At least for a few games, the O's rotation is trending up

While some were fretting over the Orioles' slumping offense, did the O's shaky starting pitching rotation start to put some things together?

There have been some modest gains.

For instance, over the last nine games, the O's rotation ERA is 3.61. In seven of the nine games, the O's starter allowed three earned runs or less. Five times that was two earned runs or less. Four times the starter went seven innings or more.

In fact, the last two games, Yovani Gallardo and Chris Tillman each went seven innings. For this O's team, that is incredibly rare. In fact, this is just the second time this year the Orioles have gotten back-to-back starts of seven or more innings. The first time it happened Tillman and Mike Wright did it May 13-14. With Dylan Bundy pitching tonight, that streak is not likely to reach three games in a row. That would be a first for the 2016 Orioles.

In recent days, we've seen Tillman pitch well yet again. But the club also got solid outings from Kevin Gausman and Gallardo. Whether they can add a starter or not before the trade deadline, the Gausman and Gallardo have to pick up their games to help this team at least present a more formidable first three in the rotation.

Since a three-start run where he allowed 14 runs over 14 2/3 innings, Tillman is 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA. Tillman is now 14-2 with a ERA of 3.18 and has tied Chicago's Chris Sale for the American League wins lead. Sale is 14-3 with a 3.18 ERA. At least when it comes to wins and ERA, Tillman has matched Sale.

The Orioles improved to 18-3 in Tillman's 21 starts this year. That is two more team wins in his starts than any other pitcher. According to ESPN Stats & Info on Twitter, Tillman's 18 team wins are two more than Johnny Cueto of the Giants and Stephen Strasburg of the Nationals with 16 each.

Tillman has made 10 starts against the AL East this season and the Orioles are a rather impressive 10-0 in those games.

Tillman versus the AL East:
* 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA against Boston
* 3-0 with a 3.04 ERA against Tampa Bay
* 2-0 with a 3.20 ERA against New York
* 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA against Toronto

By the way, the Orioles went 15-16 in Tillman's starts last season and they went 6-10 when he started within the division. Nice reversal of fortune.

No Orioles starter had allowed one run or fewer in four straight starts since Jim Palmer strung together six in a row in 1978. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Tillman is the first Orioles pitcher to win 14 games through 21 starts in a season since Sidney Ponson in 2003.

Tillman has more than pulled his weight in the Orioles' pitching rotation. As the club moves forward, can others like Gausman and Gallardo join him with more consistency leading to some stability for a rotation that badly needs it?