Dillon Atkinson: Five X-factors for the Orioles down the stretch

After defeating the Nationals 8-1 on Tuesday night, the Orioles are still in third place in the American League East, just two games back of the Red Sox and Blue Jays, who are tied for the division lead. The Birds are 22-25 since the start of July, so they're going to have to turn it around sooner rather than later. Here are five X-factors that could very well be big influences on whether or not the O's turn it around and make the postseason.

Manny Machado: Since the start of July, Machado is slashing .247/.297/.452 with 10 home runs over 202 plate appearances. But from the start of the season through the end of June, Machado was slashing .334/.392/.609 with 18 homers over 332 plate appearances. The O's offense hasn't been nearly as hot after the All-Star break as is was in June, and it will need the MVP-caliber third baseman to start hitting like one soon.

Mark Trumbo: Trumbo is slashing .214/.277/.503 with 15 homers over 188 plate appearances since the beginning of July, while posting a .282/.331/.558 line with 23 homers over 335 plate appearances prior to then. His power numbers are certainly still there, as he remains Major League Baseball's leader in home runs with 38. However, mixed with Machado and Chris Davis' struggles, these three have been combined for a below-average 3-4-5 combination in the Birds lineup as of late. If Machado and Trumbo start to heat up again, we should likely see Davis continue to put the ball out of the yard.

Chris Tillman: Tillman is hitting the disabled list with right shoulder pain, and it couldn't come at a much worse time. As pointed out by many on social media, the Orioles are 20-6 in Tillman's starts, but are 49-50 in games started by any other O's pitcher. If Tillman only misses about three starts during his disabled list stint, the O's should be fine, as long as he comes back strong and healthy. If he comes back in early September, pitching like his normal sub-4.00 ERA self, that would be a huge boost to the club. However, if he doesn't, the Birds could be in trouble and will need to rely heavily on the rest of their rotation options.

Back-end starters: With Tillman going on the shelf, the other guys are going to have to step it up. Dylan Bundy and Kevin Gausman should be able to be at least decent enough, but the O's will need Wade Miley, Yovani Gallardo and Tillman's replacement to step it up and keep the team in games. Miley has yet to get it together since the O's acquired him, recording a 9.53 ERA over 17 innings since the non-waiver trade deadline. He should likely end up being better than what he's shown thus far in an Orioles uniform, but there's nothing to get too excited about with him. Gallardo hasn't been good for the Orioles, but he has been better as of late, posting a 3.38 ERA and averaging six innings per start this month. It'll be nice if he can stay like this at least until Tillman comes off the disabled list. Ubaldo Jimenez will start in place of Tillman on Thursday in D.C.

The bridge to Zach Britton: Aside from Britton, Mychal Givens and Donnie Hart, no Orioles reliever has an ERA below 4.50 in August. Obviously, it's a small sample size and we can't judge the bullpen entirely based off of that, but it is enough evidence to say the bullpen needs to turn it around. Setup man Darren O'Day is on the disabled list for the second time this season, which means Givens and Brad Brach have to step up as much as they can in the veteran's absence. Britton has been arguably the best reliever in all of baseball this season, so he is not the issue. But with the inconsistencies of the starting pitchers, the Orioles need Brach, who has posted a 3.95 ERA since the All-Star break, to get back in a groove. While Brach is struggling, Givens is improving, posting a 2.55 ERA since the break.

Dillon Atkinson blogs about the Orioles for Orioles Uncensored. Follow him on Twitter: @DAtkinsonOU. His thoughts on the O's appear here as part of MASNsports.com's continuing commitment to welcome guest bloggers to our little corner of cyberspace. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.