The Orioles' season-long struggles away from home continued during their month-ending road trip. In the end, though, they finished July in first place in the American League East thanks to a hard-fought 12-inning victory in Toronto July 31.
The Birds entered the series finale against the Blue Jays in the midst of a freefall, carrying a five-game losing streak that dated back to July 26. Both the offense and the starting pitching shared responsibility for the Orioles' slide. On the hitting side, the O's plated a total of 12 runs during the five games and went 5-for-28 with runners in scoring position, continuing their second-half woes in RBI opportunities.
As for the pitchers, none of the Orioles' starters delivered a quality outing during the five-game losing streak. They were particularly ineffective against the Blue Jays, as righties Kevin Gausman and Yovani Gallardo combined to cough up 11 earned runs in 7.1 innings July 29 and 30. That pushed the Blue Jays ahead of the Orioles in the AL East standings and put the Birds on the brink of getting swept.
