As Orioles offense struggles yet again, will Dariel Alvarez get a chance?

Well, the Orioles had been hitting well against the Yankees. Had being the key word there.

Coming into this series, they had scored 54 runs in 10 games against New York pitching, which had an ERA of 5.23 against O's hitters. The Orioles had scored 31 runs in their previous five games against New York.

But then came this big series in New York, and the O's offense has scuffled. Yet again. The Orioles have five runs and 11 hits in two games, going 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. Ryan Flaherty had their only homer in the series until the ninth inning last night when Chris Davis connected off Andrew Miller.

On Twitter last night, I wondered if the time has come to see if Dariel Alvarez can be an upgrade at one of the corner outfield spots.

But Alvarez is not hitting as well in recent games as he was in June, and maybe that is working against him right now. Manager Buck Showalter has said the Orioles need to look within first for answers, and clearly they need some answers with their corner outfield offense.

For the season, Alvarez is batting .274 in 95 games with 18 doubles, 13 homers and 50 RBIs. He is slugging .430 with an OPS of .726. By no means is he tearing up the International League, although he hit .340 with six homers and an OPS of .955 in June. But in July, Alvarez has just one homer and is hitting .276 with an OPS of .650. He is just 4-for-27 since the All-Star break.

Alvarez has walked just seven times all year, and that .296 OBP makes some fans shudder. But he has also struck out just 45 times and is said to have a good two-strike approach. He is a decent defender with a plus arm that Adam Jones said is stronger than his own. He is the Orioles' No. 5 prospect according to Baseball America and won the Home Run Derby competition at the Triple-A All-Star Game.

Maybe the O's missed the chance to call up Alvarez when his bat was hotter and need him to heat up again. Maybe they will move via a trade and/or cut loose some outfielders with the trade deadline approaching, and his time will come.

No one should look at Alvarez as a sure thing at all or any can't-miss prospect. But others have been called up from Triple-A and at least given a shot.

Meanwhile, the search for offense continues right now for a club that has somehow managed to score more than five runs per game on average for two entire months earlier.

This year, when the Orioles score four runs or more - just four runs - they are 40-12. When they score three or less, they are a miserable 6-35. Wow, that is not good.

It has gotten bad enough that some of us are now looking to Triple-A at a hitter with promise, but one that is no longer red hot at the plate.