Savoring a win while still wondering about the offense

Hyun Soo Kim's pinch-hit home run last night gave the Orioles a 3-2 win and momentarily made us forget about the offensive woes.

The amnesia was temporary.

Is there anything that can be done about the bats? How about an exorcism, or at least something involving a live chicken?

All virgins are off limits.

This is a lineup issue, no matter the names or the order that they appear. The hitters are in a collective slump and it's been going on for much of the second half.

Too many strikeouts, which is nothing new. Too many runners left on base. Too many swings from the heels on 3-0 counts. Too dependent on home runs, which worked last night with Mark Trumbo getting the Orioles on the board in the eighth inning and Kim getting the hero treatment in the ninth.

Take the win. Celebrate it with gusto because it was a couple of stories above huge. But this team still needs to break out because there won't always be a ninth-inning pinch-hit home run to bail it out.

The Orioles have scored three runs or fewer in 10 of their last 11 games. Chris Tillman fell an out short last night of a quality start, but one earned run allowed and two total in 5 2/3 innings shouldn't have felt like it created a giant deficit.

Kim erased the actual deficit with his two-run shot off Roberto Osuna and I'm assuming that he's going to be in left field tonight against Blue Jays right-hander Marcus Stroman. Kim is a weapon off the bench, but he's got to start tonight.

The Orioles can tie Toronto for the top wild card spot with a win tonight and they're turning to Ubaldo Jimenez, who's 1-3 with an 8.41 ERA in six career games at Rogers Centre. The bats may need to heat up. They may need a red glow.

The Orioles also have three games remaining at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers, one game behind them for the second wild card spot, have one more against the Indians and three versus the Braves. The Mariners have four against the Athletics.

Advantage, everyone except the Orioles. But no one said it was going to be easy.

Manager Buck Showalter moved Adam Jones to the leadoff spot on May 27 in Cleveland, the center fielder's 22nd career start atop the order and his first since 2010.

Showalter wanted to ignite an offense that produced 52 strikeouts in a three-game series in Houston. He also wanted to jump start Jones, who was mired in a 3-for-39 slump and batting .223/.282/.357 in 41 games.

There must have been similar logic in elevating Chris Davis to second in the order, except it hasn't really worked for him.

Jones began last night batting .286/.324/.477 in 104 games as the leadoff hitter, with 13 doubles, 23 home runs and 63 RBIs. He hit .224/.297/.328 in April.

Davis, meanwhile, is 5-for-24 with two RBIs, two walks and 10 strikeouts in six games as the No. 2 hitter. He's struck out five times in the first two games of this series to raise his season total to 215.

Showalter is running out of combinations. I'm still in favor of batting Kim first or second. He gives the team its best at-bats while continuing to lead it in average and on-base percentage.

Kim was absent from Tuesday night's lineup because of Michael Bourn's career success against the Blue Jays and at Rogers Centre, and last night because he's 0-for-17 against left-handers.

Showalter put Nolan Reimold in left field, aware that the veteran had four hits in six career at-bats against Francisco Liriano. A small sample size, but these are desperate times for an offense that's been dragging down the entire team.

Reimold went 0-for-3, but he made two tremendous sliding catches that contributed to the win.

I'm still amused by Jones' reaction to moving up in the order. He didn't understand why the media was making such a big deal about it, which led to the following exchange:

Was he surprised?

"Nope."

Did Showalter warn him ahead of time?

"Nope."

Would he change his approach at the plate?

"Are they going to pitch me differently? So no."

Why did Showalter decide to bat him first?

"Have you seen the last few games? All right then. Let's see if we can get some guys hot."

Jones concluded the brief interview with an admission that we already knew.

"I've got nothing for you, dawg."

On that same day, Kim started his third consecutive game for the first time in his major league career. He went 0-for-3, but Jones was 3-for-5 in the Orioles' 6-4 win over the Indians at Progressive Field.

Kim has come a long way. The journey continues tonight.

Note: Showalter told reporters in Toronto that Yovani Gallardo would start Friday night against the Yankees and Wade Miley is the likely starter for Saturday afternoon.