"Anything that happens in the dugout, that's where it stays," Cabrera said.
"Everything's cool," Perlozzo said.
...
"We're better than we're playing; we just need to concentrate a little more," said Perlozzo, who has led Baltimore to a 19-22 record since replacing Lee Mazzilli on Aug. 4. "It's not OK not to execute. ... As a team, I told them it's not going to happen next year. It's not acceptable."
See, again, I know Perlozzo is just doing his job and spinning things the way he's supposed to, but if you want my honest opinion, the Orioles are not better than they're playing. This is about how good they are. It's not a matter of concentration, it's a matter of the majority of the players not being good enough at baseball. More accountability would be kind of nice at this point. If you stink, say you stink. Because, clearly, you stink, and I think someone telling this team they stink could only help. What are they going to do, start playing worse?
As for the Cabrera/Miggy argument, I'm not worried about that. As much as Miggy talks to him during games, it was probably bound to happen. Cabrera seems a bit high-strung at times.
The O's dropped two of the three against Tampa Bay on their way to New York for a four-game set with the Yankees, who are currently one and a half games back in the AL East race and the same distance behind Cleveland for the Wild Card. Hopefully the O's can make life miserable for New York. Nothing would make me happier. Cleveland, three and a half behind the BS White Sox (who didn't see this coming?), start a series with Chicago. Oakland is two behind Anaheim out west. Things are getting really interesting in the AL races.
Elsewhere, the Royals are just one loss away from No. 100 on the season. I suppose at least they've made their mark.
The O's now need to win 12 of their final 14 to finish over .500 for the first time since 1997.