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Series Notebook: O’s Get a Lesson in Mashing from Houston

Chris Tillman, Orioles pitcher, wipes his brow with his arm.
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After getting swept by Houston back in late May, the Orioles were undoubtedly looking for some payback against the Astros while they were in town.

They did just that by launching six homers on Thursday in a 13-5 rout against Joe Musgrove & Co. in the series opener.

Mark Trumbo kicked off the explosion with a three-run shot in the first inning, and before the game was over, J.J. Hardy and Chris Davis went yard twice while Manny Machado added another.

All in all, it was a perfect performance from the Orioles sluggers, who also finished the contest with a whopping 18 hits and four multi-run innings, including a five-run outburst in the sixth inning.

But after three days of pure misery, this gem of a display seems like a distant memory.

Despite hitting an MLB-record four home runs without recording an out in the first inning on Friday, the Orioles managed to crash and burn by getting outscored 14-3 from that point on.

In fact, just a half a frame after the record-setting inning, Wade Miley let the lead slip away and the Orioles found themselves down 6-5.

The Astros sluggers opened up the floodgates after drawing blood, and ended up coasting to a 15-8 victory.

Houston followed up by tagging Chris Tillman for six runs in just two innings on Saturday, which only set the tone for the Astros 12-2 dismantling of the Orioles.

Down 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Jonathan Schoop launched his 19th homer of the season to level the score on Sunday, but the Orioles quickly found themselves down 4-1 after Jose Altuve’s RBI single and Carlos Correa’s two-run double in the top of the fifth.

Mark Trumbo’s league-leading 37th home run of the season in the ninth was the last bullet the Orioles had in the chamber in the Astros 5-3 win.

After being on a monumental high on Thursday, the Orioles now find themselves on a three-game losing streak and 2.5-games behind Toronto for first in the division going into a four-game clash versus the first place Nationals.

Let’s take a look at a few takeaways from the sobering set against the Astros:

– It was only a few weeks ago when everyone was praising the Orioles starting rotation for their much-improved performances, and in the blink of an eye, they’ve seemed to trend back in the wrong direction at the wrong time. Over the last nine games, the O’s starters have recorded a dreadful 7.97 ERA.

– The usually stellar Orioles bullpen has also been out of key lately, and on top of posting an awful 7.71 ERA over 18.2 innings versus the Astros, they’ve registered a dismal 6.02 ERA over the past 16 games.

– The Orioles offense was more than up for the challenge against one of the AL’s pitching staff and finished the series with an impressive .284 average at the dish while driving in 26 runs over the four-game set. They also smashed an incredible 12 homers by the end of the series. It’s a shame that the Orioles pitchers couldn’t hold up their end of the bargain.

– For now at least, it seems like bash brothers Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis are finally starting to mash in unison again. Davis’s four-game home run streak ended on Sunday, but he’s still clubbed five homers in five games, while Trumbo now has hit three bombs in the past four ballgames.

– Jonathan Schoop will ride a five-game hit streak into the four-game, two-city clash versus the Nationals, and has gone 7-for-18 with three runs, one home run and two RBI’s during that span.

– Manny Machado has been killing it this month, and has posted a stellar .304 average with six doubles, six home runs and 16 RBI heading into the final week of August. He’s also recorded a base hit in 16 of his last 19 contests and 10 of his past 11.

Adam Jones is in fine form at the moment, and owns an impressive .308 average with four homers and 11 RBI over his last 15 games. The O’s captain has also recorded a base hit in 14 of the past 16 contests.

– After the Orioles’ 12-homer explosion versus the Astros, the Orioles now have a commanding lead for the 2016 team HR title with 192. That also puts them on pace to hit 253 homers this season, which is just five shy of breaking the Orioles All-Time single-season home run record (257 HR, 1996) and just 12 shy of breaking the All-Time MLB record for most homers in a single season (264 HR, Seattle 1997).

Again, you hate to see the offense click as well as they did and still drop three of four.

But what’s done is done. And with 39 games still left on the calendar, it’s not time to hit the panic button just yet.

The Orioles just have to find a way to bounce back against a club that’s coasting towards the playoffs. It’s easier said than done, but the Orioles do own a 10-4 record versus the Nationals since the start of the 2013 season.

Here’s to a rebound from our boys in Orange and Black.

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