A look at the recent struggles of the offense

Last night seemed like a good time for the Orioles to break out of a developing batting slump. Try to nip it in the bud before it could develop any further.

They just could not do it.

They lost 2-1 to the Yankees and figured to have trouble in the late innings with Dellin Betances, Andrew Miller and then Aroldis Chapman, who was throwing 105 mph in the ninth inning.

I digress here, but in the midst of throwing pitches at 104 and 105 mph to J.J. Hardy last night, Chapman, for some reason, threw a 91 mph slider. He got away with it as Hardy flied out to left.

But the Orioles could not hit right-hander Ivan Nova either. He gave up just four hits and one run over six innings. Nova began the night with an ERA of 6.57 his last seven starts and with a 5.22 career ERA against the Orioles. But they could not get to him last night. Chance to break the slump lost. The clutch hits are not coming for the Orioles right now.

The O's recent struggles with runners in scoring position:
* They are 0-for-14 the past three games.
* They are 1-for-21 in the four games of this road trip.
* They are 7-for-69 (.101) the last nine games.

Over the last six games, the much-maligned O's pitchers have allowed two runs or less four times. But their offense has produced just 16 runs in that span. They won the first four games of this stretch, but have lost the last two. Their team ERA is 2.42 over the last six games.

In the four games of this road trip, the Orioles are batting just .206 and have scored nine runs. They've scored five total runs the last three games.

This, too, shall pass and the runs should be more plentiful - and probably very soon. This is the same team that hit .300 with an OPS of .888 in June. The Orioles averaged an impressive 6.6 runs per game during June.

But right now, Adam Jones is 2-for-16, Chris Davis is 6-for-38, Matt Wieters is 1-for-23 and Manny Machado is 2-for-19.

For the Orioles offense, is this is a bump in the road or part of a larger issue?