A few final notes and quotes from the Toronto series

The Orioles' recent run of solid starting pitching came to a screeching halt Sunday in Toronto. After the Blue Jays put together a two-run rally against right-hander Alex Cobb with an infield hit and a bloop double in the second, they hit him hard later in the game.

Cobb tied his career high by allowing nine runs and 11 hits in the 13-3 loss. His record is 2-8 with a 7.23 ERA and the Orioles are now just 2-9 in his 11 starts. He also allowed nine runs on June 3, 2017 for Tampa Bay at Seattle.

"You know, it's tough because the (first) two runs he gave up, he gives up a ground ball that sinks through the infield and a swinging bunt and a popup, and the next thing you know, he's given up two," manager Buck Showalter said. "That took a little air out of our and his sails, I'm sure. After that, it obviously got away from him a little bit. The whole group has been pitching real well on this trip. We started out winning the two games on the road in New York and then we came here and then it's certainly gotten away from us."

Heading into Sunday's game, the O's rotation had put together five straight quality starts, pitching to an ERA of 2.27. They had nine quality starts in the last 10 games with an ERA of 3.34.

O's pitchers had allowed just 15 runs in the first five games of their road trip, but then they gave up 13 runs on 19 hits Sunday. Neither were season highs, despite those big numbers. The O's allowed 15 runs on May 8 against Kansas City and 20 hits in that same game.

The Orioles were swept in a four-game series for the first time since Sept. 19-22, 2016. They had not been swept in a four-game series in Toronto since June 26-28, 1978.

The series at Rogers Centre featured two extra-inning losses, another series with not much offense and then it was capped with Sunday's blowout.

The players are trying to hang in there amid losses and mounting and obviously justified criticism. Cobb said the clubhouse is holding up OK right now.

"The guys, we're all doing well for how difficult it's been on you," he said. "I know you look at teams and how they react in tough situations and I don't know what's better, if everyone's just miserable because you're losing or people are able to come to work every day and be a good teammate and try to get out of that funk each and every day and help each other to get out of that funk.

"And I really think this team is doing that. It's impressive to see some of the guys who are struggling to really take time out of their day and their pregame routine to help other guys deal what they're dealing with. So that's all you can ask for, to be a good teammate when things are going tough for you and this team has really gone above and beyond doing that."

Jones stays solid: His days of putting up All-Star numbers may be behind him, but Adam Jones has been solid for the Orioles again this year. At a time when the team isn't hitting much, Jones' bat has been respectable. He ranks fifth in OPS among American League center fielders at .754. He's batting .281/.301/.453. Again, not All-Star caliber, as his bat once was, but on this team this year, he is hitting like an All-Star.

Jones-Swinging-White-Sidebar.jpgAmong players with 100 or more at-bats on the Orioles, only Manny Machado and Danny Valencia have a higher OPS. It might be human nature with the team losing so much for any player to sometimes take his foot off the gas pedal. But Showalter said Sunday that Jones doesn't do that.

"Adam doesn't have that gene in him," Showalter said. "That's why you have so much respect for him. He is always on, he never has an off-day. You know what to expect from him. He's a lot like (Nick) Markakis. That group of players. They just brought a real cultural impact in the way that they play and post up. That is as much a part of leadership as what you say. It's more what you do. Adam has never given in. It's got nothing to do with contract year, this, that or whatever. He is always going to give you that same post-up effort.

"He made a couple of plays (Saturday) that would probably go unnoticed in analytics. He tagged up on a ball where maybe a lot of guys are tardy on or not going. He got a perfect break on the squeeze bunt play. Which, in today's game, I'd like to go around baseball and find out how many guys know when to break on the squeeze and when not to. It's just good baseball development."

Davis' homer drought: Orioles first baseman Chris Davis sat out two of the games in Toronto and went 1-for-8 with five strikeouts in the other two games. He has now gone 84 at-bats since his last homer on May 9. In 23 games since then, he has two RBIs. According to STATS, Inc. this is the longest homer drought by Davis as an Oriole and the second-longest of his career.

Davis' longest career homer droughts by at-bats:

119 - Oct. 1, 2009 to Sept. 17, 2010 with Texas
84 - May 9, 2018 through yesterday with the Orioles
77 - Sept. 14, 2011 to April 14, 2012 with the Orioles
67 - July 10, 2016 to Aug. 6, 2016 with the Orioles




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