Baltimore Orioles
Hoping to get more innings from his starters, who had pitched the second-fewest innings in the league, manager Buck Showal
ter moved Ubaldo Jimenez into the bullpen and Alec Asher into the rotation.
Asher had made 11 appearances, including two spot starts of at least six innings each, and had a 2.17 ERA. Jimenez had a 7.17 ERA.
Asher made his first start in his new role Sunday at Houston and quickly was staked to a 3-0 lead, but he gave up six runs in the second inning in an 8-4 loss to the Astros. Eight of the 13 batters he faced reached base.
Sure enough, Jimenez relieved him and pitched six strong innings, allowing two runs and retiring 11 consecutive batters at one point.
That performance could put him on track to a rotation return, Showalter said.
“Hopefully that’s the start of him pitching some good baseball that we know he’s capable of,” Showalter said.
The defeat extended Baltimore’s losing streak to seven games, its longest since losing nine in a row in 2011.
uThe Orioles came into the week without a win by a starting pitcher since May 8, when Kevin
Gausman defeated the Washington Nationals. The drought ended Monday when Dylan Bundy pitched seven strong innings in a win against the New York Yankees. uChris Davis was 3-for-40 (.075) with one triple, one homer, one walk and 22 strikeouts in a 10-game span through Monday, dropping his average from .267 to .222.