O's fall 2-1 to Houston to post 113th loss (with postgame quotes)

The Orioles got a strong start from right-hander David Hess, but their inconsistent offense produced little to back him tonight as they lost 2-1 to Houston to start the final series of the 2018 season.

With the loss, the Orioles (46-113) tie the 1904 Washington Senators for the fifth-most losses in modern baseball history, dating to 1901. The Boston Braves are fourth with 115 in 1935. Baltimore has lost nine of 13 and 15 of its last 20 games. The Orioles have scored two runs or less in 10 of their past 20 games.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the last of the first. Jonathan Villar singled to left off right-hander Gerrit Cole with one out and advanced to second on a groundout up the middle. Villar scored on Adam Jones' two-out double to right on a 1-2 fastball at 97 mph. Jones poked it down the line for his 34th double and a lead for the Orioles, who have now been outscored 127-72 in the first inning in 2018.

Hess was rolling with a two-hit shutout on 56 pitches through five innings. Houston was 2-for-16 against Hess through five.

But Houston tied it with one swing in the sixth. With two outs, right fielder Josh Reddick's homer onto the flag court in right made it a 1-1 game. Reddick hit a 3-2 slider that found too much of the plate to snap an 0-for-9 skid with his 17th home run.

Hess walked his first two batters of the night in the seventh. But he held the 1-1 tie when he got Martin Maldonado to ground out on an 0-1 pitch.

Cole did not get a decision. Over six innings, he allowed five hits and one run, throwing 86 pitches. But he did reach the 200-inning mark, giving Houston three 200-inning pitchers out of five in the American League this year. Justin Verlander is at 208 innings, Dallas Keuchel at 201 2/3 innings and Cole at 200 1/3 innings.

Hess went seven innings in a no-decision for the Orioles and threw a strong final outing of the 2018 season. Over seven innings, he gave up three hits and one run with two walks and four strikeouts on 91 pitches. Hess was pitch efficient throughout, throwing nine pitches in the first inning, 32 through three and 72 through six.

Hess finished the year with an ERA of 4.88 in 103 1/3 innings, down from 5.14 at gametime. That is also down from 6.41 on Aug. 3 and is at its lowest point since June 19.

Houston pushed across a run in the eighth to break the 1-1 tie. Tanner Scott replaced Hess, walked two batters and allowed an infield hit with one out. Marwin Gonzalez hit a soft single to left for the 2-1 lead. The game ended on a diving catch in center by Jake Marisnick to rob Renato Núñez of a game-tying single in the ninth.

With the win, Houston (101-58) moves within a victory of a franchise record 102 wins set in 1998. The Astros are 19-5 in September and have won 12 of their last 13 versus the Orioles.

The clubs play a single-admission doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 4:05 p.m. at Oriole Park.

Postgame quotes:

Jones on the ovation he got during his first at-bat: "In the batter's box, you focus on the pitcher. I don't think about all that stuff. Get in the box, tunnel vision, got to hit. Me and pitcher. Slow everything down. I can hear everything and I appreciate it, but I was focused on the pitcher, Gerrit Cole. If I lose any focus on him, he gets you out."

Jones on Hess' strong outing: "Awesome. Seven innings against a team like that, one run. A team that is one of the most potent in all of baseball. For him to hold them down and they played a full lineup, too. He did his thing. But the main part of what he did was strike one. You get ahead of the hitter, you have that advantage, so I tip my cap to him tonight."

Jones not ready to say much about his O's career possibly winding down: "Well, I mean, it's Sept. 28. Not oblivious to the fact the season ends in September. Got 48 hours more (hours), three more games. We'll evaluate after that."

Hess on ending his season on a good note: "Yeah, I mean, it's been an up-and-down season in a lot of aspects, so I really wanted to go out there and kind of put a good taste in everybody's mouth going into the offseason and into next season. Kind of show what we are capable of. We had great defense as a team, Winnie (Austin Wynns) called a great game and I just threw the best pitches I could."

Scott on allowing the go-ahead run: "I just wasn't executing pitches. Hess did a great job today. Went seven and only gave up a run and I came in and wasn't able to execute a pitch."