O's fall short despite López's quality start

Orioles right-hander Jorge López delivered his best outing of the season, but it was not enough as they fell, 3-1, at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Tuesday night.

The O's have lost 12 of their last 13 games and their record fell to 23-50.

López pitched a season-high 6 1/3 innings and looked impressive, striking out six batters and allowing two walks. He was mixing his pitches, as Houston had a tough time recognizing his fastball, changeup and fastball. After allowing a solo home run to Myles Straw in the second, López held the Astros scoreless for 4 2/3 innings.

“That was really good. Going into the seventh inning against their good lineup -- [a playoff-caliber] lineup,” O’s manager Brandon Hyde said of López. “He had a rough outing his last start, but I think he is making big strides. His stuff continues to impress. The fastball was 94 to 97 [mph]. He had some good breaking balls. He worked ahead for the most part. ... He did a great job.”

López, who fell to 2-9 with a 5.68 ERA, said the key is to stop getting upset over the little things and focus on getting outs.

“I gave up a homer in the second inning, but I kept attacking. I threw really good sinkers,” López said. “I just maintained my focus, where I was repeating my delivery. … I felt really good today.”

López left with the game at 1-1 in the top of the seventh inning after allowing a one-out single to Chas McCormick. In came reliever Hunter Harvey, who allowed an RBI single to Straw. Right fielder DJ Stewart dashed in to catch the ball, but it dropped in front of him and allowed McCormick to score the go-ahead run.

Stewart wasn’t surprised to see McCormick score from first, because he was attempting to steal on the play.

“He made a good play, good read,” Stewart said about McCormick.

Offensively, the Orioles couldn’t do much against Astros right-hander Zack Greinke, who allowed one run on five hits and one walk in 7 1/3 innings. His only blemish was a sacrifice fly to Cedric Mullins, which scored Pedro Severino. Greinke improved to 8-2 and lowered his ERA to 3.56.

“[Greinke] has been doing this for a long time,” Hyde said. “He knows how to pitch. He understands how to get a ground ball in a double-play spot. He understands when to attack. He mixes his pitches so well. He has been doing it for a long time.”