O's game blog: O's staff has 2.33 ERA the last 12 games with four shutouts

CINCINNATI – The Orioles are on a real solid pitching roll here and try to keep that going tonight with the return of left-hander John Means to the Baltimore rotation.

The O’s produced a four-pitcher, two-hit shutout last night and beat Cincinnati 3-0 in the series and road trip opener in front of 25,861 at Great American Ball Park.

They are now 21-11 and have won four of five and nine of their past 13 games. They are 9-4 on the road, 8-3 in series-opening games and 4-1 when that series opener is on the road.

In the last five games, O’s pitching has allowed 0, 2, 2, 2 and 0 runs. That is six runs allowed in that span, for an ERA of 1.20, giving up 24 hits in 45 innings with a .157 batting average against and .486 OPS.

Over those five games, Baltimore starters have an ERA of 1.52 and in that stretch, the bullpen pitchers have allowed just one run over 15 1/3 innings with one walk to 16 strikeouts.

With four shutouts in the last 12 games, Baltimore pitchers have allowed 30 runs in those dozen games with a team ERA of 2.33. Their opponents have batted .199 with an OPS of .615 in this span during which O’s pitchers have a 48.4 percent groundball rate.

Friday night, lefty Cole Irvin and Reds right-hander Hunter Greene were locked in a pitcher’s duel until the Orioles scored three in the top of the seventh. Adley Rutschman’s RBI double scored the game’s first run and Ryan O’Hearn’s two-run homer gave them a 3-0 lead.

O’Hearn was 2-for-5 and homered off Emilio Pagán to extend his current hitting streak to a season-high six games. That is his longest run since hitting in seven straight from Sept. 16-22, 2023. He has raised his batting average from .268 to its current mark of .307 during this stretch. 

Rutschman’s 40 hits rank tied with Kansas City’s Salvador Perez and Houston’s Jeremy Peña for fifth-most among American League batters. He is now batting .333 with an OPS of .766 in road games.

O’Hearn’s homer was the Orioles' MLB-leading 49^th of the season. They are now 17-6 when they hit at least one homer and 4-5 when they go homerless.

Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz had both of Cincinnati’s hits Friday night with a first-inning single and a seventh-inning double, both off Irvin. He extended his lead among Major League players with his 19th stolen base in the first inning. But beyond his two hits, the rest of the Reds lineup went 0-for-25 last night.

Cincinnati (16-16) lost for the sixth time in its last eight games and is now 9-8 at home.

The Orioles have a chance with a win tonight to end a six-series losing streak versus NL Central teams. That is their second-longest losing streak to a National League division beyond an eight-series losing streak against NL East clubs from June, 2002 to May, 2006.

Lefty Means makes his 2024 season debut tonight after making four starts late season for the Orioles and going 1-2 with a 2.66 ERA. He had Tommy John surgery in April of 2022 and missed the playoffs last October with elbow soreness.

His latest return to the club comes after six minor league rehab starts at Triple-A where he posted an ERA of 8.68. But he worked his pitch counts from 32 to 50, 61, 34, 79 and 95. Last Sunday he pitched seven scoreless on one hit with eight strikeouts.

Southpaw Andrew Abbott (1-3, 3.27 ERA) starts for the home team. He has thrown 33 innings allowing 26 hits with 11 walks and 27 strikeouts. His WHIP was 1.121 and he has allowed five homers.

A second-round draft pick out of the University of Virginia in 2021, he has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his six starts and the Reds are 3-3 in those games.

Lefty batters have hit .214 with a .481 OPS and right-handers have hit .213/.757 against him and all five homers he has allowed have come off righty batters.