One third of the way through this Major League Baseball season, a lot of teams are standing out. Some for the wrong reasons. When compared to last season, a few teams are letting their fan base down. The Oakland Athletics and Baltimore Orioles have been two of those teams.

Last season the Orioles had one of the best offenses in the league having led all of MLB in home runs hit. However, the Orioles rank 18th in runs scored so far this season. Dominican-born outfielder Nelson Cruz is no longer on the team, and it's having a negative impact. Only Chris Davis has hit double digit home runs for the Orioles this season. The Orioles hitting staff hasn't been the elite power house that it was last season, but it hasn't been terrible.

Easily the biggest reason the Orioles are struggling is because of their defense. The Orioles 3.89 team earned runs against average ranks as the sixth worst in the American League. Starting pitcher, Wei-Yin Chen, who had a team best 16 wins last season is struggling big time. Chen is just 1-4 this season, and the Orioles haven't had one complete game from a single pitcher this year.

At the moment, the Orioles are 26-30, good enough for last place in the American League East behind the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. Last season the Orioles won the AL East with a 96-66 record, a dominating 12 games ahead of the Bronx Bombers. Fortunately for the Orioles, they do have one thing positive going for them: the AL East hasn't been very powerful this season. All five teams in the AL East are separated by just six games.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been rumored to be interested in Cincinnati Reds pitcher Johnny Cueto. The Orioles may want to throw in a bid before MLB the trade deadline.

Over on the west coast, the Oakland Athletics have been very disappointing as well. The Athletics no longer have Jon Lester, who is on the Chicago Cubs and they have been terrible at home. The Athletics are a putrid 9-17 this season at home. The Athletics are in last place in the American League West behind the Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Seattle Mariners

Sonny Gray is the only starting pitcher on the Athletics who has a winning record with at least four victories this season. The Athletics haven't had terrible pitching this season, but they can't get key outs with runners in scoring position.

The Seattle Mariners have also been a very disappointing team this season. Despite having Fernando Rodney and Felix Hernandez, the Mariners hitting ranks last in the AL this season. The Detroit Tigers are 30-28, but are in third place in the AL Central. The Tigers are still in the mix, but haven't met expectations.

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