Same old problems and more on the new shortstop

KANSAS CITY - As manager Buck Showalter stated last night after another loss, you can't draw one circle around a specific reason why the Orioles have dropped six consecutive games, why their season is slipping away from them.

It's the rotation, it's the offense's failure to score more than two or three runs, it's the inability to catch a break. It's a lot of things.

The Orioles are eight games behind the Blue Jays for first place in the American League East, but still 2 1/2 behind for the second wild card. The playoffs are within reach, but they're going to have T-Rex arms if they don't start winning again.

The Royals are starting a right-hander tonight, former Reds ace Johnny Cueto, which means Ryan Flaherty is expected back at shortstop for the Orioles.

Paul Janish made his debut last night against left-hander Danny Duffy and singled in his first plate appearance - his first hit since Sept. 4, 2013 with the Braves. He joked with reporters earlier in the day about batting ninth, as if the spot was too low for him.

Of course, Janish knows why he's here. It's not for his bat.

Janish made a diving stop up the middle in the first inning and flipped to Jonathan Schoop for the force, a typical play while he toiled at Triple-A Norfolk. It's precisely what the Orioles expected when they signed him to a minor league contract in November.

They wanted to improve their defense at the upper levels of the farm system, reasoning that their young pitchers would benefit from it. Janish was an important piece despite the collective yawn from the industry after news broke of his signing.

Janish was slow-played in spring training after having bone chips removed from his right elbow in February. He worked on the back fields with third base coach Bobby Dickerson, who doubles as infield instructor, and former Orioles shortstop and current MASN analyst Mike Bordick.

"He came into camp and he was just coming off surgery, so he was gnawing at the bit," Bordick recalled. "I got to work with him with some early work with Bobby Dickerson. Great hands. He gets himself in a real good position. He's a lot like J.J. (Hardy) in the sense that he makes subtle moves with his feet to get himself in the proper fielding position and it doesn't look like he ever gets a bad hop. One of those kinds of guys.

"He's been impressive. And hearing some of the reports from Ron Johnson, it was one of the best defensive years he's seen from a shortstop at Norfolk in recent years. I don't think he's going to hurt us defensively."

The same is true of Flaherty, though he's not in Janish's class at shortstop.

"I think he's been great. I really do," Bordick said. "I think Ryan adds stability. When you look for a utility type player that gives you that versatility ... And I don't think Buck (Showalter) has any apprehension about playing him at shortstop. I think maybe over an extended period of time, and I think that's why Janish might be here, but I think Buck's very comfortable with putting Flaherty out there at short.

"I know the first year he wasn't. He was just worried about his arm in the hole, but Ryan took that to heart and made his arm stronger. He started making some adjustments with his throwing and he's been much more consistent over there."

Having Janish on the roster allows Showalter to keep Manny Machado at third base if pinch-hitting for Flaherty. Machado is a natural shortstop, but he's played the position only once in the majors and had a costly fielding error on Sunday.

Machado won't be judged as a shortstop on one miscue, and Bordick doesn't think the move presents a serious challenge.

"I don't think it's hard for him at all, to be honest with you," Bordick said. "I think it's pretty easy to assume that, but they shift so much that he plays shortstop all the time. And I just think it was one of those situations where all of a sudden, now he's the shortstop and there's a third baseman to his right and I think he just lost his fundamentals when he was over there on that play because it was a pretty routine play for him.

"He knows he doesn't have to run through that type of ball. He can set up and use his arm. But I just think maybe he wanted to show everybody he could be relaxed and play short and he was just a little too relaxed on that play."

A quality start from Wei-Yin Chen tonight might relax the Orioles, though it may not be enough with the offense continuing to sputter.

Chris Davis needs to heat up, and fast. He's 0-for-16 with nine strikeouts from the cleanup spot.

Chen is 1-1 with a 4.17 ERA in six career starts against the Royals in the regular season and 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA in two starts at Kauffman Stadium. He allowed two runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings in Game 3 of the 2014 American League Championship Series.

The current Royals are batting .329 against Chen. Ben Zobrist is 13-for-35 with two doubles and a home run, Eric Hosmer is 9-for-20 with a double and two home runs, Alcides Escobar is 6-for-20 with a double, Lorenzo Cain is 6-for-15 and Salvador Perez is 2-for-15.

Maybe its safe to pitch to Perez, but I don't know anymore. Alex Rios was 2-for-20 against Ubaldo Jimenez before collecting two hits in the series opener.

Cueto is a combined 9-8 with a 2.70 ERA in 24 starts with the Reds and Royals, with 33 walks in 166 2/3 innings for a 1.8 average over nine innings. He's 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA in five starts with Kansas City.

In his last start, Cueto allowed seven runs (six earned) and 13 hits over six innings against the Red Sox. However, he held opponents to one run over 17 innings in his two previous starts and three runs over 24 innings in his last three outings.

Cueto hasn't issued a walk in his last three starts. Also, left-handers are batting .181 against him this season, while right-handers are hitting .240.

Cueto hasn't faced the Orioles. Gerardo Parra is 7-for-23 with three doubles and two home runs against him, Jimmy Paredes is 2-for 3, Steve Pearce is 0-for-4 and Jimenez is 0-for-1. That's it for the current group.

Steve Clevenger is 0-for-2 with a walk, but he's on paternity leave.