Westburg opens up about Orioles' struggles: 'Morale is down'

The Baltimore Orioles are struggling, and injured infielder Jordan Westburg believes it's affecting the mentality of the clubhouse during the final stretch run toward the postseason.

"I mean, losing sucks, right? Morale is down when you lose and we've been kind of doing a lot of it recently," Westburg said, according to The Baltimore Sun's Matt Weyrich.

"I'm not going to spare words, we haven't been playing well in all facets of the game. So, yeah, it sucks. We're all down a little bit. Guys, I think, are searching and putting a lot of pressure on themselves to right the ship. But deep down, I think we all have this confidence that we're a good ballclub. We have the pieces to make a run."

The Orioles entered the All-Star break 20 games above .500. They appeared to be one of baseball's best teams as they battled atop the American League East division with the New York Yankees. The second half of the season hasn't been as pleasant, however, with the Orioles losing as many games as they've won (25-25).

Baltimore has been riddled with injuries to key players, including Westburg, who is sidelined with a broken hand. It's also struggling to stay consistent. When the pitching goes well, the offense struggles, and vice versa.

"I think it just comes down to trusting ourselves, really going out there and just worrying about putting a good product on the field together pitch by pitch," Westburg said.

"If we get down early, who cares? We're going to find a way. That needs to be the mentality, and if we're up, alright, let's step on somebody's throat. I think right now that's kind of what needs to happen as a whole. There just needs to be a little bit of, 'OK, we don’t care what the noise is. We don't care what happens during the game. Just find a way.' So, hopefully we can do that."

The Orioles enter Wednesday attempting to take a series from the Boston Red Sox and reclaim the division lead from the Yankees, who are a half-game ahead of them in the standings.