David Hess knocked out early as Texas wins big (postgame quotes)

ARLINGTON, Texas - The Orioles rotation had put together a run of five quality starts the previous six games. And then the O's arrived in Arlington, Texas. Right-hander Andrew Cashner gave up 10 runs last night, and right-hander David Hess allowed seven tonight as the Rangers beat the Orioles 11-3 at Globe Life Park.

Hess went 3 1/3 innings and gave up five hits and those seven runs (five earned) with one walk and four strikeouts. He falls to 2-6 with a 6.58 ERA. Tonight was Hess' first major league start since June 29. In Hess' first five O's starts, his ERA was 3.07, but over his past five his ERA is 11.14.

Cashner and Hess combined to pitch five innings in this series, allowing 12 hits including three homers, and 17 runs, of which 15 were earned.

Hess made two errors on one play in the first inning and when he threw a ball past first base, Rougned Odor scored for a 1-0 lead. Hess retired the side in the second and pitched a scoreless third but could get just one out in the Texas fourth.

He hit Adrián Beltré to start the inning before allowing back-to-back homers to Joey Gallo (No. 28) and Robinson Chirinos (No. 15). After a single, Tim Beckham's error and a walk loaded the bases, manager Buck Showalter called for lefty Donnie Hart. Odor greeted him with a grand slam to right and it was quickly an 8-0 Rangers lead. That was Odor's 12th homer and third career slam.

After the fourth inning last night the Orioles trailed 13-1, and it was 8-0 at that point tonight. They've been outscored 28-11 in the first two games of this four-game series.

The game featured the Orioles debut of right-handed reliever Evan Phillips, who was just called up today as Jhan Mariñez went on the disabled list. Phillips, showing a 95 mph fastball, fanned the first batter he faced. He retired six straight batters over two innings with three strikeouts on 25 pitches. Then Cody Carroll made his second O's appearance and threw a 1-2-3 seventh on just 10 pitches.

Phillips became the 25th Maryland-born player to get in at least one game for the Orioles. He was born in Salisbury, Md. That list includes two Johnsons, two Ripkens, Brady Anderson and many more.

Down 8-0, the Orioles scored twice in the fifth on RBI singles by Jonathan Villar and Beckham. Villar, who went 3-for-5, produced his first RBI for his new team. He's 5-for-10 in two games with the Orioles. Chris Davis added an RBI double in the sixth to make it 8-3. Rangers left fielder Willie Calhoun added a two-run double in the eighth off Mike Wright Jr. Calhoun came in on Shin-Soo Choo's single to make it 11-3 and cap the night's scoring.

But the Orioles, who have won just three road series all year, won't win this one. They fall to 33-77 and have lost 18 of 27 games. They are 1-12 in their past 13 road games and 13-42 away from Oriole Park this season.

Postgame quotes

Manager Buck Showalter said the new relievers threw well: "I thought both our acquisitions (Phillips and Carroll) presented themselves real well. Evan had a real tough day. He takes the bus to Gwinnett last night, and then gets up this morning to take a flight and that gets cancelled. Then he gets on another flight and gets here. Lucky he had three days off and gave us two innings. Just as advertised. Late-life fastball, threw a good changeup tonight. That was impressive, and of course, Carroll presented himself well. That was encouraging. Disappointed, Mike has been throwing well but his last two outings have gotten away from him a little bit."

How patient can Showalter be with Hess and that rotation spot?: "There's a way I can answer that. In the situation we're in, we're going to give some young people an opportunity to ... they show us the good, and they show us the not-so-good. Let them work through it. It's not always going to be a bed of roses for them. They've got to learn from their mistakes and give them a chance to not to repeat them and to learn from them. David's had a taste of the good and taste of the bad, and we'll see how he responds."

Hess on his tough fourth inning: "I think that, really, more than anything (it was) kind of the way that inning started. Beltré getting hit by the pitch. I think that kind of gave them a little bit of fire. Then I just left some balls over the middle of the plate, and they didn't miss them."

Are hitters adjusting to you in recent starts and you now need to adjust back?: "Absolutely. The term, I guess, is the book is out there a little bit. They're starting to make adjustments. More than anything, that just means the execution of everything has to be a little bit better. Kind of pay close attention to what they are doing and how they are approaching me. So, going forward, we're going to look at that a little bit and make adjustments. We'll find a way to make it work."

Catcher Caleb Joseph said all O's must step up now during what are auditions for future: "There is something to play for. There are a lot of younger players that are auditioning for next year, and even some of us older players. We're auditioning for next year. Each game really matters. Opportunities are really thin in the big leagues and it's really important for each and every guy to come out there and do their best. If I'm a pitcher, I'm scratching and clawing to get out there and throw up zeros. There are openings all over the place on this staff. You have to seize the moment and take advantage of the opportunities at hand. It's not going to be there over and over and over. They are looking for guys that can get outs now, and some of these guys need to take advantage of their opportunity and not let it pass them by. Same for some of us older guys. We're getting a chance to play more than usual and we need to take advantage of that."