Slumping sluggers and tonight's game

OAKLAND - Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is 9-for-76 (.118) with one double and one home run since the All-Star break and his average is down to .214.

Outfielder Mark Trumbo is 15-for-91 (.165) with four doubles and three home runs since the break and his average is down to .263.

The heart of the order needs to get pumping. Everyone knows it, including the two sluggers.

Davis grounded out in his first three at-bats last night and took a called third strike to end the game, leaving Manny Machado at first base after a two-out walk.

Trumbo, standing on deck, grounded out twice and struck out, as the Orioles failed to take over sole possession of first place in the American League East.

Davis stranded three runners in the series opener and flied out to end the eighth inning after Machado's home run. He's batting .223 against left-handers and the Athletics are starting Ross Detwiler. More on him later.

Sitting Davis tonight is complicated if Steve Pearce can't play. There's a shortage of right-handed bats.

Caleb Joseph could catch and Matt Wieters could serve as the designated hitter, but putting Trumbo in the outfield or first base still leaves a spot that has to be filled with a left-handed bat.

Yovani Gallardo hasn't reached the level anticipated by the Orioles after signing him to a two-year deal guaranteeing $22 million and including a team option worth $13 million, but maybe he's moving closer to it.

Gallardo has completed six innings in three of his last four starts and allowed two earned runs in two of the last three.

Dylan Bundy isn't the only starter being stretched out.

Gallardo is trying to lower a 5.47 ERA and 1.645 WHIP that's been built over 14 starts and 72 1/3 innings. He'll need to do a heck of a lot better against the Athletics, who already have won the first two games of the series.

Gallardo is 0-4 with a 6.11 ERA and 1.429 WHIP in five career starts against the A's, with 19 earned runs (20 total) and 31 hits over 28 innings. He's allowed six runs and 11 hits over 11 innings in two starts at the Oakland Coliseum and it's many other names. But he's walked only two batters and struck out 15, so he's got that going for him, which is nice.

Yonder Alonso is 8-for-22 with three doubles and a home run against Gallardo. Marcus Semien is 4-for-11, Stephen Vogt is 3-for-6 with two doubles and a home run, Danny Valencia is 1-for-9 with a home run and Billy Butler is 0-for-7 with four strikeouts.

"Yovani's a professional," said manager Buck Showalter. "None of us are what we were at 24 or 25, but he's a guy who knows how to pitch and has been able, once he got through some of the physical problems he had, has really kept us engaged in the competitive part of the game. And that's really what you ask from starters in the American League."

The rotation has produced five consecutive quality starts, but the Orioles are 2-3 in those games.

Detwiler will make his first major league appearance since April 25 with the Indians and his first start since May 14, 2015 with the Rangers.

Detwiler allowed three runs and three hits, with four walks and three strikeouts, in seven relief appearances with the Indians covering only 4 2/3 innings. Left-handers batted .125 against him and right-handers batted .250.

Showalter watched video of Detwiler and also noted the southpaw's improvement at Triple-A Nashville, where he was 4-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four games (three starts). He walked four batters and struck out 24 over 23 1/3 innings.

Detwiler, the former first-round pick of the Nationals, is 0-2 with a 5.09 ERA and 1.609 WHIP in seven career games (four starts) against the Orioles spanning 23 innings. The current group is 14-for-46 (.304) against him.

Adam Jones is 5-for-13 with two doubles and a home run, J.J. Hardy is 4-for-8 with a triple and Nolan Reimold is 3-for-5 with a double.

Hardy was batting .343 (36-for-105) in his last 30 games before going 0-for-3 last night. He hit ninth in the order for the 12th game, his second-highest total at any spot after seventh (32).

With the offense scuffling again, the 10 runs on Sunday looking more like an aberration, Hardy's bat could be useful higher up in the order. Then again, if it ain't broke ...

"He's been hitting well wherever we've put him," Showalter said. "I've said before that two of the more important spots are that and probably the three hole because he turns the lineup over. And having a hot hitter down there gives you somebody there and also gives you a better chance of turning your lineup over as many times as you can.

"J.J. has no ego about it, but he's very quietly just now starting to get noticed and it was something that we've been talking about for the last 10 days in the locker room."