Offense comes up short as Orioles drop series finale

ANAHEIM, Calif. - It was a series where the Orioles didn't get much offense and the trend continued this afternoon against a pitcher making his second major league start. The Orioles lost 5-1 in front of 36,202 to the Los Angeles Angels to drop the series after winning Monday's series opener.

It's a disappointing end to a series that began with promise when Manny Machado's seventh-inning grand slam provided a 6-2 lead and win Monday night. But over the series' last two games, the Orioles scored three runs on 12 hits.

The Orioles fall to 56-58 overall and to 21-35 in road games. Now they head to Oakland for four games and Seattle for three to continue the West Coast trip.

The Orioles have scored three runs or less 52 times this year and are 12-40 in those games. They didn't have a single at-bat today with a runner in scoring position.

The Orioles did get a 1-0 lead on Welington Castillo's 12th homer, which came in the top of the third. He hit a 2-1 fastball from right-hander Troy Scribner just over the wall in right-center and the homer was confirmed after a replay review.

But the Angels got even in the last of the third off Kevin Gausman. Kaleb Cowart came up with a leadoff single and later scored on Andrelton Simmons' sac fly with the bases loaded. Mike Trout's bloop single to right loaded the bases ahead of the sac fly. The ball looked catchable in short right for second baseman Jonathan Schoop, who seemed to get a late start or either didn't see the ball well off the bat in the afternoon sun.

Los Angeles took a 2-1 lead in the fourth. C.J. Cron doubled to start the inning and scored on Cesar Puello's first major league hit, a single to center.

The top of the sixth could have gone better for the Orioles. It was an inning where they lost a player and had a runner cut down at the plate with two outs. Joey Rickard was hit on the helmet by a pitch to start the inning and left the game as Craig Gentry pinch ran. With two outs and Gentry running on the pitch, Schoop singled to center. Third base coach Bobby Dickerson sent Gentry as he tried to score from first, but he was out easily 8-6-2 at the plate.

Not only did the Orioles fail to tie the game there, but moments later they fell further behind. Cron's two-run homer off Gausman in the bottom of the sixth made it a 4-1 Angels lead. Cron blasted his seventh homer 436 feet to left with an exit velocity of 113 mph. The Angels added a run in the eighth when Zach Britton issued a bases-loaded walk to Kaleb Cowart.

The offense could not comeback today and the Orioles 10-game road trip is off to 1-2 start.

Scribner got the win, allowing two hits and one run over five-plus innings. He didn't walk a batter and fanned four, throwing 67 pitches.

Gausman allowed more runs today than in his previous four combined starts, when he gave up two over 27 2/3 innings. Today he went 5 1/3 innings allowing eight hits and four runs with two walks and six strikeouts. Gausman threw 106 pitches and is now 8-8 with a 5.21 ERA. He takes his first loss since June 21 versus Cleveland.

On Thursday night in Oakland to begin that series, lefty Wade Miley (5-9, 5.51 ERA) faces right-hander Chris Smith (0-1, 4.82 ERA).