O's game blog: Gabriel Ynoa faces Giants in series finale

The Orioles wrap up a three-game series and six-game homestand when they host the San Francisco Giants this afternoon. They went 1-2 against Detroit to start the homestand and are 1-1 in this series. They won 9-6 Friday night and lost 8-2 Saturday afternoon.

The Orioles (18-40) became the first team to lose 40 games yesterday as they lost for the 11th time in the last 14 games. They've also lost 18 of 23, are 2-3 in interleague play and 8-22 at Oriole Park.

San Francisco (23-34) is now 5-7 in interleague play and 13-16 in road games. The Giants picked up their first win at Camden Yards since June 13, 2004. Of course, this is their first series in Baltimore since that season.

After going 2-for-4 Saturday, Trey Mancini is batting .303. He has hit safely in 43 of his 55 games for 78.2 percent. He leads the team with 19 multi-hit games. Mancini has an eight-game hitting streak in interleague games dating to July 12, 2018. In five games against the National League this year, he is batting .429 (9-for-21).

The Orioles send right-hander Gabriel Ynoa (0-1, 5.40) to the mound today in the series finale for his second start and 11th appearance of 2019. He got the start at Oriole Park on Monday against Detroit.

In that game, over four innings, he gave five hits and two runs with one walk and four strikeouts. The Orioles won 5-3 and Dan Straily got the win in relief. Ynoa threw 29 four-seam fastballs among his 85 pitches that averaged 93.4 mph. He added 28 sliders, 16 sinkers and 12 changeups.

In his first five outings this year, Ynoa had an ERA of 0.79 with one walk and 11 strikeouts over 11 1/3 innings. Then over his next four games, he allowed 10 earned runs in 6 1/3 innings for an ERA of 14.22. That led up to his start on Monday.

In six home games, he is 0-0 with a 4.50 ERA and has allowed one homer in 12 innings. Left-handed batters are hitting .244 with an OPS of .637 against Ynoa and right-handers bat .333/.892.

Right-hander Jeff Samardzija (2-4, 3.83 ERA) will make his 12th start for San Francisco. Over his past two games, he has thrown 10 innings, allowing 12 hits and 11 runs (five earned). The Giants are 5-6 when he starts.

In six April starts, he went 2-1 with a 2.53 ERA and a 1.063 WHIP. In five May starts, he was 0-3 with a 5.55 ERA and a 1.479 WHIP. One difference was homers allowed - three in 32 innings in April and seven in 24 1/3 innings in May. That is a 0.8 homer rate in April and 2.6 in May.

Lefty batters hit .228/.781 against him and right-handers hit .246/.664. In six road games, he is 1-3 with a 5.46 ERA. He's thrown six innings or more just twice and has two quality starts.

The Giants' Buster Posey hit his third home run in Saturday's win. He had gone 51 at-bats since his last homer on May 5 versus Cincinnati. It was his first career home run against the Orioles and first in an interleague game since June 30, 2016 against Oakland.

Notes from Norfolk: After striking out five last night, left-hander Keegan Akin now leads the International League with 65 strikeouts. Akin is 3-2 with a 4.02 ERA through 11 starts for the Tides.

Catcher Chance Sisco has already set a career-high with 10 home runs, putting him on pace to record 27 homers this year. That total that would be the most by any Norfolk player as an Orioles affiliate, passing the 26 hit by Pedro Álvarez in 2017.

Outfielder Mason Williams has hit safely in eight consecutive games, batting .394 (13-for-33) with two home runs, five RBIs and four multi-hit games. In 24 games since April 27th, Williams has batted .340 (32-for-94) with eight home runs, 19 RBIs, 10 mult-hit games and a .398 on-base percentage.