Wrapping up a 4-1 loss

Any critique of Orioles starter Chris Tillman tonight must come with the addendum that the Orioles scored one run and have tallied seven in their last 40 innings.

The offense isn't leaving any margin for error - or poorly located pitch.

Tillman remained winless since April 18 after allowing two runs in the seventh inning to squander a lead in the Orioles' 4-1 loss to the Astros at Camden Yards.

"Good, real good," said manager Buck Showalter when asked about Tillman's performance. "Had a little trouble getting the first hitter out, but step in the right direction for a guy we know is capable of pitching at a good level. So I was impressed with Chris tonight.

"We obviously haven't been giving our pitchers much margin for error, but he gave us a real good chance to win tonight. Probably even a little bit better than that."

The runs off Tillman scored on two-out hits by Chris Carter and Jason Castro.

"We got a changeup up out over the plate and a breaking ball in a bad spot," Showalter said. "If we swing the bats a little better, those things aren't as much of an issue. So there's always kind of a point-counterpoint when you're pitching into the part of the game he's pitching into without much ...

"There's a lot of thought that goes into it and the mental challenges that make you grind even more. Tilly was the reason we were in the ballgame by the way he pitched. Of course, their guy (Scott Feldman) pitched pretty well, too. We didn't make many adjustments to patterns we knew were coming."

Feldman, the former Oriole, brought a 5.17 ERA into the game, but he allowed one run in six innings tonight.

"It's the same thing," Showalter said. "He throws a lot of cutters, he throws a curveball that he throws for strikes. Tries to make you chase. Then he throws a fastball that doesn't cut. That's where you see some guys take some. He did a great job of staying out of too many patterns. He lived away and we didn't make many adjustments."

Brian Matusz inherted two runners from Tommy Hunter with two outs in the eighth. He issued a walk and gave up Luis Valbuena's two-run double.

"Brian just hasn't been as consistent as he's capable of, that's for sure," Showalter said. "We've seen him get some big outs for us. We liked our chances there. The walk to (Colby) Rasmus, and we hung a breaking ball to Valbuena. Also, we did some things to create that situation that we were almost out of by some good defensive plays. Tommy made one, but we also made some mistakes that put people out there to create those situations.

"Once again, we can sit here and talk about all that, and rightfully so, but just until we get some things going offensively, it really makes for a tough atmosphere to pitch in."

The Orioles didn't strand a runner yesterday, but they left five on base tonight and were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.

"It wasn't like we were stinging the ball over the place," Showalter said. "You could tell by the way that you look at the defense how they are going to pitch people. We just didn't make a very good adjustment to an obvious pattern that we were going to see."

Chris Davis drove in the Orioles' lone run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth, but he also struck out twice to raise his total to 64 in 42 games.

"I think we're pressing a little bit," said Davis, who's 4-for-42. "Myself, trying to go out there and do too much. I've got to swing at balls in the strike zone. That's one thing. It doesn't matter if your swing feels good or if it feels bad, if you're not swinging at balls in the zone, you're not giving yourself a chance. That's probably the most frustrating thing for me.

"Right now, I'm going out there and doing all the work early and hitting in the cage and doing everything I can, and once the game starts trying to slow it down and really relax and kind of let the game come to you. Just trying to do to much right now. At some point it has to change."

Asked whether the main issue tonight was Feldman or the offense, Davis replied, "I think it was a combination of both of those things. Like I said, we know him really well. Played against him, played with him. He's a guy that's going to throw pretty much everything at you. Everything moves, everything moves late. He's very deliberate in his movements, very slow to the plate. The ball kind of gets on you.

"The biggest thing for us is swinging at balls out of the zone. I don't know how many curveballs we swung at that were outside the zone, but it was a lot, myself included. When a guy's got a pitch like that that's so slow and loopy, and you see it early, and it looks good, you've got to be patient. I thought we did a good job of kind of grinding out a run right there and giving ourselves a chance. We just couldn't put them away."

So, how do the Orioles get out of this funk?

"I just think we've got to slow the game down," Davis said. "When you're not scoring a lot of runs, you're not swinging the bats well or like you know you can, the tendency is to press and try to overdo it. And I think you've seen that in the last few games, just guys getting out of their approach, out of their rhythm and trying to do too much with pitches that aren't good pitches to hit.

"You want to go out there and put up runs for your starters and even guys in the bullpen. I feel like we've been throwing the ball pretty well lately and they've given us a chance to win games. We've just got to do a better job of scoring runs early and giving them a little bit of breathing room."

Tillman said he feels like he's headed in the right direction.

"I think I was able to execute some pitches and get out of situations," he said. "I wasn't very good at getting the first hitter of the inning and it put some stress on you to get pitches and to get a double play or some quick outs. I'd like to be better with that first hitter."

Tillman, who issued leadoff walks in the second, third and fourth and a leadoff double in the seventh, said he tries not to let the offense's struggles affect him on the mound.

"I've been there before," he said. "It's a situation where you've got to make some pitches. I thought I made some pitches earlier in the inning to not be in that situation. But they were tough. Feldman was, too."

Tillman is 0-3 with a 6.98 ERA in four starts at home this season. He's riding a career high-tying five-game losing streak. He also lost five in a row Sept. 21, 2009-June 14, 2010.

Catcher Caleb Joseph, who had one of the Orioles' five hits, said Tillman exhibited good command of his fastball and effectively changed speeds.

"Lot of good changeups, lot of good curveballs," Joseph said. "Just a couple pitches beat him tonight. It's unfortunate that they were back-to-back. If we spread that out, there probably would have been no runs. He did well."