A look at the inconsistent offense, Aberdeen's All-Stars and more

The Orioles offense has been inconsistent this season and on this road trip. That inconsistency continuted last night as they lost 3-2 at Oakland and are 2-2 on the trip.

In the two road wins the Orioles have hit .359 (28-for-78) with seven home runs, 17 runs and a mark of 5-for-12 with runners in scoring position. In the two losses they have hit .197 (13-for-66) with one home run, four runs and a mark of 3-for-12 with RISP.

According to a stat from MASN's "O's Xtra" postgame last night, the Orioles are now 12-33 when scoring three runs or fewer.

Dylan Bundy gave up two runs in six innings Sunday and won big. Kevin Gausman gave up two runs in six innings and took his ninth loss. Gausman is now winless over his last 24 road starts dating to August of 2014. That is pretty incredible. The O's have scored three runs or fewer in 14 of Gausman's 20 starts this season. His run support is often sadly lacking.

On the plus side, the Orioles' starting rotation came up with a fourth straight quality start last night and that ties a season-high. They also had four in a row from May 7-11. In the last four games, the starters' ERA is 3.38 as Yovani Gallardo, Chris Tillman, Bundy and Gausman have pitched solid games.

Once again the Orioles find themselves tied for first with the Toronto Blue Jays. They are 63-48 with a .568 win percentage to Toronto's 64-49 and .566 win percentage.

Aberdeen's All-Stars: Left-handed pitcher Alexander Wells and outfielder Cole Billingsley of the short season Single-A Aberdeen IronBirds have been named to play in the New-York Penn League All-Star Game. The game is set for Aug. 16 at Hudson Valley.

The 19-year-old Wells was signed by the Orioles for $300,000 last August out of Newcastle, Australia. In nine starts he is 3-5 with an ERA of 2.27. Over 43 2/3 innings, he has allowed 36 hits and just one is a homer. He has walked only four batters with 30 strikeouts and a .228 average against. Wells was literally knocked out of the game after facing just one batter on Sunday when he was hit in the leg with a line drive.

The 22-year-old Billingsley was the club's 19th-round draft pick this year out of South Alabama. In 34 games he is batting .279 with three doubles, a triple, three homers, 11 RBIs and an OPS of .739 for Aberdeen. He was hitting .330 in late July before his bat cooled off recently.

On the farm last night: Triple-A Norfolk (48-68) lost 6-5 at home versus Gwinnett. It was just the third loss in 10 games for the Tides, who are 3-15 against Gwinnett this season.

Starting pitcher Mike Wright went six innings, allowing eight hits, including two homers and six runs. Wright yielded a three-run homer to Rio Ruiz in the first inning and a two-out, two-run shot by Reid Brignac in the sixth frame. He falls to 3-2 with an ERA of 3.21. Tides starters had pitched to an ERA of 1.62 their previous 11 games. Outfielder Dariel Alvarez went 2-for-5. Alvarez has played in 286 games with Norfolk, the most by a Tides player since the franchise became an Orioles affiliate. Alvarez was tied with Brandon Snyder at 285 games going into last night's contest. Michael Almanzar had a two-run triple for the Tides.

Single-A Delmarva lost 7-5 at home to Lakewood in 10 innings. Shortstop Ryan Mountcastle hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game at 5-5 and force extra innings. It was Mountcastle's ninth homer and fourth in his past 11 games.

Shorebirds starter Cristian Alvarado did not get a decision. Over seven innings he allowed six hits and three runs (two earned) with no walks and five strikeouts. His ERA is 3.38. Christian Turnipseed gave up three runs over 1 1/3 innings to take the loss.

Aberdeen (21-28) won 6-3 at Connecticut. The IronBirds had 12 hits as Kirvin Moesquit, Ryan McKenna, Preston Palmeiro, Austin Hays and Jeff Kemp had two hits each.

Right-hander Matthias Dietz, the Orioles' second-round pick this year, made the start. He went 2 2/3 innings, allowing five hits and two runs and has an ERA of 3.52 in his first three pro games. James Teague (1-0) got the win in relief with 2 2/3 scoreless innings on one hit.

The Gulf Coast League Orioles (20-19) lost 4-0 to the GCL Twins Monday afternoon. The baby Birds were held to five hits, all singles. Glynn Davis went 2-for-4. Davis presumably was there on a rehab assignment from Double-A Bowie where he is batting .243 in 64 Baysox games. Shortstop Irving Ortega went 2-for-3 and is batting .283. He is 8-for-16 in August. Losing pitcher Willie Rios, the Orioles' 16th-round pick in June, gave up four hits and three runs over two innings.

Double-A Bowie (49-65) and Single-A Frederick (56-56) were off Monday.