Mullins on the last homestand and Elias on the last few months of struggles

Coming off a losing road trip and a stretch with seven losses in the last 10 games, the Orioles return home tonight for the regular season’s final homestand trying to find some good vibes, some runs and some wins.

They begin play tonight at 84-66, three games out in the American League East and 2 1/2 ahead of the Royals for the top Wild Card spot and No. 4 playoff seed with 12 to play.

“Lot is at stake in terms of us trying to create some momentum going into the month of October,” center fielder Cedric Mullins said this afternoon. “Think a lot of guys are excited about this last homestand. Excited to get things going in the right direction.”

How is the team mood right now with the club 26-28 in the second half and 31-35 since July 1?

“I think it’s following suit with the wins and losses," said Mullins. "It’s like trying to create that continuous win streak. Yeah, there might be a little pressure added to that. But the off-day was big just to come back home, take a day, refresh and get back into it."

The Orioles scored just six runs in losing two of three in Detroit and just 21 runs the last 10 games, with a team average of .193 and OPS of .592 in that span.

“I think individually is where it starts in terms of getting guys back into a groove," said Mullins. "And then, once we kind of have those team at-bat moments, discussing what are we trying to do there. Not trying to change anything. Just think about what you did that led to success in the past and try to find that again."

It can be frustrating to watch an O’s offense that still remains ranked pretty highly, now fifth in the major leagues at 4.85 runs per game and fifth in team OPS at .751.

Some nights their approach is really strong and other nights it is not.

“Yeah, I think just in the general sense, hitting can be hard," Mullins said. "When everyone is not hitting right around the same time, it looks really hard. Just got to continue to keep that confidence and stay positive. I think staying positive is the biggest aspect. We are going through a tough stretch, but you have to stay positive to get the results."

But Mullins is one player swinging it pretty well right now. Over his past 12 games, he’s batting .325 with an OPS of 1.088.

“I think just really being on time with the fastball,” he said has been a key to his uptick at the plate. “Something I wasn’t having the entire first half. Just really struggling to find that. But I think that’s been the main key.”

During a pregame interview with reporters today, O’s executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias discussed the club’s losing record over the past several weeks and months.

“Within a span of a few months, it’s gotten away from us," said Elias. "We’re going through a trying time and this is the first time together I think this group is experiencing this. Obviously, there are circumstances outside of our control making it worse. And perhaps causing a good deal of it.

“But I do think this group – all of us individually within this group – are experiencing this kind of negativity as a winning team. This is a team that until a couple of months ago, was one of the best teams in baseball. This is hitting all of us together at once. When that happens, all of us individually reflect on it. What we could do better or could’ve done better or will do better going forward.

“Overall, this is still that same group and we’re going to figure this out. And we’re going to get out of it. I think it start tonight.”