A night with loud contact doesn't lead to runs or a win

OAKLAND – In their latest night of frustration on offense, at least the Orioles could point to one fact: They smoked some baseballs and likely deserved a much better fate than they got.

But led by center fielder Christian Pache, the Oakland A’s made some outstanding plays on defense and the Orioles were once again on the doorstep of a win but didn’t get it.

They fell to 3-8 for the season and 0-2 on this road trip with a 2-1 loss at Oakland. They were held to eight hits and went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Maybe some of what happened last night will even out sometime soon and several bloops will fall. Because the solid contact Baltimore hitters made often didn’t work on this night.

The Orioles hit 10 balls at least 100 mph in the game and seven of the 10 were turned into outs.

Here are the expected batting averages of the seven balls that were caught - .460, .620, .810, .280, .260, .580 and .570.

The data says something very different should have happened. But what actually did looked all too familiar. The Orioles have scored two runs in this series and 23 runs in 11 games. They are 1-for-13 in this series with runners in scoring position.

There have been nights in the past when manager Brandon Hyde would criticize his players' offensive approach after they've struggled to score, if he sees reason to. But this was not that night.

“I thought we swung the bat a little better tonight, definitely,” Hyde said. “We did hit a lot of balls hard. Pache made two or three really nice plays in center field that cost us. (Billy) McKinney made a nice play in right-center, but I thought our at-bats were getting a little bit better. We just have to continue to put quality at-bats together throughout innings. Right now we’re having a tough time getting a rally going.

“It was really good (the club approach) off (lefty Cole) Irvin, especially early. We wanted to use the opposite field for our right-handed hitters, a lot of guys did that. We’ve been hitting a lot of balls on the nose but we just didn’t find holes.”

On the other hand, it was another night of stellar Baltimore pitching. The numbers continue to greatly exceed the preseason expectations.

* The team ERA is 2.81 (Second in the American League, fifth in the majors).

* The rotation ERA is 2.98 (Second in the AL, sixth in the majors).

* The bullpen ERA is 2.66 (Third in the AL, seventh in the majors).

“Our pitching once again gave us an opportunity,” stated Hyde. “We threw the ball extremely well. (Chris) Ellis did a nice job, going a little deeper than we thought. (Mike) Baumann gave up a couple of runs, but he threw the ball well. The guys after, (Félix) Bautista was lights out and (Cionel) Pérez did a great job.

“You know, we scored one run in back-to-back games here. It’s tough to win that way.”

The O’s have scored one run or none in four games so far this season, and two or fewer eight times. They have just one home run in the last six games and four for the season.

But Ellis was the latest starting pitcher to throw well. Over 4 1/3 scoreless innings he gave up four hits and threw 62 pitches. He has now made seven career O’s starts with an ERA of 2.12.

He said he was excited to be back in the big leagues.

“Any time I can pitch on the big stage, it’s exciting. I wish we came away with a win tonight, but I feel like we still played a good game,” he said.

Ellis didn’t want to be the pitcher to give it up with the staff off to such a great start on the mound.

“Yeah, 100 percent. I watched Spenser Watkins just shove last night, so I took some notes from him, or at least tried to. Wanted to mix my pitches and lead us to a place to win the game.”

The game was played before the A’s smallest home crowd in 42 years. The attendance was announced as 3,748. That was the smallest crowd since Oakland and the Chicago White Sox drew 3,180 on Sept. 25, 1980.

There will be a day game this afternoon in Oakland after the A’s announced, early during Tuesday’s game, a game time change for today. With rain expected late in the night, the Orioles and Athletics will now play today at 3:07 p.m. PDT, which is 6:07 p.m. EDT. Originally, the game was to begin at 6:40 p.m. PT.

The bats were there on the farm: The Orioles have scored two runs over the last two nights. But on the Baltimore farm Tuesday night, the four affiliates all won and combined to score 43 runs.

Triple-A Norfolk (9-4) beat Durham 7-5 as Richie Martin had a double and triple, went 3-for-5 and drove in a run. Johnny Rizer hit his fifth homer, Terrin Vavra went 2-for-3 and Cody Sedlock threw four scoreless innings in relief.

Double-A Bowie (5-4) crushed Akron 20-6. The 20 runs are the most scored in one game by any team this season in pro ball, majors or minors. Bowie led 12-1 at the end of the second inning. Outfielder Hudson Haskin returned to the Bowie lineup and went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and six RBIs. Dylan Harris made his Double-A debut and went 3-for-4 with four runs and two RBIs.

Colton Cowser and Jacob Teter hit solo homers and César Prieto had three RBIs as high Single-A Aberdeen beat Greensboro 8-6. The IronBirds have won seven of their first 10 games.

Low Single-A Delmarva scored seven runs in the first inning and beat Myrtle Beach 8-3, and they are 5-5. Young right-hander Moises Chace threw four scoreless innings and has thrown eight scoreless over his first two games. He has fanned 12 and has a 1.00 WHIP.

The four O's affiliates are a combined 26-16 (.619).