As O's offense continues to struggle, the team is 19-22 since July 1

The Orioles had a two-game lead atop the American League East at the All-Star break. But after losing two straight at home to Boston, they find themselves two games behind first and in third place for the first time all season.

The Orioles have lost three of four and six of nine games. They are 8-13 the last 21 games and they are 15-17 in the second half.

It's a long season and the team is going to go through ups and downs. But some fans are worried that the team is fading and they have a losing win-loss record for 40-plus games to provide possible evidence.

It is up to the Orioles to prove their doubters wrong. They've been there all year and seeing Baltimore in third place is where many of the experts thought they'd be all along - if they even predicted a finish that high.

The Orioles have lost just three home series all year. They dropped two of three to Seattle on May 17-19 and two of three to Colorado on July 25-27. Now they lost both games in this short series to Boston and scored just four runs on eight hits in the series.

In June the Orioles' offense looked dynamic, but it hasn't looked like that, except for in mostly small samples, much since then.

The Orioles went 19-9 in June, batting .300 with a team OPS of .888 and scoring 6.6 runs per game. They were 12-14 in July batting .235 with a .664 OPS and scoring 3.4 runs per game. They are now 7-8 in August batting .247 with an OPS of .732 and scoring 4.1 runs per game. That is a won-loss mark of 19-22 since July 1.

The O's offense has been among the AL's worst in the second half. Where the club ranks:

* Tied for 14th in runs with 111
* Last in batting average at .229
* Last in OBP at .286
* 14th in slugging at .379
* 14th in OPS at .666

The Orioles have scored two runs or fewer six times in the last 11 games. They have scored three or fewer 14 times the last 22 games and 19 times in 32 games since the All-Star break.

There is probably no one answer why the offense has struggled but several that could be contributing factors. Perhaps some players are tiring. The all-or-nothing homer approach results in power outages. Middle of the order hitters Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo are both slumping at the same time.

After leading the AL East or being tied for first for 111 of 136 days, now the Orioles spend their first day in third place. They are just two games behind first but the Red Sox and Blue Jays are both playing better than they are right now.

With Darren O'Day on the disabled list, Chris Tillman's next start pushed back, Dylan Bundy proving he's human and several players struggling at the plate, you get the feeling this homestand that looked very important when it began, may just be the most important of the season.