O's fall in Chicago as road losing streak reaches 11 games

CHICAGO - Another night when a starter struggled, but at least it took longer this time. One pitch was pivotal, and so were several missed chances on offense.

The Orioles took a sixth straight loss tonight, falling to the Chicago White Sox by a 6-1 score as they fall under .500, at 31-32. They have a losing record for the first time since they were 80-81 on Oct. 3, 2015.

The Orioles have now lost 11 consecutive road games. That ties for the second-longest streak in team history. The 1954 Orioles - that was the club's first season in Baltimore - lost 11 in a row. The 1988 Orioles had a team-record 13 straight road losses.

Chicago came to bat in the sixth leading 2-1. A single, a hit-by-pitch and a walk loaded the bases. After so many recent short starts, manager Buck Showalter stuck with right-hander Alec Asher, but it didn't work. White Sox third baseman Matt Davison launched a 3-2 cutter over the left field wall. His first career grand slam and the first by Chicago on the season made it 6-1. He blasted the ball 435 feet to provide a five-run lead.

Asher falls to 2-5 with a 5.05 ERA. He went five innings plus, allowing six hits and six runs on 95 pitches. He took a no-hitter into the fourth, but three hits then gave Chicago a 2-1 lead. Avisaíl García's two-run double put the White Sox ahead.

Over the last four games, the quartet of Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Wade Miley and Asher have combined to allow 28 runs over 12 innings. The ERA of the O's starters over the last seven games is 14.60.

The Orioles took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Joey Rickard led off with a double to left off left-hander Derek Holland, advanced to third on an Adam Jones' sac bunt and scored on Manny Machado's RBI single.

The middle innings, though, were marked by missed chances. A two-out rally in the fourth ended when Caleb Joseph struck out on the eighth pitch of an at-bat.

The O's fifth began with promise. Rickard singled and advanced to second on an error. He moved to third with no outs on Jones' single. That rally died quickly. Machado popped out and Mark Trumbo bounced into a double play.

Trey Mancini smoked a ball 107 mph to right for a leadoff double in the sixth. But he stayed there. With one out, Welington Castillo drove a ball to the wall in left, but Melky Cabrera made a leaping catch. Then J.J. Hardy lined to right. Through the sixth tonight, the Orioles had left seven runners on base and were 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. They didn't advance a runner into scoring position over the final three innings.

The Orioles have scored just 17 runs the past six games. They have scored three runs or fewer 31 times now, going 8-23 in those games.

They will try again tomorrow night to end a losing streak and get back to .500 when Dylan Bundy (6-5, 3.05 ERA) pitches against Miguel González (4-7, 4.89 ERA).