Another look at the latest loss and some farm notes

The latest chapter during this miserable extended stretch of baseball by the Orioles where no lead is safe and there is seemingly no end to the poor play was written last night.

The Orioles led 6-0 after the third inning in Minnesota. By the end of the fifth, they trailed 7-6. They lost 9-6 to fall to 40-46.

The Orioles have been outscored 33-13 during an 0-5 road trip that has a chance to get to 0-7. They have lost 30 of the last 45 games. They are 18-36 since they had the best record in the majors at 22-10.

Orioles starting pitchers have thrown fewer than six innings in 23 of the last 27 games. On this road trip, O's starters have allowed 28 runs (26 earned) over 21 innings for an ERA of 11.14.

The O's rotation had an ERA of 4.26 at the end of April. That grew to 4.74 at the end of May, 5.57 at the end of June and 5.79 now. That ties for the worst mark of the 2017 season.

Manny Machado did have a good game last night, going 4-for-5 with two homers and four RBIs, hitting a solo shot and a three-run homer. He was batting .125 (5-for-40) his previous 10 games. He had just one homer and three RBIs his previous 11 games.

Last season, the Twins went 1-5 versus the Orioles. This year they are 5-0 and have outscored Baltimore 35-20 in those games.

The Orioles have lost four games this year when leading by at least five runs:

* April 28 at Yankees - led by eight, lost 14-11
* July 7 at Twins - led by 6, lost 9-6
* May 22 vs. Twins - led by 5, lost 14-7
* May 14 at Royals - led by 5, lost 9-8

Ben was good again: Ben Breazeale, a lefty-hitting catcher the Orioles drafted in the seventh round last month out of Wake Forest, is off to one hot start for short-season Single-A Aberdeen.

It is not often a batter enters a game hitting .486 and his average goes up. But in last night's loss to Tri-City, Breazeale went 3-for-3. Over 11 games, he is now batting .526 (20-for-38) with five doubles, two homers and five RBIs. He is 9-for-12 his past three games.

Breazeale was a four-year starter for Wake Forest. This season, he hit .333 with 11 homers and 51 RBIs, and hit a walk-off homer for Wake in a Super Regional win over Florida.

The high-flying Double-A Bowie Baysox pulled out another win last night. They beat Richmond 5-4 in 11 innings on Austin Hays' walk-off single. It scored Mike Yastrzemski, who doubled to left with two outs. Earlier, Yastrzemski hit a two-run homer, his fourth in nine games with the Baysox.

Bowie is a season-high five games above .500 and in first place for the first time since April 18. The Baysox are 16-5 in their last 21 games. They have won 11 straight home games. The club record is 15 straight at home from April 29-May 25, 2008.

Alex Murphy hit a two-run homer and Single-A Frederick banged out 15 hits in an 8-3 win over Myrtle Beach. Ademar Rifaela, a 22-year-old outfielder from Curacao, went 4-for-5 with two RBIs. Over 72 games, he is batting .304/.352/.529 with 16 doubles, 14 homers and 41 RBIs. Ryan Mountcastle became the first player in the Carolina League to get to 30 doubles in the win.