Orioles look to bounce back tonight after gut-punch loss

It is hard to win a game with just two runs, but the Orioles seemed positioned well to do it last night. They took a 2-1 lead behind Kevin Gausman to the top of the eighth. They brought in Mychal Givens, who has been among the best relievers in the game this year. A 1.86 ERA for the season, no runs allowed his previous 12 games, an ERA of 0.60 since late May over 26 games. He's been pitching great. The Orioles had Givens for the eighth and Zach Britton for the ninth, but they never could get to their closer.

Givens allowed two singles, got an out with runners advancing to second and third and then issued a walk to load the bases. He then hung a 91 mph slider and Justin Upton hit a grand slam to left. A possible 2-1 win turned into a 5-2 game and eventual loss by that score to Detroit.

Givens threw a slider that, as catcher Caleb Joseph said, "backed up." It was meant to be thrown on or just off the outside corner and instead it hung over the inside half of the plate and Upton hit it 402 feet.

It turned into a gut-punch loss.

But the inning may have truly begun to unravel earlier. Facing No. 8 hitter James McCann and No. 9 hitter Jose Iglesias, Givens got ahead of both hitters 0-2 but allowed singles on the next pitch each time. Both pitches were just too hittable for being ahead 0-2. The first single, McCann's bloop to right, was just inches out of the diving glove of Joey Rickard. Givens could not put away the hitters at the bottom of the order and then had to deal with the middle of the lineup.

A walk to No. 2 hitter Jim Adduci loaded the bases and put Givens in a spot where he had no base open with Upton and Miguel Cabrera coming up. He could neither minimize the damage or keep the lead. And the Orioles have now lost two straight in this series, following a five-game win streak.

Some fans have questioned using Givens there, but how can you do that? He's been sensational since late May and is having a great year. It just didn't happen this time. The Orioles also could have scored more than two runs, but they didn't.

They are 3 ½ games back for the second wild card. And after two losses, no doubt those that feel the season is over will come rushing back to vent today in our comments section. As for the team, they have just one thing they can do to respond to such a tough loss.

Win today.

A few notes on the Orioles and Tigers:

* Shortstop Tim Beckham went 4-for-4 last night, his first four-hit game this year. Beckham is 7-for-8 in this series. Thursday night his first time up he struck out. He is 7-for-7 since.

He has four straight multi-hit games as an Oriole, going 11-for-16 (.688) with three doubles, a triple, two homers and four RBIs. Since joining the Orioles he is 2-for-3 with runners in scoring position. He is 8-for-10 versus right-handed pitchers.

He ended his time with Tampa Bay, batting .160 in July, going 8-for-50. He had eight hits in 16 games during the month with the Rays. He has 11 hits in four games for his new team.

* Third baseman Manny Machado went 22 games without a homer. He hit two of them on July 7 and didn't hit another until the third inning last night. But his average has been on the rise. It was .216 on June 30 and is now .250.

Since July 1, Machado is batting .331 with nine doubles, four homers and 18 RBIs. He is batting .329 since the All-Star Game.

* The Orioles have gone 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position in the Detroit series. In the four games before this series they went 17-for-33 with RISP.

* The Orioles are 1-3 against Detroit and 11-18 against the AL Central. The Tigers are 14-11 versus the AL East.

* Detroit has won four in a row which ties its season high, done two times previously. They are 6-1 over the last seven games. They have won four in a row over the Orioles. That is the Tigers' longest win streak over the O's since taking four in a row May 12, 2014 to July 17, 2015.

* Upton's grand slam was his second in six games and third this year. He has seven in his career. He is batting .385 (10-for-26) during a six-game hitting streak with three doubles, four homers and 14 RBIs.

* The Orioles were 43-4 when leading after the seventh inning until Friday's loss.

* Gausman allowed one run over seven innings last night. He has given up one run or less in six of his last eight starts. He is 3-0 with an ERA of 0.65 over his past four starts and is 5-0 with a 2.87 ERA over his last eight starts.