Chris Davis calls for a change in the offensive approach (plus other notes)

ANAHEIM, Calif. - For two nights in a row in Anaheim, the Orioles offense did little until the ninth inning. The Orioles lost 10-7 last night but scored five in the ninth to make the final more respectable. They entered the final inning behind 10-2.

In this series they've scored two runs on six hits in innings one through eight and seven runs on eight hits in the ninth Tuesday and Wednesday.

When Chris Davis was asked why it took so long to score, he had this answer:

"I don't know. I don't know. I think if I knew that answer it would be an easy fix. I think a lot of it has to go into, really, the approach. That is really all I can think of right now. Not trying to do too much with one swing or with one pitch. But just going up there, I felt like we kind of singled them to death in that last inning. That has to be our approach, day in and day out. We've relied on the home run in the past, way too often and we've done it for way too long. At some point there has to be an adjustment where we realize we are more than that kind of offense. I'm encouraged, but we've got to try to find a way to get them on the board earlier so some of these translate into wins."

The Orioles are now 8-22, they've lost eight in a row on the road and are 4-16 the last 20 games. Did anyone expect it to be this bad? How is the clubhouse handling and dealing with such a terrible record?

"Well I mean, it's not a good feeling," Davis said. "We know what we are capable of. We know the potential of the team and we are not playing up to that potential right now. But if you hang your head and start feeling sorry for yourself, you're just going to get buried even more. You have to find positives. You have to find some way to remind yourself that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and keep going after it."

Bundy's sudden struggles: O's right-hander Dylan Bundy has seen his ERA jump from 1.42, which was fourth in the league, to 3.76 his last two starts. Bundy gave up three homers and allowed seven runs over 4 1/3 in last night's loss. Bundy has allowed five homers and 15 runs in nine innings his past two starts. He blames a lack of pitch execution for allowing the longballs.

"Mainly yeah, execution of the first couple pitches in the at bat. If I'm 2-0, then I leave the third one out over the middle of the plate and high and then yeah, that's a pretty easy pitch to hit out of the ballpark. You've either got to work ahead or make better pitches behind in the count, and I'm not doing either right now," he said.

Praise for Akin: Showalter will often mention minor league players and/or key performances on the farm unsolicited during his pregame media sessions. It happened again yesterday in Anaheim, where he noted the strong pitching from Tuesday by Double-A Bowie lefty Keegan Akin. He gave up two runs over six innings and fanned a career-high 12 batters in his start at Erie.

Akin is 3-2 with a 3.33 ERA in five Baysox starts. Over his past three, he has worked 18 innings allowing nine hits and three runs with five walks to 24 strikeouts.

"Akin had a good outing," Showalter said. "I love when I look at his line and see how he uses all three pitches. He is never with just one pitch, even two. His percentages are what you really look for. He uses all three."

It was noted to Showalter that Akin's 12 strikeouts were the most by a Bowie pitcher since Radhames Liz fanned 14 on Aug. 14, 2007.

"That is not necessarily good," the skipper said.

Pujols closes in: After he homered and doubled in four at-bats last night, the Angels Albert Pujols now has 2,998 career hits. He is two away from becoming MLB's 32^nd member of the 3,000-hit club.

Showalter has been asked a couple of times about Pujols during this series by Los Angeles reporters. What does he think is special about Pujols the hitter?

"I think his ability to take his ego out of his at-bat," Showalter said. "To take what they are giving him. You see him shoot a ball the other way or up the middle to drive in a run. We talk a lot in advance meetings about playing him this way, but if someone is on second with two outs, you change the way you defend him. Or try to defend him. You can't defend that ball that lands in the bleachers. I think that's it.

"The great hitters that I've known throughout the years, they can take their ego out of the at-bat when that stake is out there with two outs on second base. He'll hit according to the situation."

When Pujols gets the milestone hit he will become one of four players ever to have 600 homers and 3,000 hits. He'll join Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.

There are four players that have 3,000 or more hits, 600 doubles and 450 homers. That group currently includes Aaron, Carl Yastrzemski, Adrian Beltre and Stan Musial.

Pujols hit homer No. 620 last night and that is seventh on the all-time list. Next up for him to try and catch is Ken Griffey Jr., whose is sixth with 630.

Final notes: The Orioles Jace Peterson had a pinch-hit three-run triple in the ninth inning. It was the first three-RBI pinch-hit for the Orioles since Harold Baines on April 16, 1994 at Texas.

The Orioles went 3-1 on their road series at Yankee Stadium from April 5-8. But they have lost every other road game this year, going 0-3 at Houston, Boston and Detroit and they are 0-2 so far in this series.

The Orioles allowed nine or more runs for the sixth time. That is tied for the most in the majors with the Chicago White Sox.

The Orioles had two triples last night, but no homers. They are now 1-11 when they fail to hit at least one home run.

Mike Trout's homer in the first off Dylan Bundy was hit 116.8 mph. It is the Angels' hardest hit home run since Statcast starting tracking in 2015.