HOUSTON - Orioles manager Buck Showalter wasn't pleased with the called third strike on Chris Davis that completed tonight's 2-1 loss to the Astros. He wasn't thrilled that another quality start went to waste. He wasn't bragging about an offense that's produced five runs in the last three games.
Not much to smile about during a four-game losing streak that drops your team below .500.
Miguel Gonzalez took a shutout into the seventh inning, but Astros left-hander Brett Oberholtzer took the win.
On wasting a good pitching performance
"Unfortunately, they had one, too. We didn't strike out much. I don't count the last one. That wasn't a strikeout. We just had a lot of weak contact. That's what pitchers like their guy pitch to. We knew coming in. You have to give them credit. I'm not going to take anything away from them. They've been pitching well for a while. Miggy matched him. He was outstanding. Darren (O'Day) gave us a chance there. We didn't mount much offensively."
On the offensive approach
"You can't be aggressive and passive at the same time. We've scored five runs the last three games. You tip your hat to the other pitcher, but we're capable of better. We talk about those things all the time, but once you get in that box, once the game starts, it's a different dynamic."
On whether Gonzalez was a hard-luck loser
"Very fair. He deserved a much better fate. Over the course of the season, he has those outings, he's going to win a lot of baseball games for us. It kind of sticks in everybody's craw because you know he deserved to win that ballgame, but you can say the same thing about their starter, too."
On what made Oberholtzer so good
"He pitches to weak contact, throws inside and pitches away, a breaking ball and a changeup. It's what guys do at this level. You know what they're going to do and they're still able to do it. It's a combination of him pitching well, and us, when you're overly aggressive, it falls right into his pattern. He really pitched well for them."
On Adam Jones attempting to bunt in the ninth
"It would be hindsight. He gets it down, Chris hits a two-run home run and you know we'd be talking about... I know what it looks like on paper, but you've got to trust what they feel and what they don't feel. We'll talk like we always do after the fact. Right now, it's not the time for me. He'll certainly have a good reason and I trust him."
On whether his players are frustrated
"That's a good way to put it. If you never had a track record or better, we know we're capable of better. I'm going to continue to give the other team credit, but we've beat some good pitchers, too. It's a combination of them playing well and us not doing what we're capable of doing."
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