As the offense struggles, Chris Davis is bearing the brunt of the criticism

Chris Davis' struggles have frustrated and angered Orioles fans, who are lashing out at the first baseman who signed a seven-year deal worth $161 million in January.

Right now, and for a while now, Davis is not giving the fanbase a reason to embrace him. He hit a 418-foot homer on Sunday at Chicago, but he is 0-for-9 since that blast.

Since the All-Star break, Davis is batting .118 with one homer and three RBIs in 22 games. In that span, he has struck out 32 times in 76 at-bats, has a slugging percentage of .171 and an OPS of .427.

When this road trip started on Friday, Davis had 22 homers and 60 RBIs. Manny Machado had 22 and 58. No one is saying Davis has had as good a year as Machado, it's not even close, but he was right there in some run production stats.

Whether it is the big money, all those strikeouts or whether, Davis is being made the poster boy for the team's offensive struggles recently, he is getting plenty of criticism. While much of it is justified, as usual, in this social media age, some is mean-spirited or just plain over the top.

But let's dismiss that faction for a moment - Davis and only Davis himself is going to be able to silence his reasonable critics, which includes most clear-thinking fans who do more than just angrily lash out and vent. While I see plenty of lashing out, I also know that represents a small percentage of fans. Some, probably most, generally want Davis to break out and help the team win, but they are frustrated by his continuing struggles.

I've seldom been a fan of sitting a player to try to end a slump. You can't get hits on the bench. But maybe Davis has reached the point where a day or two out of the lineup could help.

I have no doubts that Davis has plenty of want-to, is still drawing some walks and can still make plays to help on defense. He did just that on Friday. I also have no doubt we have seen Davis look this bad plenty of times and, then without warning, turn it on and start mashing homers. I have no doubt we are going to see that again this year, and probably sooner rather than later.

Maybe tonight will be the night. Or maybe a day or two of not starting will move him truly closer to turning this thing around.

On the farm last night: Triple-A Norfolk (49-68) beat Gwinnett 2-1 as Tyler Wilson improved to 2-0 with a 4.11 ERA. He pitched five innings allowing five hits and one run. Jason Stoffel recorded his 10th save and lowered his ERA to 0.74. Dariel Alvarez went 4-for-4 with four singles and is batting .291. Paul Janish went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Brandon Barker took the loss as New Hampshire beat Double-A Bowie (49-66) 6-2. Barker gave up eight hits and three runs (two earned) over six innings and is 5-6 with a 4.74 ERA. Tanner Scott walked four and allowed three runs in one inning. Henry Urrutia went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Chance Sisco went 1-for-2 with three walks and is batting .323.

Wilmington swept a doubleheader over Single-A Frederick (56-58) by 7-3 and 3-2 scores. Yermin Mercedes hit a three-run homer in Game 1 for his first Carolina League homer. In the nightcap, DJ Stewart went 2-for-4 and is batting .289 while Jomar Reyes went 2-for-3 and is batting .226.

Lakewood won 3-1 at Single-A Delmarva (59-55). Left-hander Brian Gonzalez of the Shorebirds lost his shutout in the seventh when he allowed a three-run homer to Wilson Garcia. He gave up three runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings to fall to 7-7 with an ERA of 2.59.

Staten Island beat short-season Single-A Aberdeen (21-29) 5-0 as three pitchers teamed on a four-hitter. Losing pitcher Travis Seabrooke gave up four hits and four runs over five innings.

The Gulf Coast League Orioles (20-19) were rained out in Florida.