masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgA few minutes after the Red Sox had ended a six-series losing streak with a win over the Orioles, Nick Markakis talked about Boston taking two of three this weekend.

“It’s disappointing, especially when you come out with the first win,” he said. “They’re a good club, and we’ll be seeing them down the road. It’s not over yet. We need to put this behind us. Have a nice off-day tomorrow and finish up this homestand strong.

“You know before the game it will be a battle (against Jon…A few minutes after the Red Sox had ended a six-series losing streak with a win over the Orioles, Nick Markakis talked about Boston taking two of three this weekend.

“It’s disappointing, especially when you come out with the first win,” he said. “They’re a good club, and we’ll be seeing them down the road. It’s not over yet. We need to put this behind us. Have a nice off-day tomorrow and finish up this homestand strong.

“You know before the game it will be a battle (against Jon Lester). He wasn’t locating his pitches the best I’ve seen him, but he was making his pitches when we got guys on base. We didn’t come through when we got guys on, and he’s a good pitcher and he got himself out of jams.”

Jason Hammel gave up six hits and three runs over 5 1/3 innings as he falls to 7-8 on the year.

How did he rate his outing today?

“We still had a chance to win,” Hammel said. “Wasn’t pretty, and that’s kind of been the theme lately. I wanted to get deeper in the game. The walks today and home run bothered me. Dealing with a little tight zone, and I wasn’t going to back down and throw it down the middle.”

He was constantly behind in the count today, and is now winless over his last 10 starts.

“That is on my shoulders,” Hammel said. “The umpire, whatever, you have to continue to make pitches. We’re grinding it and, right now, it’s not going too hot.

“I’m definitely aware of it (the winless stretch). You could say baseball’s not fun right now to me. It’s frustrating. I’m making good pitches at certain times, and they’re getting hit. My side work has been tremendous, I’m always positive going into the game. Things are not happening my way right now. It’s hard for the guys when I give up a run early, and they are battling from behind.

“Results and what is happening right now are two different things. I have to go pitch-by-pitch when you are not going well. Keep grinding, and I honestly still think the best baseball for me is going to be ahead.”

Before the All-Star break, Hammel said he needed to stop mentally berating himself over his performance.

“If you constantly stomp on yourself and say you’re terrible, pretty soon you start believing,” he said. “It’s frustrating not going when I know I can do. In my younger years, I could get myself in trouble like that and really implode. But we still had a chance to win.”