Remember the last time the Orioles faced the Houston Astros, when they struck out at a historic rate and the concern was that this team of big swingers might never stop whiffing?

The Orioles do, and they shrug it off. Another encounter with the Astros — whose 52 strikeouts of the Orioles in a three-game series at Minute Maid Park in May set a major league record — this week at Camden Yards is an occasion to note that these Orioles haven't been the prodigious strikeout machine many feared they would be.

They still strike out, but strikeouts are up across the game, and the Orioles aren't doing it more or less than in any other season in recent history. In their minds, it continues to be a byproduct of the power that drives their offense.

“Nobody ever wants to strike out, but at the same time, you're trying to take your best swing to get a hit,” catcher Matt Wieters said. “If you take good swings and don't hit the ball, it's a strikeout. … I think strikeouts are just more part of the game now than they used to be. In this clubhouse, we're never going up there trying to strike out. But at the same time, if we ever got in our heads that we're going up there not to strike out, we wouldn't be as successful as we are.”

Entering Thursday night's series opener against Houston, the Orioles were ninth in the majors with a strikeout rate of 21.9 percent. Last season, they had the third-highest rate at 22.2 percent. So despite the additions of swing-and-miss power hitters such as outfielder Mark Trumbo and designated hitter Pedro Alvarez, the Orioles haven't seen their strikeout rate rise this season.

Part of that decline results from some individual improvements. Second baseman Jonathan Schoop has cut his strikeout rate from 25.4 percent in 2014 and 24.6?percent in 2015 to 20.5 percent this season. Shortstop J.J.?Hardy (20.1?percent to 14.8?percent) and Wieters (23.8?percent to 19.9 percent) are back in the teens and striking out less often in larger roles.

That Houston series also sparked a lineup change that moved center fielder Adam Jones, who has a career 19?percent strikeout rate, to the leadoff spot to awaken his bat. He's on pace for a career-low strikeout rate of 17.3?percent, thanks to a 16.1?percent strikeout rate since moving to leadoff.

Jones plays down the fact he has been more selective than ever, citing the baseball axiom that you don't walk your way off the island, a nod toward free-swinging Latin American players.

“Same way, you don't walk your way out of the 'hood,” Jones said. “You've got to hit. You hit your way out of the 'hood and off the island.”

But there have not been improvements across the board. First baseman Chris Davis entered Thursday leading the majors with 165 strikeouts in 115 games, a year after his 208 made him the game's strikeout king.

Hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh said it has not been a point of pride that the club hasn't fulfilled the doomsday strikeout projections set for them.

“I think that even though the guys who in their history have had a tendency to swing and miss more than usual, they still all have pride,” he said. “I don't think the pride factor comes into play. It's more of a mindset of reading what's asked of you during the game, and the game dictates what your at-bat should be about.”

For example, Coolbaugh noted the Orioles have struck out more often in situations where the game is tight but early in innings, when there are no runners in scoring position and the situation dictates they might need to drive a ball to start something.

They entered Thursday striking out 22.6 percent of the time with the bases empty, and 20.9?percent with runners in scoring position.

“The one thing that I've been happy about, for the most part, is the strikeouts with guys on base,” Coolbaugh said. “We've done a pretty good job of doing what we can do to put the ball in play and consequently, hitting with runners in scoring position and driving those guys in has been probably more of a conscious effort of putting the ball in play than it is the strikeouts.”

Even without the strikeouts coming as often as feared, the cause of them — the Orioles' big swings — is producing the desired results. The Orioles lead the majors with 183 home runs, the same number of homers through 120 games by the 1997 Seattle Mariners, who hold the single-season record of 264.

Coolbaugh acknowledges, though, that the Orioles haven't been consistent. May, which featured that disastrous series in Houston, wasn't a good month, but June was. They haven't been able to recapture that since the All-Star break, and the hitting coach said he believes some of the problem is overswinging.

Wieters, however, cites basketball great “Pistol” Pete Maravich in sharing the team's mindset of finding its offensive groove again, even if it involves some strikeouts getting there.

“He shoots when he's hot, and he shoots to get hot,” Wieters said. jmeoli@baltsun.com

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