O's game blog: A look at three hitters with strong stats against lefty pitching

If the Orioles can win either of the next two games, they will win this series from the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels have won a club-record 10 straight home series. Even with last night's loss to the Orioles, the Angels are 14-3 in their last 17 home games and 25-6 in their past 31. Tonight, the O's face left-hander Hector Santiago (2-7, 4.32 ERA). Santiago allows an ERA of 3.27 in the first five innings of his starts and that goes up to 9.26 from the sixth on. He is 0-0 with a 3.86 ERA in four games and two career starts against Baltimore. Over 14 innings, he has given up 14 hits, including four doubles and four homers. The Orioles have a .262 team batting average and .425 slugging percentage against lefties in 2014. Those numbers are .263/.317/.418 against right-handed pitchers. But three O's have robust numbers when facing southpaws: * Nelson Cruz is batting .357 with five homers, 16 RBIs and a 1.063 OPS in 84 at-bats. * Adam Jones is batting .412 with seven homers, 15 RBIs and a 1.220 OPS in 97 at-bats. * Steve Pearce is batting .356 with six homers, 12 RBIs and a 1.196 OPS in 59 at-bats. The Orioles are 13-13 when a left-hander starts against them and 41-31 when a right-hander gets the start. Miguel Gonzalez (4-5, 4.04 ERA) makes his 16th start of the season tonight. He went eight innings in each of his last two starts against Boston and New York. He gave up 13 hits and four runs (three earned) with two walks and 11 strikeouts in the two starts combined. Gonzalez has allowed two earned runs or less in seven of his last 10 starts. He is 2-1 with a 2.14 ERA in three career starts against the Angels. Gonzalez has given up just a .191 average and has a WHIP of 0.76 in 21 innings against Los Angeles. Since May 31, the Orioles are 13-6 in 19 road games, batting .274/.330/.466 as a team and averaging 5.5 runs per game while pitching to a 3.53 team ERA. Dylan Bundy pitched well for Single-A Frederick tonight. Over six scoreless innings at Myrtle Beach, Bundy allowed just three hits with two walks and one strikeout. Bundy threw 75 pitches in his longest outing of the season. He had pitched to an ERA of 9.26 in his first three starts with the Keys. He gave up six runs and six hits in four innings in his last start. Matt Hobgood came on in relief of Bundy. At Double-A Bowie tonight, Eduardo Rodriguez pitched seven strong innings against Harrisburg. The left-hander gave up three hits and one unearned run with one walk and five strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to 4.69. In their first games with the Baysox tonight, Glynn Davis is 2-for-3 with a pair of singles and an RBI, and Michael Burgess is 0-for-4 as Bowie trails 3-2 in the ninth.