BALTIMORE -- It may have been the loudest Camden Yards has been this season. The announced crowd of 40,012 that filled the seats Saturday evening -- many of whom were donning the orange Hawaiian shirt giveaway -- wanted nothing more than to see the Orioles walk off for a win in the ninth inning.

The fans rose to their feet. They were locked in on every pitch. They tried to will Baltimore to victory.

But that didn¡¯t happen. And now, at the midway point of their 2023 campaign, the Orioles find themselves in an unfamiliar position. They¡¯ve lost a season-high four consecutive games and need to find a way to avoid a prolonged skid.

The solution is to get the offense going. On Saturday, the Orioles lost, 1-0, to the Twins, producing only three hits (all singles) while getting shut out for the sixth time this year. Two of those knocks came against right-hander Bailey Ober, who retired 21 of the 24 Baltimore batters he faced over seven dominant innings.

The Orioles have scored nine total runs over their four-game losing streak, and seven of those came against the Reds on Wednesday. Baltimore has plated a run in only four of 36 innings over that span, during which it is batting .156 (20-for-128).

Any cause for concern?

¡°I think this team¡¯s capable of doing a lot of great things, and we¡¯ve kind of shown that this year already,¡± center fielder Cedric Mullins said. ¡°Four-game losing streak? I don¡¯t think it worries us too much. Come back, compete the next day.¡±

Through 81 games, Baltimore is 48-33. That puts the club at a 96-win pace. If the Orioles play similarly well over the second half of their schedule, they¡¯ll surely be heading to the postseason for the first time since 2016.

But Baltimore can¡¯t let its longest rough patch thus far spiral too far in the wrong direction.

It hasn¡¯t helped the Orioles that numerous key offensive contributors are slumping at the same time. Mullins (4-for-24 in six games since his return from the injured list), Ryan O¡¯Hearn (2-for-23 in his past seven games) and Aaron Hicks (2-for-24 in his past eight games) aren¡¯t producing much right now. Adley Rutschman is coming off a June in which he slashed .222/.293/.367.

Adam Frazier is 4-for-his-last-21. Jorge Mateo is in a 2-for-24 skid. Anthony Santander is in a shorter slump of 2-for-17, but he also had one of Baltimore¡¯s three hits Saturday.

Sometimes, hitters have to tip their hats to the competition, though.

¡°I thought Ober threw the ball great. Pablo L¨®pez is really good, who we faced [Friday] night,¡± manager Brandon Hyde said. ¡°So we¡¯ve faced a couple of really good starters that were on, and we just had a tough time offensively.¡±

The Orioles gave their supporters hope in Saturday¡¯s ninth, when Rutschman reached on a one-out infield single and Mateo pinch-ran and stole second. But Santander flied out to foul territory in the right-field corner -- where Max Kepler made a stellar sliding catch -- and O¡¯Hearn grounded out against lights-out Twins closer Jhoan Duran to end it.

The lack of offense gave Baltimore right-hander Kyle Bradish a hard-luck loss. The 26-year-old again pitched well, scattering seven hits and striking out seven over six innings of one-run ball. His lone blemish was a two-out solo homer by Joey Gallo in the fourth, which accounted for the game¡¯s lone run.

Bradish has recorded a 2.16 ERA over his past four starts, a stretch that has lowered his season ERA to 3.58. That ranks second among Orioles starters, behind only Tyler Wells (3.21).

¡°He¡¯s really, really improved. The command has gotten so much better,¡± Hyde said of Bradish. ¡°He¡¯s got a really great fastball he can go to both sides with, with the sinker and the cutter. The curveball¡¯s continuing to improve. And he¡¯s got the changeup that¡¯s hard, but he¡¯s keeping it down in the zone. He¡¯s doing a great job.¡±

Prior to this losing streak, Baltimore had dropped three consecutive games only once this season (May 6-8). It still hasn¡¯t been swept in a series, a mark it will aim to keep intact in Sunday¡¯s finale.

Bradish and Mullins share a similar mindset -- there¡¯s no reason to panic. The rest of the Orioles¡¯ clubhouse would likely agree.

¡°I say it a lot, but it¡¯s baseball. It¡¯s going to happen,¡± Bradish said. ¡°We¡¯re not going to put up 10 runs every game, but we¡¯re right in there.¡±

Added Mullins: ¡°162 games, bound to have some stretches like that. Attribute that to baseball. I feel like we¡¯re coming up there with a plan, with an approach. Just not getting the results we want right now.¡±