Hammel takes the loss as White Sox beat Orioles in series opener

On the day the Orioles added a pitcher, they needed more from their bats at Chicago. The Orioles were held to eight hits in a 5-2 loss to the White Sox in the opener of a six-game road trip. Winning pitcher John Danks gave up two runs on six hits over seven innings, throwing 93 pitches to improve to 2-5 with an ERA of 4.20 in eight starts. The Orioles' four-game winning streak came to an end and they came up short in their shot to go 12 games over the .500 mark for the first time all year, as they fall to 47-37. The O's took a 1-0 lead in the third on a Brian Roberts solo homer. Roberts' homer with one out was his first since April 13, 2011 at the New York Yankees. Adam Jones came up with an RBI single in the eighth, but the O's were down 5-1 by that time. Chicago tied it with a walk and two singles in the fourth and went ahead on Conor Gillaspie's solo homer in the sixth. An inning later, Chicago went ahead 5-1 on Adam Dunn's two-run homer. Jason Hammel took the loss, giving up nine hits and five runs over seven innings. He walked one, fanned seven, threw 110 pitches and is now 7-5 with an ERA of 5.19. Hammel has now allowed a homer in six straight starts, giving up a total of 10 in that stretch. He has given up 18 homers on the year. Hammel allowed nine homers in 118 innings last season and has allowed those 18 this season in 100 2/3 innings. The White Sox entered with a record of 32-47 and had lost five in a row, nine of 12 and 13 of 17 games coming into this series. The Orioles fall to 22-20 on the road, 16-12 in the first game of a series, 11-9 against the AL Central and 24-16 in their last 40 games. Scott Feldman, acquired today in a trade with the Chicago Cubs, makes his O's debut on Wednesday night in the second game of this series.