Mark Trumbo on ups and downs on offense, his first month as an Oriole

The Orioles offense has seen some ups and also some downs in recent games. Here is a look:

* After an 8-3 win on April 23 in Kansas City, the Orioles scored just five runs in the last four games of a road trip to K.C. and Tampa Bay, going 1-3. Three of those runs came via a Joey Rickard homer.

* Then the Orioles returned home and scored 23 runs in three games against the team with at that time the best team ERA in the majors, the Chicago White Sox. They went 2-1

* Since then, they have scored six runs in four games, going 2-2 against Chicago and the Yankees. They are batting just . 211 in this most recent four-game run and are batting just 2-for-27 (.074) with runners in scoring position in this span.

Why all the ups and downs?

"Good pitching, for sure, 100 percent," O's outfielder Mark Trumbo said this afternoon. "(CC) Sabathia threw an excellent game and (Masahiro) Tanaka was very sharp yesterday. I've always believed that good pitching is going to shut down good hitting.

"It's just the grind of the season. That is what makes it so much fun. There are going to be times you are going to have to scrap and do everything you can to get even one or two runs. Sometimes we will be the team that will score eight to 10 runs with a bunch of homers. The last couple of days haven't been as good, but we are looking forward to getting back to the team we think we can be."

If last night's win felt like a big win to the fans, it also did to the players, it seems. The Orioles ended a 21-inning scoreless stretch with the walk-off sac fly by Pedro Alvarez to beat the Yankees 1-0 in 10 innings to improve to 16-11.

"I think especially with the performance by Kevin (Gausman)," Trumbo said. "When somebody throws the ball that well, you do not want to lose those games. That can be a real gut punch. That was an ideal pitchers' duel yesterday. If people are into that, what a game to come to and see two guys at the top of their craft.

"But that was a huge win. It won the series, but it gave us that confidence that, if you get into these tight ballgames late, even against premium All-Star caliber pitching, we were able to get a win."

While the O's have fallen to seventh in the American League in runs scored with 114, they continue to rank second in the AL in batting (.264), OBP (.326), slugging (.440) and OPS (.766.). The O's 36 homers ranks third in the league.

Even after that slow stretch with RISP, they still rank second in the AL with a team average of .292 when batting with runners in scoring position.

Trumbo continued his strong start in the Yankees series, hitting two homers in Tuesday's win. He is batting .324 with eight homers, 22 RBIs and an OPS of .953. He is seventh in the AL in batting, fourth in homers and tied for fourth in RBIs.

His first month or so as an Oriole? It's been great.

"This is as much fun as I've had playing. Just feeling comfortable here and I'm playing on a winning ballclub. We have a chance for a really nice season," Trumbo said.