O's latest loss had familiar look (plus last night on the farm)

Once again, the Orioles lost the first inning. Once again, their defense let them down. Once again, they lost.

It's May 5 and the Orioles have won road games in one venue all year and that was Yankee Stadium, their 2017 house of horrors. They went 3-1 there from April 5-8 and that was great. But that series is the season highlight. In Houston, Boston, Detroit, Anaheim and now Oakland, the Orioles are a combined 0-13. They've now lost 10 consecutive road games.

They allowed two unearned runs and lost by two runs. Jace Peterson, Manny Machado and Caleb Joseph made errors.

Andrew Cashner allowed four runs in the bottom of the first and the Orioles have been outscored 40-11 in the opening inning this year. Yes, that is terrible. They dug out of the early hole to tie the game at 4-4 with a three-run sixth. But by the last of the sixth, they were behind again. The O's need to win one game the next two days or they will have a second straight 0-6 road trip.

This is depressing, so let's check in on the minors.

On the farm: The Single-A Delmarva Shorebirds just keep winning. In a matchup of South Atlantic League first-place teams, Delmarva beat Augusta 3-1 at Perdue Stadium. The Shorebirds have won eight of nine to get to 20-8. They are the first team in the Sally League to 20 wins and they lead the Northern Division by two games.

Right-hander Brenan Hanifee produced the latest strong starting pitching performance for Delmarva. Over seven innings, he allowed six hits and one run and is 3-1 with a 2.45 ERA and five straight quality starts. Reed Hayes pitched the final two innings to get his third save.

Kirvin Moesquit went 3-for-3 with his second inside-the-park homer on the year. It happened as a result of two Augusta outfielders colliding while chasing his liner. Moesquit, who is batting .287, also stole his 12th base.

Triple-A Norfolk beat Louisville 5-4 winning in walk-off fashion for the second straight night. Ruben Tejada's sac fly won the game. It scored Drew Dosch after he led off the ninth with a double and advanced on a sac bunt. Dosch had two hits and is batting .316. Tejada drove in just one run in his first 17 games, but now has seven RBIs over his last four games. DJ Stewart added a two-run double for the Tides, now 14-11. Joey Rickard continued his hot hitting, going 2-2 with a double, two RBIs and two walks. Rickard has now reached base safely in all 19 games in which he's had a plate appearance this season. Norfolk has four walk-off wins.

Tides lefty Chris Lee came off the disabled list due to an oblique injury and made his season debut, getting the start. He allowed three runs and four hits over three innings. Then relievers Jason Gurka, Asher Wojciechowski and Josh Edgin combined to allow one run over six innings.

Doube-A Bowie got hammered at home 18-2 by Akron after losing 15-0 to the same team a night earlier. The Baysox are 13-13. Right-hander Michael Kelly allowed six runs in 2/3 of an inning as the RubberDucks scored eight times in the top of the first. Bowie has lost six in a row versus Akron.

On his rehab assignment, Orioles second baseman Jonathan Schoop went 0-for-2 with a strikeout.

Baysox outfielder Austin Hays doubled and hit a solo homer in four at-bats. He hit his team-leading fifth homer and is now batting .243.

Single-A Frederick lost 8-5 at Wilmington to fall to 10-18. The Keys allowed eight walks and made three errors in the loss. Outfielder Ryan McKenna went 2-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs and is batting .330. Over his past three games, McKenna is 5-for-10 with four runs and four RBIs and he's batting .346 versus right-handed pitchers. Jomar Reyes hit a solo homer. Starting pitcher Ofelky Peralta allowed five hits and four runs over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision.