A turn for the worse in close games (Mountcastle hits three homers)

After an off-day, the frustration level for the Orioles and the fans around Birdland got worse, not better. They were blanked 2-0 at Houston last night, shut out by that score for the second time in three games.

Back on Monday night, the Orioles scored seven runs. But they gave up 14. They gave up two runs Tuesday and two last night, but scored zero each time. Whatever it takes to win right now, they are unable to do it.

It's been quite a fall.

When the Orioles beat the Nationals on May 9, they improved to 22-10 (.688). That was the best record in the majors at that time. But since then, they are 3-11 and have now fallen to third place in the American League East, 2 1/2 games back of the Yankees and a half-game behind the Red Sox.

One big difference is the results in games decided by one and two runs. During that excellent 32-game start, the Orioles went 15-3 in games decided by one and two runs. Now, in going 3-11 since that start, they have gone 3-10 in such games. They have a five-game losing streak by scores of 3-1, 14-7, 2-0, 4-3 and 2-0. Frustrating indeed.

Meanwhile, it is this weekend's opponent that now has the majors' best record. Houston is 33-16 (.673) and is 15-7 in one and two-run games. Houston is 7-1 at home against the Orioles since 2015 and 10-2 overall in its last 12 games against Baltimore.

Somehow, the Orioles have to try and find a win or two off them the rest of the weekend at Minute Maid Park. But they are scheduled to face lefty Dallas Keuchel (7-0, 1.84 ERA) tonight and right-hander Lance McCullers (5-1, 2.43 ERA) on Sunday afternoon.

The strikeout numbers: It may seem to fans that the Orioles strike out more than any other team. But they don't.

The top six team strikeout percentages in the AL:
27.0 - Tampa Bay
23.8 - Oakland
23.1 - New York
23.0 - Texas
22.7 - Detroit
22.6 - Orioles

The Orioles rank sixth with that strikeout percentage. That is up from last year's number of 21.7, which ranked as fifth-most in the AL. The Orioles rank well down the list at 13th in the league with a 7.2 percent walk rate. That is down from last year, too, when the rate was 7.7 and they rated 10th.

The strikeout numbers come more to mind with the Orioles in Houston right now. In a series there last May, they struck out 52 times to set a major league record for a three-game series. Last night, they struck out eight times.

Chris Davis continues to frustrate O's fans with strikeouts. He added two last night during an 0-for-4 game. Since hitting five homers in five games from May 13-18, Davis is 2-for-28 with 14 strikeouts over his past seven games.

It happened again: For their first 28 seasons, the Single-A Frederick Keys never had a player hit three homers in a game. Now it has happened twice in their past three games. Outfielder Austin Hays did so in Game 1 of a doubleheader Wednesday and shortstop Ryan Mountcastle homered three times in last night's 9-5 win over Buies Creek in Frederick.

Mountcastle went 4-for-4 with a solo homer in the first and another in the third when he went back-to-back with Hays. Mountcastle added a single in the fifth and another solo home run in the sixth. He was on deck when the Keys made their final out in the last of the eighth.

Had he hit one more he would have become the first player with four home runs in one game in Carolina League history.

In 46 games for the year, Mountcastle is batting .342/.372/.620 with 16 doubles, a triple, 11 homers, 35 RBIs and a .992 OPS. He leads all O's minor leaguers in homers. In the Carolina League, he ranks second in batting, is tied for second in homers and is fifth in RBIs. He ranks first in hits, extra-base hits and total bases.

In his first year of full-season ball in 2016 at Single-A Delmarva, Mountcastle hit 10 homers all year in 455 at-bats and had a slugging percentage of .426. This season, he has 11 homers in 184 at-bats with a .620 slugging percentage.

The club's No. 3-ranked prospect by Baseball America, he is doing this at 20. The Orioles drafted him 36th overall in 2015 out of Hagerty High School in Oviedo, Fla.

While he has hit 10 of his 11 homers in home games, his power surge is by no means simply ballpark related. Hays has nine homers, but just two at home. No other Keys player has more than four homers at Harry Grove Stadium.