Wrapping up the series-opening 6-1 loss at Houston

HOUSTON - Orioles right-hander Chris Tillman remains convinced he will be a much better pitcher in 2018 than he was last year. While his results tonight looked too much like 2017, he doesn't feel his season will ultimately go poorly again.

Tonight, Tillman allowed back-to-back doubles to start his night and he gave up four runs over four innings plus one batter as Houston beat the Orioles 6-1 to start the club's seven-game road trip.

Tillman felt like he might be settling in tonight. Down 1-0 he needed just eight pitches to get the Nos. 3-5 hitters out in the third. But he couldn't get rolling. Marwin Gonzalez led off the fourth with a 394-foot homer to start a three-run inning that opened a 4-0 lead.

Last year Tillman went 1-7 with a 7.84 ERA. He insists there will not be a repeat.

"Oh yeah. It's much different," he said. "I didn't have anything last year. I have quite a bit (now). Tonight didn't go as I planned or as we planned but going forward, I think, it's going to get better," he said.

Tillman walked four without a strikeout. In fact he got swings and misses on just two of his 84 pitches. He averaged 89.7 mph on his four-seam fastball.

"The third inning went well," he added. "I was able to pick up my tempo a little bit. Felt like that was a big part of it and then I kind of let the game dictate my tempo and my rhythm. The next inning Marwin hit a mistake. I feel like when I missed it they hit it. That's normally the case. Gotta hit more of the fastballs. I missed quite a few. Made some decent pitches with it, but not enough."

The Astros made some hard contact on his fastball. Tillman threw 19 changeups tonight and at times he felt his secondary pitches were formidable.

"The offspeed stuff was good. Fastball was hit or miss. When I hit on it, I got the right result. When I missed, it got hit hard," he said.

Manager Buck Showalter said: "Just command. He wasn't really as crisp as he was in the spring, but you know he settled in there for a few sequences but nothing consistent like we know he's capable of. Everything gets magnified when you're not swinging the bats and the other team is pitching well. We just need to get deeper in the game."

Since Dylan Bundy pitched seven scoreless on opening day the last three O's starters have allowed 15 runs and seven homers over 13 innings.

Meanwhile, the O's offense has produced just 12 hits during a three-game losing streak where the club has been outscored 19-3. The Orioles were three outs from being shut out back-to-back games when Trey Mancini led off the ninth with a homer to center. That snapped a 17-innings scoreless stretch.

Is manager Buck Showalter considering any lineup adjustments?

"What adjustments? Everybody's already played," he said.

The Orioles have scored just six runs during a 1-3 start. They scored three runs in the opener and then two, zero and one run tonight.

"We've got guys with track records, just like other clubs that have struggled early in the season. You like to have seen it happen yesterday, but it's not going to happen every day with every at bat. It's hard to do. We're four games into the season and I try not to make too much of it, but I also try to look at it with clear eyes," Showalter said.

Third baseman Tim Beckham expressed confidence that an offense batting .134 through four games, will soon get going.

"It's the first four games, that's what I see," Beckham said. "We're going to keep going out there. We've got 158 more to go and no one around here is pressing. Just want to play some good baseball. Like I said, there is 158 more and we're only four games in. No one is pressing."

The night began on an emotional note for players, coaches and fans of the Astros and the Orioles. Orioles Hall of Famer and former Astros first base coach Rich Dauer threw out the first pitch. It came months after he became very ill during the Astros World Series parade in November. He was close to death. Tonight he was back on the diamond, tears streaming down his face, as he tossed the ball to Houston manager A.J. Hinch.

"That was the highlight of the night for me," Showalter said. "I had to go up the runway. God bless him. Rich has been a big part of the Orioles family for years and I know how well-respected and popular he is for the right reasons. And that was long before he has the challenges he had. To see him get back out, it was a huge moment for him I'm sure, but a lot of people in our dugout were right there with him."