Batting second, Schoop doubles in first run, O's trail Houston (updated)

HOUSTON - Buck Showalter's decision to move second baseman Jonathan Schoop up to second in the batting order paid immediate dividends tonight. His RBI double in the first inning scored Manny Machado, who had also doubled. The Schoop RBI was his 14th in his last 12 games and made it 1-0.

Machado had gone 5-for-22 (.227) when batting leadoff this year before his ringing double to right-center off Collin McHugh started this game.

Then it got strange in the last of the first when Machado made two errors at shortstop, but Houston did not score. He made an error on George Springer's hot smash to his right and later double clutched a ball hit to him by Carlos Correa. Houston had first and third with one out, but Tyler Wilson got Colby Rasmus to bounce into a 4-6-3 double play to end that threat.

Machado struck out to strand two runners in the second. Then the Orioles went 1-2-3 in the third with McHugh fanning both Adam Jones and Chris Davis on curveballs. The O's struck out five times in the first three innings. That makes 24 strikeouts this series and 45 the last four games.

Wilson recorded a 1-2-3 second inning as he got groundouts for five of the first six outs. But Houston tied it 1-1 against him in the third. Marwin Gonzalez led off with a single, advanced to second on a sac bunt and scored on a Springer single. Wilson might have cut down Gonzalez on the bunt after he fielded it, but took the sure out at first as Gonzalez moved into scoring position and then scored.

Updated: The Orioles have had better nights than this in 2016. Wilson made two errors in the fourth, one on a bunt play that came just ahead of an Evan Gattis two-run homer, which gave Houston a 3-1 lead. Gattis drilled a 91 mph fastball to left snap the 1-1 tie.

The Orioles have four errors tonight, a season high. The previous high was two in a game. They made four in a game once last year in September.

Update II: The O's tied it 3-3 in the sixth. Davis singled and went to third on Trumbo's liner to left, which was misplayed by left fielder Tony Kemp for a single and an error to put runners on second and third with one out. Davis would scored on a wild pitch and Trumbo scored when Pedro Alvarez dribbled toward first that went for an infield hit.

Jonathan Schoop later popped out to end the inning as they left the bases loaded. Hyun Soo Kim doubled in the that sixth frame and is 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and a walk. He had one double all year (albeit in 29 at-bats) before tonight.

Through the sixth inning, the Orioles have struck out 11 times tonight, 30 times in this series and 51 times over their past four games.

Update III: That tie didn't hold. Luis Valbuena's second homer of this series - a solo blast to left center - gives Houston a 4-3 lead in the sixth. It is No. 4 for Valbuena.

Another tough loss: On a night where they made four errors, allowed two homers, struck out 18 times and went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position, the Orioles lost 4-3 to the Astros. Houston can sweep the three-game series tomorrow.

The road trip that started with back-to-back homers and a 9-4 win Friday has now seen the Orioles score just 10 runs their past four games. They are now 2-3 on the trip.

The Orioles have struck out 37 times in this series and 58 times over the last four games. They fall to 26-18 and are now two games behind Boston in the American League East.

An entry with quotes from the clubhouse is still to come here tonight.