O's game blog: David Hess on mound in road trip opener

After Thursday's off day, the Orioles begin a two-city, six-game road trip tonight in Cleveland. The Orioles split two games earlier this week at home against the New York Mets. They won 6-3 Tuesday and lost 16-5 on Wednesday.

The Orioles (36-85) have lost six of seven, 10 of 13, and 26 of their last 38 games. They are 15-45 in road games and 3-14-2 in road series.

Cleveland (69-51) is leading the American League Central by 12 games over Minnesota. The Indians have won five in a row, 12 of their past 15, and have won six consecutive series. Cleveland is 37-23 at home and 6-8 versus AL East teams.

Cleveland has 75 quality starts to rank second in the AL. The Tribe has a team ERA of 3.79 to rank fifth in the AL and a rotation ERA of 3.33 which is second to Houston. Over the last 20 games, Cleveland's starters have an ERA of 2.09.

Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (14-6, 3.50 ERA) will make his 23rd start tonight. He allowed one unearned run in seven innings in his last start against the White Sox. Over his past six starts, Carrasco is 4-1 with a 1.63 ERA. In 11 home starts he is 7-3 with a 4.91 ERA. Tonight is his 199th career appearance and 164th as a starter.

Right-hander David Hess (2-6, 6.25 ERA) will make his 14th appearance and 12th start for the Orioles. He gave up three runs in 5 2/3 in his last start Aug. 9. In eight road games, he is 1-3 with a 6.32 ERA. Lefty batters hit .282 off Hess and right-handers bat .274.

On the farm: Triple-A Norfolk (64-57) is one game behind both Columbus and Indianapolis for a wild card playoff berth. The Tides are seeking their first playoff spot since 2015.

Norfolk infielder Luis Sardiñas has hit safely in six consecutive games, recording four straight multi-hit contests in that span. Sardiñas has also hit safely in 15 of his last 17 games, batting a league-best .417 (26-for-63) with nine multi-hit contests, five doubles, two home runs and a .439 on-base percentage since July 28th.

Right-hander Dillon Tate gets the start tonight for Double-A Bowie at Erie. Baysox first baseman Aderlin Rodriguez hit just .197 in April to start his second campaign in Bowie and had three home runs and 17 RBIs at end of May. But since the start of June, he has hit .322 with 17 home runs and 61 RBIs in 65 games.

In his first 13 August games, Single-A Frederick infielder Preston Palmeiro is slashing .289/.373/.444 to go with an .859 OPS. This includes a home run, four doubles, five RBIs and five runs scored. The Keys' second baseman is tied for first in the league in games played (118), third in total bases (184) and tied for third in hits (117). He also ranks just outside the top five in the league with 15 home runs.

When Single-A Delmarva hosts Charleston tonight, lefty DL Hall (2-7, 2.24 ERA) gets the start. Hall is 2-2 with an 0.68 ERA in his eight starts since the All-Star Break. He hasn't allowed more than one earned run in any of those starts and has struck out 49 over 39 2/3 innings. He was the Orioles top draft pick in 2017.