During another winless road trip, O's offense came up way short

The Orioles seem like a boat taking on water right now and every hole that gets plugged just seems to open another. Or two others. The rotation has been inconsistent, the bullpen worse than expected, the defense has been at times just terrible and other times very mediocre. Good has not been part of the equation many nights on defense.

But the Orioles offense has under-performed in a big way. For several years the Orioles have been around or just above a league-average run-scoring offense in the American League. But not anymore.

Here is a look at the Orioles scoring in relation to average in the AL in recent seasons:

2013: O's average 4.60 runs/game (American League average is 4.33)
2014: O's average 4.35 runs/game (AL average is 4.18)
2015: O's average 4.40 runs/game (AL average is 4.38)
2016: O's average 4.59 runs/game (AL average is 4.51)
2017: O's average 4.59 runs/game (AL average is 4.71)
2018: O's average 3.38 runs/game (AL average is 4.55)

In going 0-6 on a road trip to Anaheim and Oakland, the Orioles scored just 17 runs and just one in their past two games. The team batting average was .201 on a trip that produced just two home runs.

You can tip your cap when you lose to some of the league's top starters as the Orioles have this year. But on this road trip they faced in order - Nick Tropeano, Andrew Heaney, Jaime Barria, Daniel Mengden, Trevor Cahill and Andrew Triggs. While Barria is a top Angels prospect and Cahill is having a good year, some of the others are neither considered top-level pitchers and/or were pitching well when the Orioles got to town.

The six starting pitchers had this collective pitching line during the road trip: 36 1/3 innings, 19 hits, five runs/earned runs, seven walks and 35 strikeouts. That is an ERA of 1.24 for the group of six.

Tropeano had an ERA of 7.59 his two previous starts before holding the Orioles to one hit over 6 1/3 scoreless. Heaney was allowing a .305 average against before holding Baltimore to one run over six innings. Triggs was 1-1 with an 8.25 ERA his past three games before keeping the Orioles to two hits and one run over seven innings Sunday. Oh and the Orioles lost him on waivers to the A's in March of 2016. The six starters on this trip combined for five quality starts and allowed one run or less five times.

It got so bad at the end in Oakland that Kevin Gausman and Alex Cobb combined to allow just one earned run in 15 innings the last two days, yet the Orioles still lost both games.

The Orioles can tie the club record set in 1988 of 13 consecutive road losses in their next game away from the yard on May 17 at Boston. They've been swept three straight at Houston, Boston, Detroit, Anaheim and Oakland.

If you truly thought it would be this bad raise your hand - and I won't believe you. Not even the biggest doom and gloomer among the fanbase predicted the Orioles to go 38-124 this year. But a club that is currently 8-26 with a win percentage of .235 projects to finish with just that record.

The Orioles record for most losses is 107 by the 1988 club. The MLB record in the modern era (since 1900) is by the 1962 New York Mets who went 40-120. The AL record is by 2003 Detroit Tigers who went 43-119. The Orioles are on a record pace for losing. Yikes.

On the farm: Triple-A Norfolk completed a four-game sweep Sunday beating Louisville 2-1 as right-hander Tim Melville allowed one run and five hits over six innings on 93 pitches. He is 4-0 with a 2.86 ERA. Melville is a 28-year-old veteran from Alexandria, Va. and was signed by the Orioles Dec. 22 as a minor league free agent. He pitched in six games in the majors for three different teams in 2016-17, going 0-2 with a 11.05 ERA over 14 2/3 innings. Donnie Hart pitched two scoreless to record his third save. Joey Rickard's bat stayed hot. He hit a two-run homer in the sixth and is batting .329. The Tides are 16-11 and a season-high five games over .500

Akron beat Double-A Bowie 4-1 to complete a four-game sweep of the Baysox where they outscored Bowie 41-5. Bowie was swept four in a row at home for the first time since Erie did it Aug. 23-25, 2007. The Baysox, who are 2-8 their last 10 games, were held to four singles, but Austin Hays went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to seven games.

Single-A Frederick beat Wilmington 3-2 as Chris Clare doubled in a run in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie after the Keys tied it with two in the eighth. Ryan McKenna went 2-for-4 and is batting .348, which ranks second in the Carolina League. Lefty Alex Wells got a no-decision, allowing two runs and nine hits over six innings and has a 4.22 ERA. The Keys are 12-18 with four wins in their past five games.

August routed Single-A Delmarva 10-0 handing the 20-10 Shorebirds their worst loss of the year. The O's 2017 top pick, lefty DL Hall, went a career-best four innings and gave up three runs and three hits. Hall is 0-1 with a 3.07 ERA. Right-hander Michael Baumann (3-0, 1.80 ERA) gets the start tonight for Delmarva.