A look at the Orioles' success on first-pitch swings, plus other notes

We all know the Orioles as a team are generally pretty aggressive hitters. They are not known for working the count, and if you throw the first pitch to their liking, they will hack at it.

But the stat sheet tells us that the Orioles have success when they swing at the first pitch.

American League leaders, batting average on first pitch:
.377 - Texas
.358 - Orioles
.354 - Cleveland
.347 - Detroit

The Orioles are not the only team getting a solid number of hits with first-pitch hacking as 13 AL teams are batting over .300 when swinging at the first pitch.

This has been an ongoing debate here for years as many readers do not like first-pitch swinging and point it out often when a key out is made on a 0-0 count. But I contend the O's do well often on 0-0.

It happened just Friday night. In a 3-3 tie in the last of the eighth, Cleveland reliever Marc Rzepczynski gave up three hits on three pitches to three batters as the O's took the lead on their way to a 4-3 win.

My take is pretty clear here: Pitchers look to get ahead in the count and sometimes the first pitch is a good one to hit. If the pitch is down the middle and/or very hittable, I would seldom have a problem with a hitter taking a swing. You can't just hack here. Make sure that pitch is a good one, but if it is, go get it, I say.

I get that working the count and getting the starter out of the game by escalating his pitch count is a good strategy, but so is getting a good pitch to hit. The first one may be the best one.

The Orioles lead the AL with 17 homers on the first pitch. They rank second in slugging at .587 and third with a .952 OPS on an 0-0 count.

More O's and Indians notes:

* The Orioles are 10-1 when Matt Wieters is the starting catcher. They are 25-26 when Caleb Joseph starts, 3-5 with Ryan Lavarnway and 1-2 with Steve Clevenger.

* The Orioles lead the majors with 22 outfield assists. Delmon Young is tied for second in the majors with eight followed by Adam Jones with five and Travis Snider with four.

* Cleveland's Jason Kipnis has a 20-game hitting streak since June 3, batting .400 (30-for-75). That is the longest streak in MLB this year and the longest by an Indian since Michael Brantley hit in 22 straight from May 20-June 15, 2012.

* Zach Britton has converted his last 18 save chances to tie his career-best mark set from July 19-Sept. 4, 2014. Friday's save was the 59th of his career and he is now one behind Dick Hall for eighth on the Orioles' all-time list.

* Cleveland's bullpen has surrendered just three runs in 22 2/3 innings over the club's last eight games for a 1.19 ERA. The Indians 'pen ERA for the season is 3.22, fourth-lowest in the AL behind Kansas City (2.09), Houston (2.62) and Baltimore (2.77) through Friday's games.

* The Orioles have scored 32 runs their last five games and 67 over the last 10 games. In the past seven games, they are batting .424 with runners in scoring position.

* From May 13-30, O's starting pitchers went seven innings or more 11 times in a 17-game stretch. Since then, the O's have just one start of seven innings or more in the last 25 games.