O's offense slowed as the losing streak rolls on

The out-of-synch Orioles, as Trey Mancini called them recently, were that again for most of today. All of it, really.

When they score a bunch of runs lately, they seem to have given up a few as well. Recently, they've lost games scoring six, seven, nine, five and four runs. When they pitched well, they struggled to score and give their pitchers support.

It had all added up to eight straight losses, 12 in the last 13 games and 15 in the past 17 as their record had fallen to 17-31 entering this afternoon's series finale in Minnesota.

Then right-hander Jorge López again, got off to a good start this afternoon. Again, he got little run support. That finally collapsed around him when he gave up a three-run homer to Miguel Sanó to spoil his shutout bid in the last of the sixth. The O's backed him with one run and lost 3-2 at Minnesota.

López allowed four hits and three runs over six innings as he falls to 1-6 with a 5.80 ERA that is 4.24 in five starts this month.

These clubs began this series tied at the bottom of the American League at 17-29, but the O's got swept three in a row and have now lost nine in a row. Three straight three-game sweeps to Tampa Bay, Washington and Minnesota.

The Orioles (17-32) have now lost eight in a row on the road to fall to 11-14. They have lost 15 straight to Minnesota since beating them opening day in 2018, and they have lost 10 in a row at Target Field since July 9, 2017.

The Orioles took an early lead on Mancini's home run in the first inning. He hit No. 11 off right-hander Michael Pineda on an 0-2 hanging slider. He hit the ball 102 mph off the bat and drove it 404 feet out to left-center.

That was career homer No. 97 for Mancini and his fourth in the last eight games. His bat has been hot. Over his last seven games he went 10-for-27 (.370) with three doubles, three homers, five walks, eight runs and eight RBIs. He drove in his 25th run in May and his major league-leading 42nd to provide the Orioles the early lead. He added a double in the ninth for a 2-for-4 day.

But they got nothing else today for López and finally added their second run in the ninth, long after he had left. He had received one or no runs of support in seven of his first eight starts this season, including no runs of support in four of those starts. The last time López received more than one run of support was on April 16 against Texas, when he got five runs. His 2.08 run-support average (9 runs in 39.0 innings pitched) is the second-lowest among all big league pitchers (minimum six starts), trailing only Dylan Bundy of the Los Angeles Angels.

The Orioles went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position today and went 4-for-32 in this series.

They had a big chance to add to their 1-0 lead in the third today when Pineda walked the first two batters. But he got Freddy Galvis, Mancini and Anthony Santander in a row, batting 2-3-4, to strand that pair. Pineda has a wipeout slider and wiped out some of the O's with it today, fanning eight and allowing just the one run over six innings on 101 pitches.

They were held to five hits, getting three in the first and two in the ninth when Maikel Franco's RBI double pulled them within 3-2.

The Orioles are now 0-18 when scoring two runs or fewer.

The losing streak rolls on as the Orioles now head to Chicago. They are 0-6 on a 10-game trip and now play the first place White Sox in a four-game series over the weekend.