Two more homers off Orioles make difference in 5-3 loss (updated)

CHICAGO - The Orioles are trying so hard to change the narrative.

They make adjustments to their rotation and bullpen based on production and health. Pitchers are optioned, designated for assignment and put on the injured list. They're rewarded after good starts by getting another turn, which can bump someone else.

No matter what manager Brandon Hyde tries to do, he keeps having to answer for the steady stream of home runs that flood the box scores. He does it pregame, postgame and probably in his sleep.

John Means allowed two home runs in his first 20 2/3 innings, but matched that total tonight through the third and the Orioles remained winless on the road trip with a 5-3 loss to the White Sox at cold and damp Guaranteed Rate Field.

Chris Davis singled twice and drove in two runs, but a fourth consecutive loss dropped the Orioles to 10-20 with two games left before returning home. They're immersed in their fourth four-game losing streak of the season.

Yonder Alonso and Tim Anderson hit two-run homers in the second and third innings, respectively, to increase the staff's total to 73. The 2018 Cardinals surrendered the fewest at 144, so the Orioles are more than halfway there.

Means tied his career high again with five innings while allowing four runs and six hits. His 91 pitches fell one short of his career mark. He struck out two batters, compared to six when he faced the White Sox on Wednesday.

Alonso was the only pure left-handed hitter in the White Sox lineup - Yoán Moncado bats from both sides - and he drove a 93 mph fastball to right field for a 2-0 lead. James McCann led off with a ground ball through the left side of the infield, Means retired the next two batters on a fielder's choice grounder and foul pop up, and Alonso homered on the second of two 93 mph fastballs.

Adam Engel led off the third with a bunt single and Anderson homered to left field on a 79 mph changeup, a pitch that's been so good for Means but didn't flummox the White Sox after they saw him five days ago.

Means threw 10 pitches in the first inning while retiring the side in order on three ground balls, but tossed 22, 20 and 29 in the next three frames. He retired the first two batters in the fourth before issuing a walk and hitting his second Chicago player.

Anderson chased a high fastball while striking out to end the fourth with Means at 81 pitches.

Means reverted back to early form by throwing 10 pitches in a scoreless fifth, a leadoff single doing no real damage. Yefry Ramirez replaced him to become the 37th player used by the Orioles this season.

Ramirez threw 25 pitches in 1 1/3 innings on short rest and was charged with a run after McCann doubled in the seventh and Tanner Scott replaced him. Scott loaded the bases with two outs, bouncing four pitches and twice nailing catcher Pedro Severino in the groin region, and he walked Ryan Cordell on four pitches to give the White Sox a 5-2 lead.

Severino, who outlasted Jesús Sucre, hit his fourth home run leading off the third inning to match his total in 105 games with the Nationals. He opened the fifth with a walk and moved to third base after the White Sox committed two throwing errors on Rio Ruiz's ground ball.

Left-hander Manny Bañuelos retired the next two batters on a strikeout and liner to third, Joey Rickard walked to load the bases and Renato Núñez flied out.

Davis plated Dwight Smith Jr. in the sixth with a bloop single down the left field line to reduce the lead to 4-2, but he was caught in a rundown for the second out. Score it 7-5-4-3-6.

Bañuelos shut out the Orioles over four innings last week in his first start since 2015 and allowed two runs tonight in 5 2/3.

Smith, Hanser Alberto and Davis strung together singles off Kelvin Herrera with one out in the eighth to score another run and leave the Orioles trailing 5-3. Alberto had three hits.

Ruiz popped up to strand two and the Orioles ran out of rallies.

The Orioles managed to score only four runs while the Twins swept them in a three-game series. They haven't been able to use Trey Mancini since the first inning Saturday night, miss him bunches and should get him back in the lineup Wednesday night.

Update: The Orioles optioned Scott after the game and could use the spot for pitcher Shawn Armstrong.

Scott's removal came after he let an inherited runner score in the seventh and allowed one hit with two walks and a wild pitch. He has a 6.75 ERA in eight appearances, allowing five earned runs (seven total) and 11 hits with eight walks and 12 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings, and opponents are batting .379.

"Tanner's got elite stuff, but he's got to be able to throw the ball over the plate," Hyde said. "He's got to be able to make pitchers. You see the stuff. You just want to see some consistency. That was a good spot for him tonight. It just didn't happen."

Hyde on Means: "I thought Meansie threw the ball well. He just, a couple two-run homers. Hung a changeup to Anderson and grooved a fastball behind in the count to Alonso. Besides that, I thought he threw well. I was really happy with the way he spun his breaking ball tonight. I think he didn't have his best changeup, but kind of worked through it, worked through five innings without his best changeup. I liked the breaking ball development. Gave us a chance, kept us in the game."

Hyde on offense: "I think there's some situational hitting where we haven't either advanced a runner at second with nobody out or scored a runner from third with less than two out kind of situation. We did a good job early and we're kind of in a little bit of a funk here where we're just not driving in the runs. I think those things happen, but at the same time we've just got to do a better job with situational hitting. Be able to advance runners, be able to score runners from third. Being able to make contact with a runner on third is huge.

"(Jonathan) Villar kind of got unlucky there with the soft line drive to Moncada at third base. We're just not situational hitting at your best right now."

Hyde on offense missing Mancini: "You take Trey out of our lineup, he's leading the American League in hits, so it's obviously a blow. Some guys swung the bat well. I thought Smitty swung the bat well again, Hanser with three hits. We did some nice things, we just didn't get the big one, didn't hit any homers.

"We have to be able to situational hit because we're not going to hit a ton of home runs, so we have to be able to move runners. We've got to be able to score runners from third base and it's something we'll get better at over the course of the year."

Hyde on Means seeing same lineup twice: "It's not easy. That's not easy to do is to be able to wrap around a series and see guys you just saw five or six days ago. I thought he did a nice job without his best changeup and I think the changeup has been really good up to this point. I think tonight wasn't his best but he still worked through five. If we didn't have that long inning offensively he was going to go back out for the sixth. So he gave us a chance and kept us in the game like he always does."

Hyde on Alberto: "Just versatility. Obviously he plays with an incredible amount of energy. He's getting big hits for us. Offensively he's swinging the bat great. He's really aggressive, gives himself a chance, grinds out at-bats, and versatility defensively is huge. A night like tonight where we have a guy down, to be able to play and fill a spot, the more guys you can have like that the better off you are."

Means on outing: "I didn't have my best changeup today, and I was throwing some good ones down in the zone that they weren't offering at. I tried to make too much of an adjustment and left some up. Overall I didn't feel it was that bad. I made some bad pitches, and they made me pay for it."

Means on facing same team again: "I don't think it made too much of a difference. You think about it. They faced another team three other times, so they've seen other pitchers. I don't think it made a whole lot of difference."

Means on not being able to get past fifth: "As a starter you want to get to the sixth and seventh and that's something that I like to take pride in. Those long innings really get you. I was going out for the sixth until that long inning happened. I was excited to go out. That long inning and the cold, they didn't want me going, but yeah, I try to get in the sixth and the seventh."

Alberto on first start in right field: "It was fun. It was good. I've played outfield before. It wasn't hard. I was ready. I was ready for the challenge and I think I did good."

Alberto on offensive contributions: "I don't know. I've been working hard, so I've been seeing the ball good. I go to home plate with a good plan, so I give myself a chance to be successful."

Alberto on difference between last year and this season: "The opportunity, the opportunity to play every day, more consistent, so I've been good. I think that's the big key."