BALTIMORE _ There was one thing about the Orioles' 6-4 loss to the Oakland Athletics that was not open to dispute:
It was not a good night to be a starting pitcher.
Oakland right-hander Paul Blackburn was pitching a terrific game through four innings, but a line drive off the bat of Trey Mancini hit him squarely on the right wrist and apparently did some real damage. Blackburn was in tremendous pain and he left the field with the athletic trainer keeping his arm immobilized.
Ubaldo Jimenez also got hit on his pitching arm by a sharp comebacker off the bat of Oakland catcher Bruce Maxwell in the second inning, but toughed it out and remained in the game through the fifth inning. He would probably insist that it hurt a lot less than some of the noncontact shots he took in the A's three-run first inning.
Jimenez allowed home runs to Jed Lowrie and Ryon Healy in the first inning, then settled down to hold the A's scoreless until the fifth, when Healy struck again to give his team a five-run lead. The homers were Healy's 22nd and 23rd of the season.
The Orioles have made a habit of climbing back from big deficits and they tried to do that again Tuesday night, scoring twice on Manny Machado's 27th homer of the season in the sixth inning and making it a one-run game when Jonathan Schoop pulled a two-run single into left field with two outs in the bottom of the eighth.
Alec Asher and Richard Bleier combined to pitch three innings of scoreless relief, but Darren O'Day allowed a solo homer to Khris Davis in the ninth.
The Orioles were trying to follow up on another in a string of five series-opening victories this month. They had lost the second game the first four times and did not win any of those series and now must win the Wednesday afternoon finale to break that trend.
Machado finally got the Orioles on the scoreboard in the sixth inning, launching a line drive well up in the center-field bleachers. That retied him with Schoop for the team lead. Both are on pace to hit 35 this year.
A's rookie Boog Powell, who got to meet the Orioles Hall of Famer of the same name before Tuesday's game, was in the leadoff spot and hit safely in his first two at-bats. Maybe that shouldn't be a surprise. He was starting in the leadoff spot for just the third time as a major leaguer, but in the other two starts, he was a combined 4 for 8 with two walks.
