Orioles can't hold three-run lead in 8-4 loss (with quotes)

On the same night that executive vice president Dan Duquette told season-ticket holders at Camden Yards that the Orioles still could make a run at a playoff berth, two home runs by the Astros in the sixth inning delivered the loudest message.

Marwin Gonzalez's pinch-hit three-run shot off Darren O'Day completed a bizarre series of events in the inning and pointed the Astros toward an 8-4 victory over the Orioles before an announced crowd of 32,524 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles have lost two straight since their four-game sweep of the Rangers and are 46-51 overall. They've gone 4-5 since the break.

Every other team in the American League East lost or is losing.

Brad Brach allowed two runs in the ninth, one unearned, after Mychal Givens and Donnie Hart each tossed a scoreless inning.

Adam Jones and Jonathan Schoop hit two-run homers in the fifth inning and Chris Tillman appeared to be headed toward his second consecutive quality start as the Orioles took a 4-1 lead. But Josh Reddick doubled with one out in the sixth and Yuli Gurriel followed with a home run that initially was ruled a double before a crew chief review changed the call.

Tillman squatted behind the mound, his pitch count at 86, as manager Buck Showalter signaled for O'Day. The failure to record a shutdown inning was just the beginning.

Evan Gattis and Carlos Beltrán singled on O'Day's first two pitches, Alex Bregman struck out looking with the count full and Colin Moran stepped to the plate.

Moran, the nephew of former Orioles outfielder B.J. Surhoff, fouled a ball off his face as O'Day's pitch tailed inside. The rookie tried to stand up and had to be lowered to the ground before finally leaving the field on a cart while pressing a towel against his eye, which was bruised and cut on the lower lid. He also had a cut on his cheek and an abrasion near his nose.

The ball didn't bounce off the ground. It went directly from bat to face, which I've never seen happen in all the years that I've been on the beat.

Orioles head athletic trainer Richie Bancells came onto the field to offer assistance. Players expressed their concern by gathering close to Moran, whose brother Brian was in Orioles minor league camp this spring. Schoop and Rubén Tejada took a knee at second base.

Gonzalez homered on the ninth pitch from O'Day to give the Astros a 6-4 lead after he lost the grip on his bat earlier and sent it spiraling behind the Orioles' dugout, where it struck a little boy.

The kid was fine and received a loud ovation as he walked up the aisle with an ice pack. The Orioles, however, were a mess.

Gonzalez's ball was the 93rd to land on Eutaw Street and the fifth this season, all by the opposition.

Tillman allowed three runs and six hits in 5 1/3 innings, with no walks, five strikeouts and a hit batter. He's given up four runs in his last two starts over 11 1/3 innings.

The start of the game was delayed 58 minutes by rain and it remained scoreless until Bregman led off the fifth inning by homering on a 92 mph fastball. Tillman retired the next three batters, two via strikeouts.

It began to pour in the bottom of the fifth as Jones found the seats in left field with two outs to give the Orioles their second hit and a 2-1 lead. Manny Machado singled off Collin McHugh, making his 2017 debut, and Schoop homered for the third consecutive night.

Schoop leads the club with 21 home runs and 69 RBIs. He's driven in 15 runs in his last six games.

The Orioles had nothing left offensively after the fifth, failing to collect a hit after Schoop's home run. The game got weird in the sixth and it got away from a club that isn't yet willing, at least publicly, to concede the season. If only it could tear down the top of the sixth inning and rebuild.

O'Day on difficulty of sixth inning: "Yeah, it was tough. I hope he's OK. But I don't think that really affected me as a pitcher. It's easy to make an excuse. I came in a made a couple poor pitches, got guys on base and then I had to be perfect. It was a tough at-bat. He fouled off some really good pitches until he got a bad one. Did a hell of a job keeping it fair. I thought I had him set up for a pitch there and I didn't execute, so I just made a mistake. It's really unacceptable for a team that's kind of fighting for every win. I just didn't get the job done."

O'Day on Tillman: "Yeah, it's real exciting. We know how good Tilly is. Sometimes it just takes a while to get it all back, to feel like yourself on the mound. It's exciting to see him. He's got his stuff back. He's throwing the ball well. Even the ball Gurriel hit, it's a pretty good lineup out there. You can't make mistakes. Even sometimes when you don't make a mistake, they're going to hit a ball hard."

O'Day on whether it was hard to maintain focus on Gonzalez at-bat: "It was one of the more strange outings. I warmed up pretty quick just during the replay, went out there and the first two pitches I threw, all of a sudden I had guys on base. I got a good strikeout. I'm comfortable pitching with runners on.

"It's really why you've got to enjoy every game you play, even when you're struggling. You never know when something's going to happen. I've had good friends who've had accidents like that and never knew if they were going to play again or didn't get to play again, so I hope he's OK, but as a professional you've got to try and block that out. I'd forgotten he threw the bat, but you've got to be focused on the pitch. You lose focus and things can happen."

Showalter on Tillman: "Good, good. It's another good outing by Chris. The line may not look as well as he pitched tomorrow, but I was real encouraged with Chris' last two outings. That's encouraging. Pitched well. Just couldn't get that sixth inning. Brad had a little trouble there, obviously."

Showalter on whether O'Day was bothered by delay in sixth: "That's, you know, we always reason. He made a lot of good pitches that a good hitter who is hitting .300 ticked off, fouled off, what, three or four pitches, a quarter of an inch from a strikeout or what have you. But that's the difference. I've said many times, major league hitters, they foul off a lot of those pitches, where I can't tell you how many in the course of a week you can say that's strike three in Triple-A or Double-A.

"No, he made a lot of good pitches and the guy made him keep making them and he finally made a mistake and (Gonzalez) did something with it. He's having, a lot of their guys are having big years."

Showalter on O'Day's pitch on the home run: "It's a breaking ball. He's trying to get in, swing over it and got too much of the plate. Pretty sure. That's what Welington (Castillo) said."

Showalter on Schoop: "It's been fun to watch. Jon's a guy that's very unassuming. I could tell you three or four stories a day about him that would make you smile. He's a humble young man. Knows where he came from and his family. Some people go out and in any walk of life they have some good fortune come their way, a car or something. Everything Jon does is about his family. And I think everybody takes a little extra satisfaction when Jon is doing well because he deserves it. Well, you don't always deserve it, but he gives himself a chance. So, to see Jon continue to get better every year and learn from things that he knows he can get better at ...

"He's very approachable. You never have to worry if he's in a mood or something like that. Jon is very approachable and coachable and always looking for help and very respectful of anyone who is trying to help him."

Tillman on outing: "I felt pretty good about it. For the most part, I threw the ball pretty well. I was missing the breaking balls, but for the most part the other pitches were there for me when I needed them and I was able to make some good pitches with them."

Tillman on Gurriel home run: "I knew he hit it well. I threw the pitch I wanted to make and he put a good swing on it. They're a good team. I felt like I still had control of that ballgame. Reddick put a good swing on a ball and so did Gurriel, but it is what it is."

Tillman on reaction to coming out of game: "I feel like I still had control of that ballgame. I think that it's not what I think. It's what other people think. You've got to convince the hitters, too, and at the same time I really haven't earned it to tell you the truth. You've got to earn that, the right to keep the ball in that situation and I haven't."