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As poor as the Baltimore Orioles have played of late, things are much worse for the Kansas City Royals. The visiting Orioles can avoid a sixth defeat in seven games by extending the Royals’ losing streak to eight in a row on Monday night in the opener of a three-game set. Baltimore won six of seven from April 6-13 but is 1-5 since then. The Orioles have totaled 22 runs in the last six contests and just dropped three of four at Cleveland, where they batted .157, went 5-for-26 with runners in scoring position and struck out 48 times. “We all need to, I guess, look in the mirror and really examine what we did out there … and just

Even veteran major leaguers want to make a good first impression. But Rob Refsnyder had plenty on his mind this spring. After going hitless in his first 18 at-bats this season, Refsnyder homered on the first pitch of the bottom of the first inning from Texas’ MacKenzie Gore, sparking the host Seattle Mariners to a 5-2 series-clinching victory Sunday. J.P. Crawford and Randy Arozarena also went deep and Bryan Woo pitched seven strong innings as the Mariners won their second straight game. The Mariners are scheduled to open a three-game home series against the American League West rival Athletics on Monday. “You never want to be in a slump, especially early in the year, new team, new city,” said Refsnyder,

The St. Louis Cardinals are having success — a season-best five-game win streak — and a big reason why is their offense. The Cardinals entered Sunday ranked third in the National League in homers and seventh in runs. They have scored at least five runs in five straight games. St. Louis, which is set to open a three-game series at the Miami Marlins on Monday night, believes in its balance. “From one to nine, nobody is an easy out,” Cardinals catcher/designated hitter Ivan Herrera said. “Everybody is putting together great at-bats, and we’re putting pressure on (opponents).” The biggest bat in the Cardinals lineup belongs to Jordan Walker, a 23-year-old who is off to a great start — eight homers,

A five-game winning streak wasn’t enough to lift the Chicago Cubs out of last place in a tightly packed National League Central. But the Cubs will get another chance to torment another NL East team on Monday night, when they continue a homestand against the Philadelphia Phillies in the opener of a four-game series. Colin Rea (2-0, 3.63 ERA) is slated to take the mound for the Cubs against Aaron Nola (1-1, 4.03) in a battle of right-handers. Both teams continued going in opposite directions while completing a home series Sunday. The Cubs closed out a three-game sweep of the New York Mets with a 2-1, 10-inning win, while the Phillies suffered their fifth consecutive loss as the Atlanta Braves