Burnes ineffective, offense nonexistent in Orioles’ 6-0 loss to Astros

BALTIMORE—Corbin Burnes had his second consecutive tough start. After allowing eight runs on 10 hits in four innings against Boston last Friday, Burnes gave up six runs, five earned, in 5 2/3 innings as the Orioles lost to the Houston Astros, 6-0, before 22,212 at Camden Yards on Thursday night.

Houston (69-58) didn’t get a hit in the first three innings against Burnes (12-6). They took a 2-0 lead in the fourth on RBI singles by Yordan Alvarez and Ben Gamel and scored four more in the sixth on five singles and a throwing error by Burnes.

In the season’s first half, Burnes was 9-4 with a 2.43 ERA. In seven starts since the All-Star break, Burnes is 3-2 with a 5.75 ERA.

The Orioles’ offensive woes continued. They had just three hits in six innings against Spencer Arrighetti (6-11), who was facing them for the first time. He struck out six and walked one. Leadoff hitter Colton Cowser struck out three times against Arrighetti.

Shawn Dubin and Caleb Ferguson combined for three hitless innings. The Orioles have been held to three hits in three of their last five games. The Orioles were hitless over the last 5 2/3 innings.

Since scoring 10 runs in a 12-10 loss to Boston, the Orioles’ offense has been mostly flat, and other than a first-inning double by Gunnar Henderson, a double in the second by Ryan Mountcastle and a single in the fourth by Adley Rutschman, they did nothing.

They were shut out for the fifth time this season, the first since July 11^th.

The Orioles (74-55) fall 1 ½ games behind the New York Yankees in the American League East, their largest deficit since June 25^th. New York beat Cleveland, 6-0.

Matt Bowman, a native of Chevy Chase whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday, relieved Burnes and retired all four batters he faced.