O's offense: Inconsistent, but scoring more runs than last year

We all know the Orioles offense is struggling lately. The O's scored just two runs over the last 23 innings in Miami and have scored two runs or less in seven of their last 13 games. The Orioles are just 1-15 when they fail to score at least four runs. They have scored 10 runs total in their last seven losses.

That is not nearly good enough and must improve.

But while the Orioles are scoring just 3.3 runs per game in May, the same players for the most part scored a major league-best 5.6 per game in April.

Right now, the club's overall average of 4.44 runs per game through 41 games ranks tied for sixth-best in the American League and is ahead of the season scoring pace for the 2014 Orioles, who won 96 games.

Orioles runs per game:
2015: 4.44 (tied for sixth in league)
2014: 4.35 (sixth in league)
2013: 4.60 (tied for fourth in league)
2012: 4.40 (ninth in league)

The Orioles have scored a solid overall amount of runs, but they have certainly been inconsistent. They have scored five runs or more 20 times, going 14-6. They have scored two runs or less 14 times, going 0-14. They need to smooth that out some. Scoring eight runs a night followed by two is a nice average of five per game, but also probably leads to just a 1-1 record.

The Orioles are sixth in the AL in runs per game:
5.13 - Toronto
4.90 - Kansas City
4.58 - Minnesota
4.48 - Houston
4.47 - New York
4.44 - Orioles, Detroit, Texas

Surprisingly the Orioles are slightly ahead of average in scoring runs and a bit below league average in ERA. The AL average is 4.3 runs per game, the AL average for team ERA is 3.94 and the Orioles rank eighth right now at 4.00.

After 41 games last year, the Orioles were tied for first place at 22-19. This year they are 19-22 and in fourth place, three games out.

Chris Davis is getting a ton of criticism right now - and much of it is justified, of course. He is 4-for-39 (.103) his last 11 games with just one homer and an RBI. But others are scuffling, as well.

Adam Jones has just one homer his last 29 games, Alejandro De Aza is batting .172 over his past 20 games, Steve Pearce is hitting just .188 for the year and Travis Snider doesn't have an RBI in his last 18 games.

I don't know why the same players that hit so well in April have not hit in May. Maybe it is just the ups and downs of the season. Maybe the crazy travel schedule that included home games on the road finally caught up to the team. Maybe the opposing pitchers got better in May.

All of these are excuses, though, and the team should not be making any. I haven't heard them or manager Buck Showalter do any of that.

The Orioles offense has been outscored in runs per game by just five AL teams this year. That is not a bad stat. But the up-and-down nature of the offense and its inconsistency has frustrated players and fans alike.

Dosch does it: Single-A Frederick Keys third baseman Drew Dosch had one of the best RBI games in team history on Sunday. Dosch went 3-for-5 with a single, triple, homer and six RBIs as the Keys won 10-8 at Lynchburg. Dosch hit a big homer, too. His three-run shot in the top of the 10th broke a 7-7 tie.

Dosch is the 15th-ranked prospect in the O's organization according to Baseball America, and his six-RBI game was the most by a Frederick player since Chris Vinyard drove in seven on Aug. 6, 2008 in a 20-9 loss against Salem. The team record is eight by Jack Voigt on Aug. 3, 1989. Voigt later managed the Keys in 2002.

I recently wrote this profile on Dosch.

Two other Frederick hitters stayed hot in that game. First baseman Trey Mancini went 3-for-4 and scored four runs. Over his past eight games, Mancini is batting .531 (17-for-32) and he's batting .311 for the season.

Center fielder Josh Hart, who just came off the DL with a strained right shoulder, went 3-for-5. Hart is batting .295 during a 10-game hitting streak which dates to before he went on the DL in mid-April.

The Keys are 24-20 and hold the best record on the O's farm right now. They trail Wilmington by a 1/2 game for the Northern Division lead in the Carolina League.