CLEVELAND — It hasn’t been terribly easy for the Orioles to conjure runs this week. On Saturday, Cleveland starter Gavin Williams made it look a lot harder for Baltimore’s hot-and-cold offense.

Both swinging and looking, Orioles hitters were befuddled by the right-hander. And, in a series that has seen them go through long stretches of scoreless innings, their effort in a 4-2 defeat at Progressive Field wasn’t a confidence builder that Baltimore (10-11) is getting ready to turn it around.

What many expected to be a high-octane offense this season has been sputtering, and plenty of Orioles hitters struggled, especially in the middle of the order. Pete Alonso struck out four times. Colton Cowser struck out four — the first three times looking.

Although Leody Taveras and Gunnar Henderson each walloped a solo home run to put the Orioles in striking distance, the offense as a whole continues to hunt for regularity — Baltimore has scored in only four of 27 innings in Cleveland.

“We go out there, trying to do our best, and some days it’s going to happen like that,” said Taveras, who had a walk to go with a hit to be one of just four Orioles baserunners. “We’ve got to flush and come back tomorrow and do the best we can.”

Taveras has quietly become one of the Orioles’ best hitters, now hitting safely in seven straight games while also walking nine times to start the season. The outfielder was a relatively minor offseason acquisition after spending the bulk of his career in Texas, but he has gotten out to an extraordinarily hot start while also playing center field.

Unfortunately for Baltimore, his standout performance was one of few against Williams.

Williams had his second double-digit-strikeout effort of the season for the Guardians, fanning 11 while walking only one. His combo of a sweeper and a four-seam fastball kept the Orioles tied in knots, generating 16 whiffs with the two-pitch salvo.

In his time as Cleveland’s bench coach, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz saw Williams occasionally struggle with command. But against the Orioles the 26-year-old looked more like an ace.

“For him, Gavin’s Achilles’ heel is always the walks, and I think tonight we only walked once, struck out 16 times, so it was a credit to him,” Albernaz said. “He pitched really well, but also we just couldn’t really work the count and get guys on base and get traffic.”

The only thing keeping Orioles starter Dean Kremer from greatness early in the season has been home runs. After giving up three on six hits in his debut, Kremer surrendered only one Saturday as he allowed two hits in six innings.

A fastball inside to nine-hole hitter Brayan Rocchio wound up landing in the right field stands, giving the Guardians a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Catcher Samuel Basallo and Kremer had a miscommunication on the PitchCom system as the pitch clock counted down. As Basallo continued to signal, Kremer went into the windup for a four-seam fastball that missed inside. “Rocchio beat me there,” Kremer said.

If not for his one unlucky pitch, it would have been quite a start for Kremer. He struck out six and walked two, and he didn’t allow his first hit until the fifth inning.

“Just made one mental mistake — physical and mental mistake,” Kremer said. “But other than that it was a really good outing.”

Albert Suarez relieved him, allowing a solo shot from Bo Naylor.

The Orioles will play the final game of the series Sunday. Trevor Rogers is slated to start with a frigid forecast in Cleveland.

This article has been updated.