Trey Mancini on Chris Davis and other O's notes

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

August 12, 2021, 5:59pm

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Trey Mancini had been teammates with Chris Davis for a long stretch. Mancini came up for the end of the 2016 season, was active that year for the American League wild card game and had been teammates with Davis since then.

After the Orioles lost to Detroit on Thursday, Mancini talked about Davis announcing his retirement earlier in the day.

"I was sad," Mancini said during a postgame Zoom interview. "You know, Chris, I've been playing with him for a long time and I've known him for quite a few years now. He is somebody I always liked being around. You know, always kept it light and he's a good person to be around. So, I was sad. But I'm also happy for him and he had a great career. And I hope everybody remembers that.

"You know, a really good career. I remember playing in Aberdeen in 2013 and it felt like every single night they would announce that CD hit another home run. And then the stadium would just absolutely erupt. It was electric every night, just waiting to hear. It was basically every single game we had I feel like they announced that CD hit a home run. It was so impressive to watch. Especially just being drafted and kind of having somebody to look up to.

"So yeah, I was sad. But again, I know that his girls are happy to have him back full-time too. And I'm happy for him."

Manager Brandon Hyde talked before Thursday's game about Davis' decision to retire.

"I want whatever is best for Chris and Chris' family," Hyde said. "We traded texts this morning. We've stayed in touch this season. Always got along really well with him, really like him. He's done so many great things for this organization, the community here, so it's a day where we should be celebrating Chris and his career and all the great things he did here."

Hyde said he chooses to remember the strong track record of Davis earlier in his O's career.

"Those really good years, those '12 to '17 years, he was a fixture in the lineup and a major run producer," Hyde said. "He was a middle-of-the-order bat on a really, really good team that had All-Star-caliber years. And, you know, he's done so much off the field as well. Great teammate. Well-liked in the clubhouse, well-liked around the league. And I think that is what will be his legacy: somebody that put together some great years as well as being well-liked around the league and in his own clubhouse."

Losing streak extended: On the field Thursday, in the sweltering heat at the ballpark, the O's losing streak reached eight games. The club's streak of allowing nine or more runs ended at six in a row Wednesday night, but the O's losing run continues. They lost 14 in a row from May 18-31 and eight in a row from June 9-17. Three losing streaks of eight or more in one year can be tough on everyone from the clubhouse to the fan base.

"It's tough, there's no way around it," said Mancini. "At this point, we've got to start putting more and more wins together. We had a good thing going there for a little bit after the All-Star break, and we've kind of hit a wall here. So, you know we have a month and a half, a little bit more than that left, so you know we've got to forget this, forget these two weeks and go out there and play like we know how. Play like we did right after the All-Star break because we came out pretty refreshed, I thought, and played pretty well every day. We've got to get back to that. Myself included, maybe more than anybody too."

The Orioles were swept for the 13th time this year and sixth time at Oriole Park with Thursday's 6-4 loss to Detroit. It is the first time the O's were swept by the Tigers since April 17-19, 2018, and the first time at Oriole Park since May 12-14, 2014.

DJ Stewart hit two solo homers in the loss. He produced his second career multi-home run game and first since Sept. 5, 2020. It was the 13th individual multi-homer game by an O's batter this season.

His home run in the fourth inning traveled 429 feet, tied for his third-longest home run this year. Each of his past five home runs have come at home, after he hit his first five of the year on the road, and his last five hits have gone for extra-bases (three homers, two doubles). Stewart has homered in back-to-back games for the fourth time in his career and second time this season, and has hit three home runs in his past two games after not homering in the 23 games prior.

O's batters have hit a homer in 12 straight games at Camden Yards. That is their longest single-season streak since homering in 16 straight at home from July 10-Aug. 19, 2015. Overall, Birds batters have hit 33 homers their past 19 games and have hit two or more in 12 of the 19 games.

The Orioles went 0-for-23 in the Detroit series when batting with runners in scoring position. They have gone 10-for-70 with RISP over the last nine games.

Thursday's game time temperature of 97 degrees marked the O's warmest game since July 20, 2019 versus Boston, also 97 degrees.