Notes on 100 losses, stolen bases and the farm on Sunday

With Sunday night's 5-3 loss to the New York Yankees, the Orioles were swept four straight and they fall to 37-94. The 2018 Orioles are closing in on becoming the third team in club history, which dates to 1954, to lose 100 or more.

The 1954 Orioles went 54-100 and the 1988 Orioles went 54-107. There have been nine Orioles teams since 1954 that lost 95 or more in a season, and this club is one loss from becoming the 10th.

The other nine teams are on this list:

107 losses - 1988
100 losses - 1954
98 losses - 2001 and 2009
97 losses - 1955
96 losses - 2010
95 losses - 1987, 1991, 2002

The Orioles did steal four bases in the game, doubling the previous season high of two in one game. Jace Peterson stole twice while Jonathan Villar and Craig Gentry had one steal each. The Orioles clearly have more team speed now, and they are willing to try to take advantage of it. Manager Buck Showalter said he was never against stealing bases, he just needed the players on the roster who could pull it off.

"If the matchups are there with the pitchers, not necessarily the catchers," Showalter said. "These are a lot of the same pitchers we'd like to have taken advantage of if we had the matchups, so to speak, between the skill of your players and the pitchers' times to the plate."

Peterson picked up the first two-stolen-base game of his career. He said the O's should probably look to do more running as the season winds down.

"For us, especially with (Mark) Trumbo out, we're not going to be able to pop home runs all the time, so anytime we can get a single or a walk and get guys that can get on second somehow (that will help). And stealing bases for us is big. We get a guy in scoring position and can get a run, so, you saw it tonight. Caleb (Joseph) did a good job getting me over there and Villar getting me in. If we focus on those little things, we can play good baseball down the stretch."

Farm notes: Lefty John Means recorded a quality start but Triple-A Norfolk lost 7-3 to Durham at Harbor Park on Sunday. The Tides (68-64) are in a wild race for the International League's wild card playoff berth. Columbus is the current leader by half a game over Toledo and by one game over both Norfolk and Scranton.

Means recorded his team-leading 10th quality start, allowing three runs in six innings. His ERA is 3.42. Means has 127 strikeouts between Double-A Bowie and Norfolk to rank third among O's farmhands behind Keegan Akin (138) and Zac Lowther (137).

Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski singled, walked and scored two runs to help pace Norfolk's offense, while Joey Rickard added a double and a run scored. Chance Sisco singled in the sixth inning, giving him hits in eight of his last nine games. Anthony Santander added a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring groundout for the Tides, who dropped to 5-12 against Durham this season - including just 2-8 at Harbor Park.

Bowie right-hander Dean Kremer pitched his second straight scoreless start of six innings as the Baysox beat Erie, 4-1. Kremer allowed just two hits and fanned eight. In his past two starts, he's thrown 12 innings without allowing a run, and has had three walks and 14 strikeouts. In seven starts since joining Bowie, Kremer is 4-2 with a 2.29 ERA.

Austin Hays and Corban Joseph homered for the Baysox, who have won 11 of their last 16. Hays hit a leadoff homer on the second pitch of the bottom of the first. It's the first leadoff home run for Bowie since Cedric Mullins hit one on Aug. 9, 2017.

Single-A Frederick beat Carolina 6-4 as Randolph Gassaway hit a three-run homer. Gassaway has homered in three straight games. Third baseman Jomar Reyes had two hits and is batting .262 for the Keys. Reyes hit .310 with an .862 OPS in July. In August, he's hitting .339 with a 1.001 OPS. Right-hander Cody Sedlock got the start and went four innings, allowing three hits and two runs.

Single-A Delmarva scored three runs in the top of the ninth to come back and stun Greensboro on the road, 6-4. The Shorebirds (65-61) completed a four-game sweep. Cadyn Grenier led off the ninth with a solo homer to tie it 4-4. It was his first professional home run. Later, Kirvin Moesquit's single put Delmarva ahead. He then stole second and scored the Shorebirds' sixth run on an error.

Shortstop Adam Hall went 1-for-3 to extend his long hitting streak as short-season Single-A Aberdeen lost 4-2 at Tri-City. Right-hander Jimmy Murphy threw an eight-inning complete game but took the loss to fall to 3-6 with a 3.61 ERA.

With a seventh-inning single, Hall extended his IronBirds hitting streak to 17 games, during which he is hitting .417 (25-for-60). During the streak, Hall has four doubles, one triple, one homer, 12 RBIs, 14 runs and 14 stolen bases.

Hall's 20 stolen bases for the year ties him with Anderson Feliz for third most among O's minor leaguers. Moesquit leads all farmhands with 45, and Mullins ranks second with 21.