Jones on losing streak, Machado on pitching struggles, Flaherty on his injury

When asked this afternoon about the Orioles' four-game losing streak and recent inconsistent play, center fielder Adam Jones had a short and to-the-point answer.

"Still April. Doesn't concern us. Long way to go," he said.

The Orioles are just two games out of first place, but they've fallen into last at 7-9 and have been outscored 31-15 during the losing skid.

Now they have to overcome a mounting injury list. Already playing without three regulars in catcher Matt Wieters, shortstop J.J. Hardy and second baseman Jonathan Schoop, today the Orioles put Ryan Flaherty on the disabled list with a right groin strain and Rey Navarro was recalled from Triple-A.

"It is part of the game, you just have to make the adjustments. That is what you have the minor leagues for. No excuses, you just figure out a way to win. Every team will sustain injuries," Jones said.

Flaherty was injured running to second base on the last play of the game Wednesday night at Toronto. He said he feels confident he will return when his DL time is up.

"Yeah. I'm pretty confident in that...It's not bad and I don't think it will take much longer than five or six days."

He is the latest O's middle infielder to get hurt.

"Just frustrating," Flaherty said. "It is one of those things, a couple of guys are down. I take a lot of pride in trying to fill in for those guys, then all the sudden you are with them hurt. It is frustrating.

"I had never felt that before or pulled a muscle before in my life. Then Delmon (Young) hit that ball and I took off. On like the third step I felt something. Like a really bad cramp in there and that was it."

Manny Machado was asked about the Orioles' growing injury list.

"You know what, it (stinks)," he said. "But injuries are a part of the game that will always be there. We bust our (butts) every day and grind and give 110 percent and it is bound to happen.

"We have to deal with adversity and keep fighting. Whoever is going to come up and step up will do so, that is what we have in this clubhouse. Everybody backs up each other and we keep fighting together. This is a long grind. We have to stick together and that is what we do here."

Machado produced his third career two-homer game last night, hitting a solo shot and a three-run shot at Rogers Centre. His bat is heating up and he is 7-for-17 with two homers and five RBIs his past five games.

"Just squaring up the ball, playing baseball," Machado said. "With 700 ABs (over the season), you can't worry about 10 at-bats where you are not hitting the ball. But we came home with four straight losses which we don't want to do. We have to come back and be strong. New series."

Machado defended the O's pitching staff today. With a team ERA of 5.15, the O's rank last in the majors right now.

"It is going to pass," he said. "It's part of the game. I was 0-for-18 to start the year. They are going to go through struggles but our pitching staff is one of the best, I think. We have to forget about that, learn from it and keep working and get where we need to be."