Bullpen battle: O's, Sox rank one-two in bullpen ERA

Will we see a battle of the bullpens at Camden Yards over the next four days when two American League division leaders meet? The AL East leading Orioles (12-8) host the AL Central leading Chicago White Sox (16-6), who own the best record in the American League.

The White Sox have gotten off to a stunning start on the mound. Their pitchers have allowed one or zero runs in half of their games so far, 11 of 22. Their team ERA is an impressive 2.24. They lead the AL in both rotation ERA at 2.65 and in bullpen ERA at 1.32.

In fact, the two bullpens will we see the next four days rank one-two in the major leagues in bullpen ERA. Chicago is first allowing just nine earned runs over 61 1/3 innings. Its 'pen ERA is 0.73 over the last nine games. Former Oriole Matt Albers has an ERA of 0.00 in 10 2/3 innings while Nate Jones is at 0.84 and David Robertson is at 0.87.

But the Sox will be without Robertson, their closer, for at least the next three days. He has gone on bereavement leave. Robertson is 8-for-9 in save chances.

The O's bullpen sports a 1.80 ERA, with 14 earned runs allowed over 70 innings. The O's relievers have held batters to a .201 average with 64 strikeouts. Over the last seven games, the bullpen ERA is 1.23.

Orioles closer Zach Britton said he just wants to see the O's staff get outs. They are not out to show the White Sox they can hang with their pitching staff in this series.

"No, not really," he said. "I think there is a lot of good pitching in our division. So, if anything, if we throw well and we pitch well, the starters and bullpen, we know we'll be successful. We kind of just do what we do well. Especially in the bullpen our mindset is you know to keep us in the game and not give up runs and that is our goal against anyone we play."

The Orioles' bullpen has certainly been well-rounded this year. We knew the 'pen would be strong in the late innings, but it has gone beyond that with middle relief success too and some solid long relief outings from pitchers like T.J. McFarland and Vance Worley.

"Yeah, very similar to last year," Britton said. "Just a little bit deeper down there this year. Brad (Brach) was throwing well last year, myself, Darren (O'Day), (Mychal) Givens when he came up, everyone was throwing well. This year is kind of a continuation of that.

"But it's extremely early in the year, too. Everything is with a grain of salt. It's a long season and you don't get comfortable with whatever your numbers are now. Because things can change quickly, especially throwing one or two innings at a time. You have to always stay on top of your game."