masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgHOUSTON – For the first time since April 27, the Orioles are a .500 team.

Losing three straight games and eight of 12 will remove you from the positive side of the ledger.

“I think if there was an easy fix we would have found it by now,” said first baseman Chris Davis. “It’s kind of the nature of the beast. Sometimes, you’re playing well and you’re not clicking on all cylinders, but you’re able to get away with it. Right now we’re obviously not able to get away with it.”

Is the…HOUSTON – For the first time since April 27, the Orioles are a .500 team.

Losing three straight games and eight of 12 will remove you from the positive side of the ledger.

“I think if there was an easy fix we would have found it by now,” said first baseman Chris Davis. “It’s kind of the nature of the beast. Sometimes, you’re playing well and you’re not clicking on all cylinders, but you’re able to get away with it. Right now we’re obviously not able to get away with it.”

Is the Orioles’ best baseball ahead of them?

“Oh, absolutely,” Davis said. “I think we’ve seen flashes of how good we can be at times. But we’ve got to hit on all cylinders.

“We’ll right the ship. It’s still reasonably early, guys are still trying to get a feel for it. We’ve got plenty of games ahead of us.”

It’s got to sting when Ubaldo Jimenez turns in a quality start and it goes wasted.

“Little bit,” said Davis, who’s 0-for-12 with eight strikeouts since returning from paternity leave. “I think the offense has been swinging the bat well lately as a whole. We thought we were going to come in here tonight, continue that. We got shut down tonight.

“Ubaldo did throw the ball really well. That’s what we need to see out of him.”

Reliever Preston Guilmet had practically been untouchable before tonight. His first major league decision is a loss after George Springer launched a tie-breaking two-run homer in the seventh.

“I just left a pitch up in the zone. That was the one that got hit,” he said. “A couple of other pitches were up, too. In general, a little up in the zone tonight.

“He’s swinging a hot bat right now for sure. Like I said, I just left a pitch up and he put a good swing on it.

“It’s been good to have the opportunities, and obviously I wish tonight would have gone a little different.”

Nelson Cruz singled twice to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He’s 17-for-36 (.472) in that stretch.