masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgFrancisco Rodriguez walked off the mound beside trainer Richie Bancells in the eighth inning tonight, but said he does not expect to end up on the disabled list.

He gave up a homer and one batter later, left with a strained right groin, an injury he also dealt with in 2011.

“This did not start today,” Rodriguez said. “Been for the last week kind of grabbing a bit and a little soreness. Today it got a little worse. But come in tomorrow, get some treatment and go get them, I’ll be all…Francisco Rodriguez walked off the mound beside trainer Richie Bancells in the eighth inning tonight, but said he does not expect to end up on the disabled list.

He gave up a homer and one batter later, left with a strained right groin, an injury he also dealt with in 2011.

“This did not start today,” Rodriguez said. “Been for the last week kind of grabbing a bit and a little soreness. Today it got a little worse. But come in tomorrow, get some treatment and go get them, I’ll be all right.

“You have to be able to recognize whether it’s pain, soreness or injury. I take this as a soreness. Just wrap it up and I’ll be fine tomorrow night.

“It’s going to take more than that to take me out of there. I’ll just come in, get my treatment and go out there and get the job done.”

Meanwhile, Nate McLouth talked about the Orioles’ recent lack of offense as they have scored just five runs over the last 21 innings.

“We hit a number balls hard,” he said. “If (Matt) Wieters’ ball goes through, it’s a different game. But after that we didn’t do much.”

McLouth was asked if the team is missing something right now and just needs some kind of spark.

“I see your point and what that spark is, who knows. It just takes one game to turn this all around and kind of get a better feeling around here,” McLouth said.

Wei-Yin Chen gave up a two-run homer to Wilin Rosario in the seventh inning and allowed four runs over 6 1/3 innings as he had a run of six straight quality starts come to an end.

While his ERA over the first five innings of his starts this year is 2.07, it is 4.97 in the sixth and 11.37 now in the seventh with three homers allowed over 6 1/3 frames.

“This is what I have to work on,” Chen said through his interpreter. “In the late innings, I feel like everything is pretty rushed for me so this is the thing I need to work on next bullpen.

“Actually I felt really good early on and attacked both sides of the plate. But in the late innings, I just feel like I couldn’t control the ball in or out. Have to learn to control the ballgame in the late innings. Today, I didn’t do my job. It’s my fault for not keeping the team in the game.”

Chen fell to 6-6 with a 3.23 ERA.

The O’s losing streak has reached four and they are now under .500 at 12-13 since the All-Star break.

“We just have to continue to play baseball and not worry about how many games we’ve lost or won. Just try to grind it out and get a W,” Chris Davis said.