poor team hitting in the clutch (yes, even for the most part when it was winning, sad to say). This is due to some of the changes made in the offseason. Kevin Millar had a knack for coming up with a big hit knock in a run or drawing a walk to keep a rally going. No one is filling that role for the O's right now. When all is said and done, they are not a patient team at bat (at least not on a consistent basis). Ramon Hernandez was another good hitter in the clutch (relax, I know Matt Wieters is going to do just fine in that role and probably sooner than later), and much-maligned Jay Payton at least managed to come up with timely hitting on occasion. Someone needs to step up soon for the Birds in this regard.

The O's finally had a decent turnout for a game this week, with an attendance of nearly 30,000, however if the losing continues at such a pace the crowds will dwindle. Already, Camden Yards set a record for the smallest attendance for a game; should the losing continue, they could hit rock bottom for a season.

The bottom line is that the fans want to at least see a competitive, well-played game from the home team if they get at least that, then some losses will be tolerated. If not, if a freefall ensues, then the club will lose its fan base to the point where the rebuilding project will also involve rebuilding fan loyalty.

Should it reach that point, then Dave Trembley's days as manager of the Orioles are clearly numbered, The team is at a juncture in the season where they either pick up their play and watch their manager's back or mail in the remainder of the games.

A turnaround is in order, guys, ASAP.

This is tough to watch. I can accept that the team is going through a funk, but where are the leaders on this team? I wish Huff, Markakis or Roberts, would go nuts in the dugout because I can take losing, as that's what we do in Birdland, but this team has no heart and I truly mean they have no heart.

I know Dave isn't batting for these guys or pitching, but anyone who watches the O's play, knows they are packing it in. I think Dave needs to be fired. I don't know if a new voice will do the trick, but I do know that his voice isn't doing it.

Pete, I knew coming into this season, it would be tough and I get it, but if the organization is bringing the prize prospects up, does the F.O. wants them to see how a major league team handles itself with sloppy play, zero communication and a lack of the basic baseball fundamentals?

The A's, M's and Rangers weren't exactly picked to be good, but all three of those teams are showing improvement that we aren't so why wait till next year when they have a chance now to see if the guy they hire now, might be the right guy and not just a transitional manager?

12 hits. Yeh! That's great, but how many extra base hits? One. How many clutch hits with risp? Half of one, i'd say. Pete, I sure hope you're right with your prediction about them snapping out of "the funk" in this series. I can't stand it anymore. I've stopped watching and instead I go online to check the box score after I know that the game is over. (with much trepidation). As for Trembley, no excuse for not sending Reimold out there tonight. If there's one rule you should have right now it's that at least Scott and Reimold should be in the lineup every night. And quite frankly I'd like to see Mora out of it. But we're pretty much screwed when it comes to third base, I'll say it again, I think they should start having Brandon Snyder play there now and see what he can do.

What exactly did you expect them to say when you throw something like that in their face?!? I'd be careful, because no matter how you word that concept, you're basically asking them to account for why they are so horrid right now. Just not wise journalism. Or perhaps you just didn't bring up their failures quite so bluntly as you stated it in the blog.

At any rate, please move on and find something else to talk about - the slump sickens the players and the fans. It's beginning to define things a bit for the summer.

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Pete's reply: What exactly would you like me to talk about, since you just appointed yourself my editor?

Just a quick comment on the game. How sad is it that the condiment race and crab shuffle get a larger cheer than at any other point in the game? Despite having the bases loaded multiple times. Hope the real fans return to the yard soon.

I really thought the O's were gonna break out of it tonight against Hansen. They ran themselves out of some runs again with Andino getting thrown out at 2nd and someone getting gunned at the plate rather than giving Wieters an opportunity to bat with the bases loaded. Weren't really any clutch hits when we needed them unlike early on in the season. Atleast we had guys on base thats a sign that hopefully we are turning it around.

I hate to keep beating a dead horse but..how many did Nolan leave on..none since he only batted one time. Go back to the original lineup with Huff at first, Weiters and Nolan in there every day and let it go Dave!Also why is Hendrickson still here? Someone at Norfolk must be better left,right, ambidexterous whatever

Yesterday DT held a team meeting, which apparently did no good.

Seems that those kind of meetings are usually called or led by a player, not the manager. If Millar were still here obviously he'd have led such a meeting. In fact it probably would have been held a week ago.

Is there a player on the current roster who could have done so? Honestly, probably not. There are only a few vocal guys, among them Huff, who's too flaky and sarcastic, Wiggington and Zaun, who have done nothing since they got here, Jones, who's only 23 and in a one for 18 slump; and Wieters, a rookie.

In fact MacPhail tried to deal with the "quiet clubhouse" problem by getting Zaun, Wiggington, and Freel in the offseason. But when a guy's on the Mendoza line, he's not going to rally your clubhouse.

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Pete's reply: Funny, you're a step ahead of me. Read my column today on the Web site and tomorrow in the print edition on that very subject.

At least we actually had baserunners today.

Even the usual avid Trembley worshippers are beginning to buckle and second guessing. two things,one is Reimold not playing and Mora batting 5th. I say since the season is lost anyway,make Wieters the 5th hitter for the rest of the season and let him grow into the role. I don't want to hear the garbage that he isn't ready or hasn't earned the spot. He's our #1 position prospect and needs to be treated like a man,not a baby.

Adam needs some head clearing time on the bench,give Pie a couple days out there.

there's far more talent on this team than any other orioles team the last 10 years but the results remain the same. as dr. henry lee said during the o.j. murder trial..something very wrong here.

Pete , just an off the cuff question not necessarily based on recent woes , but how short a leash is Trembley on this season ? Thanks if you have the time to reply .

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Pete's reply: I doubt he's in danger, but if the team plays like this another month or two, all bets are off.

Ah! Its that time of year again...warm sunny days, cool ocean breezes, crabs and beer, a stroll through the park...you know, that time of year when the hearts of all Baltimore sports fans turn toward Ravens' mini-camp and the pro-bowlers tour. Have you all heard any rumors about a PRO baseball team moving to Baltimore...it would be nice to have one.

STOP SWINGING AT BALLS!! For crying out lout, when runners are on base, it's the PITCHER who's in trouble, not the hitter. Force him to throw strikes. Accept walks. Don't try to pull every pitch 500 feet - hit the pitch on the outer half of the plate the other way.

And replace Terry Crowley, already! Our offenses under him are almost always below average, with low team OBP, just like this season. The Yankees and Red Sox stress plate discipline, and forcing pitchers to throw strikes. The O's haven't done this throughout Crowley's tenure.