O's game blog: The offense hits a bump in the road

The Orioles thought they scored enough runs to win last night when they took a 4-2 lead over Oakland to the last of the seventh. After all they were 40-12 this year when scoring four runs or more. But this time they needed more as they lost the series and road trip opener 5-4 to fall to 52-43. With New York and Toronto both winning today, the O's need a win tonight to maintain a four-game lead in the American League East. The Orioles offense, which is prone to some ups and downs, is in a bit of a down cycle. The Orioles have now gone six straight games with seven hits or fewer. In that stretch they are batting .205 with 16 runs. A few players have seen their bats cool off in recent games. Nelson Cruz is 2-for-20 while Adam Jones is 4-for-27 in his past seven games with one RBI in his last 10 games. Chris Davis is batting just .117 (7-for-60) over his last 17 games. Nick Markakis is 3-for-20, Steve Pearce is 4-for-24 and Jonathan Schoop is 6-for-33 although he did hit a two-run homer last night. Cruz is one RBI away from collecting his sixth consecutive season of 20+ home runs and 75+ RBIs. Markakis is one double shy from collecting 20+ two-baggers in nine consecutive seasons. He would be the sixth player in franchise history to have nine or more 20+ double seasons, joining Cal Ripken, Jr. (17), Brooks Robinson (14), Eddie Murray (12), and Brady Anderson and Paul Blair (nine each). Manny Machado hit a two-run homer as well last night. In nine games since his suspension ended, he is 17-for-35 with three doubles, three homers and five RBIs. On the mound tonight in Oakland, Wei-Yin Chen (9-3, 4.15 ERA) faces Jason Hammel (0-1, 3.60 ERA). Chen would love a repeat of his only previous start in Oakland. He pitched eight scoreless innings of two-hit ball on April 26, 2013 in a 3-0 win over the A's. Chen is 3-0 with an ERA of 1.00 in four career starts versus Oakland with eight walks and 25 strikeouts over 27 innings. Hammel was traded to Oakland by the Cubs on July 5. He went 6-3 with a 2.53 ERA and .191 average against in his first 12 starts of 2014. In his past six starts (one with Oakland), Hammel is 2-3 with a 4.08 ERA and .293 average against. He is 0-4 with a 6.68 ERA in eight games and six career starts against the Orioles, but he has not pitched against them since 2008. Oakland has won seven straight at home and is 60-36 for the year with 18 wins in its last 26 games. The Orioles are 6-18 in Oakland since the 2008 season.