I'm guessing Juan Samuel will be relieved to be relieved of his first major league command. The Orioles did seem to respond to his managerial temperament, but that wasn't reflected in their performance.
The final insult was today's 5-4 loss to the Kansas City Royals, which featured a solid performance by Orioles castoff Bruce Chen. The Orioles tried to rally in the ninth -- putting runners at first and second with no one our -- but Nick Markakis bounced into a double play and Cesar Izturis would eventually be stranded at third.
So, Buck Showalter inherits a team that has lost 14 of its last 17 games and is heading into a month of August that features 20 games against teams that are in first or second place in their divisions. And this will be the easier of the two remaining months of the regular season. The Orioles play the September/October portion of the schedule against Yankees, Blue Jays, Tigers, Red Sox and Rays.
There are 57 games left to play, so the question of the day is an obvious one.
How many games will Buck win over the remainder of the season?
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