BALTIMORE - The Los Angeles Dodgers spent virtually an entire day trying to end their losing streak, and all they had to show for their effort was two more defeats.
The Dodgers dropped both ends of a split doubleheader Saturday, falling 7-5 in the opener and 6-1 in the nightcap. The losses extended Los Angeles' skid to six games, the team's longest such run since a seven-game slide last June.
"There is a time when you feel like you just need a win," manager Don Mattingly said. "Really, this feels like one of those times. We just need to put a win on the board and get out of this. We need to try and play with a lot of effort, which I think we did all day today. I felt like we battled all day. It didn't work out."
Los Angeles is now 7-10, the first time its been three games under .500 since Sept. 15, 2011 (73-76).
"I just think we need to win," said slugger Andre Ethier, who homered in the opener. "We're digging ourselves in a bad hole. You can't say we got a bad hop here or a bad break. We got to change it ourselves. Winning is contagious and so is losing. It's not something you want to get in the habit of doing."
Staked to an early four-run lead in the opener, left-hander Hyun-Jin Ryu was in ideal position to earn his third major league win and help the Dodgers end their run of misery.
The South Korean rookie couldn't maintain the advantage. He allowed two home runs 鈥� more than in his previous three starts combined 鈥� and left with Los Angeles down 5-4 after six innings.
"I can't really make any excuses. I wish the outcome was better," Ryu said through a translator. "But I'll come back and do better next time. I'll just consider it a big learning experience."
In the second game, Wei-Yin Chen pitched six innings of three-hit ball and the Orioles got home runs from Chris Davis and Manny Machado to complete their first doubleheader sweep since Oct., 1, 2010, against Detroit.
"You look at the math of it, it's hard," manager Buck Showalter said. "It's hard because there's an atmosphere of, once you get that first one, you either kind of relax. Our guys came out trying to compete."
Josh Beckett (0-3) kept the Dodgers close until Machado hit a three-run homer in the sixth to make it 6-1. The right-hander has lost five consecutive starts to Baltimore, beginning in 2011 when he was with Boston.
"I was trying to front hip it and I put it down the middle and he hit it good," Beckett said. "That was the difference today. Really, the pitches their guys were making were the pitches I wasn't. That's what lost us the game."
Chen (1-2) allowed one run, walked four and struck out two to end a six-game losing streak dating back to Aug. 19, 2012. The Taiwanese left-hander didn't let a runner get past first base after the first inning and was aided by two double plays.
Tommy Hunter pitched the final three innings for his first career save.
In the opener, Los Angeles used a three-run homer by Ethier and a sacrifice fly by Mark Ellis to go up 4-0 in the second inning. But the Orioles rallied to win, and it wasn't all Ryu's fault.
With the score tied at 5 in the eighth, Davis hit a one-out double off Paco Rodriguez (0-1) and Ronald Belisario walked J.J. Hardy on four pitches. After a passed ball and an intentional walk loaded the bases, Nolan Reimould sliced an opposite-field double down the right field line to score two runs.
Belisario sat motionless at his locker long after the game. He's issued six walks, 11 hits and four runs in 7 1-3 innings this season.
When he finally spoke to reporters, Belisario said, "I feel good. I have to get ready for our next game, forget about it. That's the past."
Darren O'Day (2-0) got two outs in the eighth and Jim Johnson worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save.
NOTES: Mattingly turned 52 on Saturday. ... Before the game, former Orioles Brooks Robinson and Cal Ripken Jr. participated in an on-field remembrance of Hall of Fame manager Earl Weaver, who died in January. ... Los Angeles fell to 5-3 against Baltimore in interleague play and 17-51 in AL ballparks since 2005. ... The Dodgers will seek to prevent a three-game sweep on Sunday.
