Wrapping up a loss that dropped the Orioles under .500

CHICAGO - At this point, the players are probably running out of answers and the reporters are a bit weary of having to ask the same questions. But we heard more of both tonight after the Orioles' latest loss.

The Orioles lost 6-1 to the Chicago White Sox as starter Alec Asher gave up a grand slam and the offense could not cash in on numerous scoring chances.

At 31-32, the Orioles are a team with a losing record for the first time since they were 80-81 on Oct. 3, 2015. The road losing streak has reached 11 games. That is two shy of the club record of 13 straight.

Longest road losing streaks in Orioles history:
* 13 straight from April 8-April 28, 1988.
* 11 straight from April 30-May 27, 1954.
* 11 straight from May 17-June 13, 2017

During a six-game overall losing streak, the Orioles have been outscored 60-17.

So one obvious question: How are the players holding up when they are getting beaten down every night lately?

"I mean, this is part of game," third baseman Manny Machado said. "We know there are ups and downs. We have to always stay positive. We're going to snap out of this, and when we do, you know, hold on to your seats because we're coming."

But right now, runs are not. The Orioles went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position tonight. The Orioles have scored just 17 runs the past six games. They have scored three runs or fewer 31 times now, going 8-23 in those games.

"Guys are pushing, pushing, and just scoring one run," manager Buck Showalter said. "You have to tip your hat to their pitcher, but we seem to be doing a lot of that lately."

With a lack of runs, there is even more pressure on the pitcher to prevent them. Tonight, Asher had a decent start going, but it collapsed when a 2-1 Chicago lead grew to 6-1 in the sixth. He started the inning by allowing a single, hit a batter and walked a third. Then White Sox third baseman Matt Davidson hit a 3-2 cutter 435 feet for his first career grand slam.

Asher was asked whether it was it a poor pitch by him or good hitting by Davidson.

"Maybe a little bit of both," he said. "I didn't really want to get to 3-2, bases loaded anyways. He made me pay for it. Super frustrating, you know. I wanted to go out there, I wanted to give my team a chance to win. And I just didn't do that. We're trying to push through it. Everybody is a little frustrated right now, but we're a good team. We'll get through it."

Asher allowed six hits and six runs over five-plus innings. His ERA jumped to 5.05. O's starters have a 14.60 ERA in the last seven games.

Over the last four games, the quartet of Chris Tillman, Kevin Gausman, Wade Miley and Asher have combined to allow 28 runs over 12 innings.

Every player would love to be the one to end a losing streak. But that just means hitters and pitchers alike are pressing out there.

"Yeah. I think, right now, we are maybe trying to do a little too much at times. It's frustrating, not going out there and doing your job, just to pitch deep in games. But we're a good staff and we'll figure it out," Asher said.

Showalter could be second-guessed tonight for leaving Asher in after he had loaded the bases. Was it more about a tired bullpen due to a lot of short starts or feeling confident enough to stick with Asher there?

"It's both - mostly the first part of it. We're just a little short down there, trying to always have a long piece the next day. With all the short starts, that's the byproduct of it. The hit-by-pitch hurt him, but he was a pitch away here or there. He wasn't the issue. The issue was one run," he said.

Machado added: "You know what? It's part of the grind. We're used to it. We know we are going to go through some struggles. All we've got to do is just try to stay positive and keep doing the little things that are going to take us to the next level.

"You know what? I don't know what it will be (to turn this around). We've just got to try and figure it out and keep doing the little things. If we control the little things, everything else will fall into place."

The White Sox were in last place with nine losses in 11 games when the Orioles got here. Now, two wins and 16 runs later later, they have taken the first two games of a series and turned the Orioles into a sub-.500 team for the first time since 2015.