The Orioles head to Oakland looking to jump-start their offense

ANAHEIM, Calif. - They say momentum in baseball is only as good as the next day's pitcher. When Manny Machado hit a seventh-inning grand slam on Monday night, the Orioles grabbed momentum and a win in Anaheim.

At that point they had gone 14-7 the previous 21 games to get back to .500. You had to like their chances to win the series against the Angels and get the long West Coast road trip off to a good start.

But then the unlikely duo of Parker Bridwell and Troy Scribner held the Orioles to two runs over 12 innings and the Angels won the last two days.

The Orioles incredibly inconsistent offense produced just three runs and 12 hits the last two days with a team batting average of .182 (12-for-66). They didn't have a single at-bat Wednesday afternoon with a runner in scoring position in a 5-1 loss where they were held to four hits.

"The offense was doing well, but sometimes you have to tip the cap, too," second baseman Jonathan Schoop said. "The pitcher was in the strike zone. He was throwing strikes and he made pitches when he needed to. He shut us down today and we'll forget about it and learn from it and try to go tomorrow and try to get some wins."

Manager Buck Showalter talked about the offense coming up short in Anaheim, where the Orioles scored nine runs in three games.

"Every team does when guys pitch well and I'll tip my cap to them. I have some personal thoughts about it. We got four hits today. We pitched well. We pitched well for the most part the whole series. We'd like to come out with more than one win," Showalter said.

On the call-in shows and message boards, first baseman Chris Davis is again the subject of an avalanche of criticism. He is 2-for-25 over his last seven games. He went 1-for-11 in this series and has one homer his past 17 games.

Mark Trumbo is in an 0-for-22 in a stretch dating to before he went on the disabled list. Trey Mancini is 3-for-23. That's a combined 5-for-70 (.071) from the middle of the order recently.

At 56-58, the Orioles are once again chasing the .500 mark as they head to Oakland to face the A's, who are 50-64 and have the AL's second-worst record.

The Orioles may be catching Oakland at the right time. They have lost four of six and A's starters have an ERA of 7.11 over the last 12 games. Also, the A's have made a MLB-high 95 errors. That is just two shy of their total of all of last year.

The Orioles could use a good series beginning tonight, one where they take three of four to get back to .500. They need to get the bats going again and turn a disappointing start to this road trip into something much better.

On the farm last night: Make no mistake about it - the Double-A Bowie Baysox can flat-out hit. They lead the Eastern League with a .289 team batting average and also scoring 5.2 runs pre game.

Last night Bowie routed Harrisburg 14-2. Outfielder Austin Hays hit a grand slam and drove in five runs. Hays is batting .395 (15-for-38) during a nine-game hitting streak. In 39 games with the Baysox he is batting .340/.372/.648 with 13 doubles, two triples, 11 homers and 38 RBIs. His OPS is 1.020.

Anthony Santander went 3-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs. Cedric Mullins (No. 11) and DJ Stewart (No. 16) also homered for Bowie. By the way, the veteran Garabez Rosa just keeps rolling along for Bowie. He leads the Eastern League in both batting average at .320 and with 79 RBIs. Bowie is 60-55 and leading its division by a 1/2-game.

Right-hander Hunter Harvey made the move from the Gulf Coast League up to short season Single-A Aberdeen last night. He got the start for the IronBirds and pitched two scoreless innings at Ripken Stadium. He walked three and fanned three over a 35-pitch outing. Harvey has now thrown seven scoreless in four minor league games between the GCL O's and Aberdeen.

Speaking of the IronBirds, they will be sending seven players to the New York-Penn League All Star Game in Troy, New York on Aug. 15. That is the most players selected by any team in the league.

Pitchers Brenan Hanifee, Zac Lowther and James Teague are All-Stars along with catcher/DH Ben Breazeale, infielders Kirvin Moesquit and Mason McCoy and outfielder Jaylen Ferguson.