Some notes on the losing streak and 3-12 O's slide

Left-hander Dallas Keuchel took the mound for Houston last night with a record of 7-0 and ERA of 1.84. He was facing an Orioles team had that lost 11 of 14 games and been shut out in two of their previous three games.

It was not a good matchup on paper. It turned out not to be one on the field either.

Keuchel pounded his two-seam fastball down in the zone and gave up four hits and one run over six innings as Houston beat the Orioles 5-2. The Orioles suffered their sixth straight loss. They have lost eight of 10 games and fallen to 3 1/2 games out of first place and in third in the American League East. They are now closer to last-place (three games up on Toronto) than first place.

While they have been losing six in a row, New York has won four of six, Boston has won six straight, Toronto has won five in a row and Tampa Bay is 7-4 the last 11 games. Every AL East team is gaining quickly on the fading Orioles.

What will it take to turn this around? Good question. If you have the answer, the Orioles would probably be thrilled to hear from you about now.

More notes on the latest loss and current slide:

* The O's have scored two runs on 14 hits in this series, going 3-for-16 with runners in scoring position.

* Over the last four games, the Orioles have scored zero, three, zero and two runs. They are 22-for-126 for a .175 team average, and 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position.

* The Orioles are 10-15 in road games, losing eight of their past nine away from Oriole Park.

* Houston has won five in a row, eight of nine and 11 of its last 13 games versus the Orioles.

* The Astros are a season-best 18 games over .500 with the major leagues' best record at 34-16. Houston is 26-4 when scoring four or more runs.

* Welington Castillo drove in a run last night but is 2-for-20 his past five games. Mark Trumbo is 1-for-14 his last four games. Chris Davis picked up his first triple since 2013 on Saturday, but is 3-for-32 his past eight games, with 17 strikeouts.

New shortstop heads to minors: It seems clear now that the Orioles claimed shortstop Luis Sardiñas off waivers Wednesday from San Diego with the hope they could keep him in the organization, just not currently on either their 25- or 40-man roster.

When they claimed the 24-year-old native of Venezuela, he was briefly on the Orioles' 40-man roster. But they got him through waivers and assigned him on Friday to Triple-A Norfolk. It seems they've added a plus fielder and switch-hitter who adds some middle-infield depth to the organization.

At a time when the Orioles are trading multiple international bonus slots, they added a player in Sardiñas who originally signed with Texas for $1.2 million in July 2009. At that time, the Rangers belived that Jurickson Profar and Sardiñas were among the best international amateur shortstops in years, and they signed both to seven-figure bonuses. Six times starting in 2009, Baseball America ranked Sardiñas among Texas' top 17 prospects, four times among their top 10. He was ranked among MLB.com's top 100 prospects in both 2013 and 2014.

In their most recent write-up on Sardiñas, after the 2014 season, here is the Baseball America scouting report:

"Injuries slowed Sardiñas his first three years, but injuries to other players in the organization helped push him up the ladder in 2014 for three separate big league stints. Sardiñas isn't short, but he plays the little man's game. He has good hand-eye coordination, goes with where the ball is pitched and generally stays within the strike zone. His bat-to-ball skills are advanced, but he hits the ball on the ground frequently and has bottom-of-the-scale power, so his bat lacks impact. A double-plus runner earlier in his career, Sardiñas now is a plus runner, though his stolen base total has dipped each season. He's a talented defensive shortstop with nimble feet, smooth actions, good instincts and an above-average arm."

Sardiñas has slashed .285/.329/.350 in the minors and .229/.278/.293 in the majors. He did hit .287 last year in 108 at-bats for San Diego, but was batting just .163 in 49 at-bats this year and was designated for assignment. The O's added him, but he is out of options. If they do call him to the majors, he can't go back to the minors without clearing waivers and accepting an outright assignment.