That escalated quickly: Ugly losses follow Orioles' 4-0 start

Well, the Orioles will wake up this morning tied for first place in the American League East. So there is some good news. But entering the sixth inning at home on Sunday, the Orioles led the Yankees 3-0 and seemed headed for a 5-0 start.

What has followed that is a 13-inning stretch where the Orioles have been outscored 15-1. That has led to back-to-back losses after the 4-0 start.

So some things could be better.

In the last two games, we've seen Darren O'Day walk three batters in an inning and we've never seen that before. Then we saw the Orioles defense fall apart last night and a 2-1 deficit turned into an ugly 8-1 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

The 4-0 start where the Orioles were the majors' lone unbeaten team has morphed into a 4-2 start. Still good, but the last two games have been rough.

The Orioles bullpen:
First four games: 16 2/3 innings, 0 runs allowed
Last two games: 5 2/3 innings, 16 hits, 12 runs (11 earned)

Meanwhile, the Orioles offense has produced just four runs the last two games and 21 runs over the season's first six games. The Orioles have scored three runs or less four times already. They hit five home runs in the first three games but have hit none in the last three. The Orioles have just 11 hits the past two games.

As a team, the Orioles are batting .215/.271/.338 so far. Both J.J. Hardy and Jonathan Schoop are batting .105 (2-for-19) and Manny Machado is hitting .200 (4-for-20). Hardy muffed a sure-fire double-play ball that would have sent last night's game to the eighth inning with the Orioles down by just 2-1. Instead, the game got away from them in the 8-1 loss.

This would not qualify as a crisis, but things have gone from good to bad real fast. Fenway Park and Rogers Centre are not two venues very welcoming for the Orioles, but they've got to get it together soon with their next five games in those two ballparks.

On the farm last night: One night after Norfolk pitchers hurled a four-hit shutout, the Tides gave up 17 hits in a 15-2 home loss to Gwinnett. Starter Mike Wright allowed eight hits and five runs over 4 1/3 innings. He is 0-1 with an ERA of 8.59. Zach Stewart and Parker Bridwell combined to allow 10 runs over 4 1/3. Chance Sisco went 2-for-4 and is batting .222. Gabriel Ynoa (0-1, 16.88 ERA) gets the start for Norfolk (1-5) tonight.

Double-A Bowie (3-3) lost 4-2 at Erie. Losing pitcher Matthew Grimes allowed thee runs (two earned) over six innings. Center fielder Cedric Mullins continued his torrid hitting as he went 3-for-4 with a double and is batting .577. Mullins has five multi-hit games among the six he's played for Bowie. Over his past three games, he is 8-for-12 with two doubles, two homers, five runs and five RBIs. He is so hot right now that he went into last night's game batting .545 and then he raised that average.

He's been somewhat overshadowed by Mullins, but Bowie first baseman Aderlin Rodriguez is also on fire right now. He went 2-for-4 and homered for the fourth consecutive game. In those four games, he is 9-for-16 with four homers and nine RBIs.

Single-A Frederick (2-3) blew out Potomac 16-6 at home. The Keys got homers from Ryan Mountcastle, Steve Wilkerson, Jomar Reyes and Alex Murphy, who hit a grand slam in the Keys' seven-run sixth for his first Carolina League home run.

Reyes went 3-for-5 with four RBIs and is batting .524. He's hit safely in all five games and has multi-hit efforts four times for Frederick. Wilkerson had two hits and is batting .438. Mountcastle drove in three and is batting .286. Austin Hays went 2-for-4 and is batting .348.

Single-A Delmarva (1-5) lost 5-4 at Greensboro. Shorebirds starter Lucas Humpal gave up one run and two hits over six innings and has an ERA of 0.75 through two starts. In 12 innings, the club's 2016 ninth-round pick out of Texas State has walked one and fanned 10. Delmarva designated hitter Chris Shaw hit a two-run homer, his second of the season, and is batting .320. Third baseman Collin Woody went 1-for-2 and is batting .353.