Orioles denied series sweep with 7-3 loss (with quotes)

ATLANTA - The season record and placement in the standings allow the Orioles to remain patient with a rookie starter and keep running him out there every fifth day, enabling them to continue the evaluation process and monitor how he responds to adversity that could prove beneficial down the road. Learn about the pitcher and the person.

But is there a limit, no matter how many games already are lost?

The Orioles will place the topic on a scale and check how it balances out, weighing the pros and cons regarding David Hess, who has struggled in his last three outings after a promising launch to his major league career.

Hess fell behind early today and labored through four innings, and the Orioles were denied their first three-game series sweep of the year with a 7-3 loss to the Braves at steamy SunTrust Park.

The Orioles are 30 games below .500 again at 23-53 and are 12-30 on the road. They split six games on the trip and are heading home to play four against the Mariners and three against the Angels.

Dansby Swanson belted his first career pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning, a two-run shot off Brad Brach that pretty much sealed the outcome. The Orioles didn't have another big ninth inning rally in them.

Mark Trumbo batted for Hess in the fifth inning and delivered his second career pinch-hit home run, a two-run shot off Brandon McCarthy that traveled an estimated 402 feet to left-center field and reduced the lead to 5-3. The first pinch-hit homer came on Sept. 22, 2015. He's totaled five home runs in his last seven games and the slight swelling in his knee that kept him out of today's lineup didn't slow his trip around the bases.

The guy is so hot, he should come with a warning label.

Trey Mancini hit his second home run in four days and his first upon returning to the lineup, sending a full-count curveball from McCarthy in the third inning an estimated 418 feet into the second deck in left field to reduce the Braves' lead to 2-1. For you exit velocity junkies, Statcast recorded it at 107.1 mph.

Both home runs off McCarthy came on curveballs. The Orioles were supplying their own power.

The Orioles have been outscored 69-38 in the first inning this season and Hess contributed two more runs just three batters into his latest start. Ender Inciarte walked, Ozzie Albies singled and took second base after Mancini threw to third, and they scored on Freddie Freeman's single.

Hess allowed three runs in the first inning against the Rays in his major leagued debut before settling down and completing the sixth. The Orioles needed a similar recovery today, but he fell behind 3-1 in the third on Nick Markakis' RBI double after Albies singled and stole second as Freddie Freeman struck out.

Albies broke late and the Orioles weren't ready for it, with catcher Austin Wynns' throw going back to the mound.

Two more runs scored on Chris Culberson's two-out double to give Atlanta a 5-1 lead. Hess threw 37 pitches in the inning to raise his count to 79.

Hess stranded a runner in a 14-pitch fourth inning and Mike Wright Jr. replaced him. Hess allowed five runs and seven hits with two walks, four strikeouts and a wild pitch and his ERA is up to 5.44.

Slipped into Chris Tillman's spot in the rotation, Hess has allowed five runs in each of his last three starts over 12 innings. He's surrendered 17 hits and walked nine batters.

Hess is falling behind hitters or unable to put them away. He didn't give up a home run today, entering the game with nine in 37 1/3 innings, but the damage came in other forms.

Wright tossed three scoreless innings, lowering his ERA from 9.15 on May 12 to 5.36, but the Orioles couldn't complete their rally. Double plays ended threats in the sixth and seventh innings. Manny Machado grounded into a force after Adam Jones was hit by a pitch with two outs in the eighth.

Manager Buck Showalter on whether anything different about Hess: "You look at the strikes thrown in the outing, it's OK, but he's wild in the strike zone. You look at where he's trying to go. He's a pretty straight-fastball guy, which really makes him need to be real good with his command. What will get you in trouble here is wild in the strike zone, because everybody's got ...

"Some guys you can rock back and forth, but most guys have one side of the plate they're a lot better at. If you can take advantage of it, it opens up the breaking ball, too. A lot of pitches in a short period of time. But Michael was great. I mean, that really helped our bullpen. Brad just made one bad pitch."

Showalter on whether it's a young pitcher unable to put hitters away: "Yes and no. There are a lot of things ... Mistakes really get magnified at this level. He's shown what he's capable of doing and he's shown the other side of it, what happens up here when you don't command the baseball. It's not just throwing a strike, it's throwing a quality strike. But he'll bounce back. He's a tough kid."

Showalter on whether hitters are adjusting: "That's very convenient, but I bet they've watched a lot of tape from him from Triple-A. They knew what they were going to face. There's a difference between facing a guy in the box and seeing him on tape. Atlanta's never seen him before, so if you want to say some of the teams a second time, but it's all about commanding the fastball in the strike zone. As it is with all pitchers."

Showalter on Trumbo: "That's been Mark. That's the guy that we know he's capable of. Mark made the most of his situation today, but that's really all we did today. We had a couple of balls that left the park and not a whole lot else. It was a hot, sticky day and you knew starters were going to have trouble going very long. Trum's been solid."

Showalter on team's progress: "Just consistency. Trum's kind of in a good place. He's expecting something. He has a good approach and he's consistent with it. Adam's been that way most of the year and Manny's been that way, but you needed a lot more than that going to put together a sustained good offense."

Showalter on rotation trying to gain same consistency: "It's just not a robotic situation where you're just, O.K., two guys pitch well and everybody's going pitch well, and two guys are hitting, everybody's going to hit well. There's too much good pitching, too many good guys coming out of the 'pen. There's too many good hitters.

"It's the epitome of a team sport, but it's played by individuals that regardless of what happened yesterday doesn't mean is going to happen today."

Hess on what's different lately: "The results speak for themselves. They're definitely different, but I think just executing pitches, I think I haven't done it as well the past few starts. I think just getting back to what was successful those first few outings. I think we'll get back to work tomorrow and make a good move for the next outing."

Hess on whether pitching is getting harder: "Not necessarily harder, I think it's just the initial kind of awe of everything wears off and now you realize that you still have to work and you still have to do everything that you did to get you to this point. I think whenever you come up initially, you get that adrenaline rush. That sometimes can last for a while.

"I think just kind of getting back to what worked to begin with. Going forward, I think that's what we want to do and I think we'll be able to get there."

Mancini on whether feeling more like himself now: "I'm trying. I've been working on some things and kind of was set back slightly with the neck the last few days. The silver lining in that was I got a few days off and my knee has felt as good as it has since I slid into the wall. If you want to look at it in a positive way, I guess that's it. But it's a long process.

"You're not going to go out there every day and totally feel great, but you've got to kind of commit to your approach and believe that you can put some good at-bats together."

Mancini on team progress: "It's just unfortunate we couldn't get the win today. But especially this series down here kind of felt like us again, in a way, for the first time almost since that New York series in the beginning of the year in the Bronx. We kind of let go of records and everything like that and we just went out there and played. We just played as a team, put a lot of good at-bats together, and the pitchers did a great job this weekend too. It was a fun series and kind of felt like us again."