Orioles offense still in low gear in 3-2 loss to Nats (updated)

There are only so many ways that a manager can manipulate a 25-man roster while trying to resuscitate his offense. Sub out a few names, raise or lower guys in the lineup, say a few prayers and maybe light a few candles, depending on the level of desperation and religious denomination.

Buck Showalter dropped Trey Mancini from the leadoff spot to sixth yesterday afternoon and completely out of the order last night, the slump white-knuckling his left fielder to the tune of a .113 average in the last 13 games. Jonathan Schoop became the sixth player to hit atop the order this season.

Chris Davis was the cleanup hitter for only the fourth time this season, the rise coming despite his .156 average and 13-game stretch with only four hits in 46 at-bats. If the decision caused heads to be scratched or slammed against walls, it didn't bring any comfort after nine innings.

Nothing is working for the Orioles, who lost again last night 3-2 to the Nationals before an announced crowd of 13,935 at Camden Yards.

Dylan Bundy surrendered solo home runs to Bryce Harper in the first inning and former Oriole Mark Reynolds in the fourth. Former Oriole Jeremy Hellickson allowed two runs over five innings. The past and present haunted the home team.

The Orioles fell to 17-38 overall with their fourth consecutive loss and 10th in 14 games. They're now 10-15 at home, while the Nationals improved the major league's top road record to 19-8 - with nine wins in a row tying the club mark since the franchise relocated from Montreal.

Manny Machado countered Harper's homer with one of his own in the bottom of the first, pending free agents cashing in tonight before hitting free agency. The Orioles have been outscored 64-28 in the first.

Hellickson coaxed the Orioles into double plays in the second and third and was done after Adam Jones' two-out double in the fifth scored Chance Sisco and reduced the lead to 3-2. Jace Peterson was an easy out at the plate, the 7-6-2 putout coming with Machado on deck.

With Davis on deck, the Nats probably would have walked Machado with first base open if Peterson held at third. A byproduct of the lineup change.

How did the latest shuffling turn out? Schoop went 0-for-4 with a strikeout and double play. Davis went 0-for-4, twice struck out looking and flied out to strand Jones in the eighth. And the Orioles have now scored eight runs in the last five games and 23 in the last 10. They've been held to three runs or fewer in 10 of the last 11.

Davis followed Machado's home by disputing a called third strike. He was 11-for-30 with three doubles, two home runs and nine RBIs lifetime against Hellickson - one of the reasons why he inherited the cleanup duties from Schoop.

Asked about giving the responsibility to a player who's struggling to such a degree, manager Buck Showalter replied, "He's not the only one."

This is an unfortunate truth.

"He's had good success against Hellickson, too, but we're trying to space out the left-handers," Showalter added. "They have three left-handers, one of which being (Sean) Doolittle, you're trying to attack their starting pitcher and their bullpen and if you line up all the left-handers in a row and all the right-handers in a row, it makes it pretty easy.

"We're hoping that Chris doing some things ... he's not the only one having struggles, too. So, it's kind of like, if not him, then who? So, where does it go? It's tough. But we have a lot of guys who haven't really swung the bat like they're going to or capable of.

"It's very convenient to pick on Chris and Chris would be the first to tell you that the criticism is part of it and certainly sometimes we're all deserving of it. But I think everybody you could make a case is having some struggles for the most part with some exceptions."

Bundy isn't part of the lineup, but the Nationals had 10 hits off him by the fifth inning on Harper's leadoff single and 11 by the sixth on 19-year-old phenom Juan Soto's third single of the night. The starters have allowed 10 or more hits in eight games this season.

Tonight's outing counts as a quality start for Bundy by definition: three runs over six innings, plus no walks and six strikeouts.

After throwing 121 pitches and striking out 14 White Sox batters in Thursday's complete-game victory, Bundy saw four of the first eight batters and six of 11 reach against him tonight. Harper drove a 91 mph fastball into the right field seats, just as Reynolds did to left field in the fourth. Reynolds and Soto opened the second with singles, Michael A. Taylor grounded into a double play and Wilmer Difo blooped an RBI single into right field to give Washington a 2-1 lead.

It grew to 3-1 in the fourth on Reynolds' sixth home run in 12 games with the Nationals. The Orioles expressed interest in him in spring training before signing Danny Valencia to a minor league deal.

Bundy needed a 3-6-1 double play to escape a jam in the third. He had thrown 66 pitches through the fourth, which included two more singles following the Reynolds home run. Harper was stranded in the fifth and Taylor in the sixth, with Bundy reaching 94 pitches.

Tanner Scott entered the game, his third appearance in four days, and retired the side in order in the seventh. Mychal Givens left the bases loaded in the eighth with a pop up and grounder. Brad Brach retired the side in order in the ninth and hasn't allowed an earned run in his last nine appearances.

With the Nationals careful not to expose Hellickson to a third trip through an order, he came out after five innings and 81 pitches while the Nats held a 3-2 lead. He's completed six innings only once in eight starts.

The baton was passed from reliever to reliever and the Orioles were done scoring after Jones' double. Mancini pinch-hit for Pedro Álvarez in the ninth and was grazed by a Doolittle pitch on an 0-2 count and Joey Rickard reached on an infield single, but pinch-hitters Craig Gentry and Andrew Susac struck out.

Nothing more came from the Nats after the Reynolds home run, but that's all they needed.

Note: Triple-A Norfolk outfielder DJ Stewart was placed on the seven-day disabled list, retroactive to Sunday, with a right hamstring injury.

Update: Danny Valencia was scratched from the lineup and left the ballpark before first pitch because his wife was preparing to give birth. He could go on paternity leave.

"We knew it was coming at some point, so wish him well," Showalter said. "I know kind of what's going on, but it's from a privacy standpoint. Things are going well for them and their family and I hope everything comes out well in the next few hours. So that's what happened.

"Originally, he thought that it might be a while and go later, but I told him at the time, 'Just let me know and go.' We knew it was going to happen at some point, probably during this homestand, which is great news for them and their family."

Here's more from Showalter:

On whether mixed reviews for Bundy: "You know, yes and no. In a lot of ways, I thought this was obviously not as good statistically as last time, but this is a good example of why Dylan is Dylan. You could tell he was not quite as crisp. How do you match the last outing? But to get us through six innings and only give up three runs, that was impressive. In a lot of ways, I was as proud of that effort as the other one when you've got everything working for you.

"He never really had a good feel for his changeup tonight, but he worked his way through it and kept us engaged in that game. That was, like I said, in a lot of ways as impressive as the other one. That's why you think so much of Dylan. He finds a way. That was good.

"Tanner was good again and Mike and Brad had three days off, so they needed an inning today. I thought Brad was real sharp."

On whether he was hindered by short bench at end: "There's a lot of things that go on that you don't broadcast from a competitive standpoint with the other team. I certainly didn't want to let them know that Danny wasn't available in the last inning. I don't tell them why. I'm sure there's the potential of a paternity leave now.

"I don't look at it that way. It just creates an opportunity for somebody. Those guys are capable of doing the job. You knew Joey was going to get a couple hits as soon as that happens and he came through for us. I don't know. That's kind of an excuse. We've got some good people capable of doing the job there."

On Bundy giving up home runs this season: "He's trying to go down and away first pitch and gets the ball in the middle. We know that Harper is always in swing mode. That's why he's such a good hitter. It's not even ambush. Everybody knows he's trying to move it forward.

"I kind of look at the body of work. In a lot of ways that's as impressive as his last outing. Obviously not statistically, but getting through six innings after the first couple of innings, that's how Dylan separates himself. I try to look at the end body of work. Three runs in six innings, it should be good enough to win a ballgame. But we're having a lot of challenges scoring runs now."

On third base coach Bobby Dickerson sending Peterson: "They're going to walk Manny. I know Bobby. He's as good as there is, he manages the game right along with it. He took a chance to make them throw him out there. Take the chance there. It's one of those things, nobody talks about it if he's safe. I know Bobby and I know his thinking there. You take a pop there, especially with as much trouble as we've had scoring runs."

On whether Harper motivates Machado: "There's a certain pride. These guys, they know each other and they spend time together. Manny has been doing it to everybody regardless of who's on the other team. I know what it looked like, very similar. Home run, home run, single, single. Frankly, it's like when Manny gets challenged with something, whether it's somebody throwing at him or doing something like that. You all have seen how he responds. I remember the at-bat off (Max) Scherzer a few years back. He likes to be in those moments as opposed to shirking away from them. Kind of cowering away. And that's why he's so good, he likes to be put on that stage.

"I don't think it's, 'OK, Harper's hit a home run and a single, so I've got to hit a home run and a single.' It's still about trying to drive in runs for his team."

On Hellickson: "He pitched pretty well for us early on (last season). He did exactly what we talked about he was going to do. He's going to go curveball, you're going to get cutter to the left-handed hitters, you're going to get changeup to the right-handed hitters. He's not going to throw the cutter much to the right-handed hitters. Pretty much did what ... he just did it well.

"He had three pitches. He had the cutter, changeup and really four with the curveball. He didn't throw a lot of four-seam fastball, but enough of them to keep you honest. A couple two-seamers here and there. But it was pretty much the repertoire. He's added a little different wrinkle for this year, I think he's feeling good physically right now, which he was when he got to us. I think he got a little tired toward the end when he was with us."