Orioles road trip ends at 3-6 with loss in Cleveland

Well, that road trip could have gone better. The Indians scored twice in the fifth inning to break a 4-4 tie and beat the Orioles 6-4 at Progressive Field. The Orioles lost all three series on this trip and went 3-6 in the nine games at Boston, New York and Cleveland. The Orioles, who began the night three games out of the second American League wild-card spot, could fall four back later tonight. The Orioles have lost seven of the last 11 games, are 8-13 over the last 21 games and 73-65 with 24 games to play. Cleveland took a 4-0 lead in the first against Zach Britton. Making his first big league start since July 9, Britton went just 2 1/3 innings allowing six hits and four runs. It tied Freddy Garcia (June 23 at Toronto) for the shortest start by an Oriole this year. Britton had pitched to an ERA of 2.19 over his last four starts at Triple-A Norfolk. The O's dug out of that hole to tie game as Adam Jones hit a solo homer in the fourth, for his 29th homer and 99th RBI. Manny Machado hit a three-run shot to right center an inning later to tie the game. It was the 13th homer for Machado who is batting .324 (11-for-34) during an eight-game hitting streak. That momentum lasted just a few moments as Cleveland scored twice off Kevin Gausman in the fifth to regain the lead on a Yan Gomes RBI double and on a wild pitch that scored Carlos Santana from third. The Orioles went 1-for-8 batting with runners in scoring position tonight and 4-for-27 in the Cleveland series. In the six losses on this road trip, the O's hit just .167 (6-for-36) with RISP. As their playoff chances took another hit tonight, the Orioles now will try to regroup as they come home for an eight-game homestand against the White Sox and Yankees that begins Thursday night at Camden Yards.