O's game blog: Corbin Burnes on the mound in Cleveland series finale

The Orioles send ace righty Corbin Burnes (11-4, 2.47 ERA) to the mound this afternoon for his 23^rd start. The Orioles are 15-7 in his outings this year, winning the last three in a row.

After Saturday's 7-4 win, they can split this four-game series with a win today. The Orioles had 15 hits and went 8-for-20 with runners in scoring position yesterday and look to continue their success at the plate.

Baltimore recorded 15 hits for the eighth time this season, tied with Texas and Arizona for the most games with 15+ hits in MLB this season, but the team's first since July 6 at Oakland. O's pinch hitters went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple, and three RBI.

Jackson Holliday has allied back-to-back multi-hit efforts after not having one in his first 12 career games; he's scored a run in five consecutive games, including all four since being recalled from Triple-A Norfolk on July 31. In four games since his return to the majors, he is 5-for-14 with a double, homer, four runs and six RBIs.

The Orioles remain tied for the American League East lead with the Yankees. Both clubs are 66-46.

Burnes has recorded six straight quality starts, going 3-1 with a 2.77 ERA and .644 OPS against in this span. Burnes has produced 16 quality starts his last 17 games since April 26. In that span, he is 8-4 with a 2.39 ERA with a .219 batting average against and .603 OPS.

Burnes has allowed three earned runs or less in 21 of his 22 games this year missing out that one time when he gave up four runs over seven innings June 22 at Houston. Yep, four runs allowed is his high this season.

Giving up four runs just once this year is pretty remarkable, even by Burnes' high standards. For instance, he gave up four runs or more 10 times last season when he finished with an ERA of 3.39. And he did that six times in 2021 when he finished with a 2.43 ERA and won the National League Cy Young Award.

This season Burnes has allowed two earned runs or less 16 times over 22 starts and he has 18 quality starts for the year.

Burnes has been fantastic in 2024 against lefty batters allowing a batting average of .187 with a .499 OPS. Versus right-handers those numbers are .237/.677.

In three career starts against Cleveland, Burnes is 2-0 with a 1.83 ERA, allowing four earned runs over 19 2/3 innings and just one home run. He has allowed a .157 average and .485 OPS against Cleveland batters.

Anthony Santander has hit an MLB-best 23 home runs since the start of June, two ahead of the Yankees' Aaron Judge and four more than the Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani during that time. His 32 home runs are tied for third in MLB with Atlanta's Marcell Ozuna, trailing Ohtani (33) and Judge (41). Santander's career high for homers is 33, set in 2022.

Right-hander Gavin Williams (1-3, 3.72 ERA) will make his seventh start for Cleveland. Over 29 innings this season he has allowed 28 hits with 11 walks, 31 strikeouts and a 1.345 WHIP. The Guardians are 2-4 in his outings.

Cleveland’s first-round pick in 2021 out of East Carolina, Williams was taken No. 23 overall in that draft. Before the 2023 season, he was ranked as the No. 20 prospect in the Baseball America top 100 and No. 42 by MLB.com.

In three home starts this year, he is 0-3 with a 7.24 ERA and 1.829 WHIP. He has allowed five, three and three runs in those starts over a combined 13 2/3 innings.