O's game blog: Jimenez on the mound for Houston opener

After winning four in a row against Texas, the Orioles face another team from that state tonight. They open a three-game series with the Houston Astros, who at 63-32, hold the best record in the American League.

Houston is leading the AL West by 16 games and easily has the best AL record. Boston at 54-43 has the second-best record in the league and they are 10 games behind Houston.

The Orioles (46-49) are still three games under the .500 mark after sweeping Texas. They are in fourth place, seven games out in the AL East and are 3 1/2 back for the second wild card spot. There is much work to do.

Houston's lineup is producing 5.87 runs per game and the Astros are 33-11 on the road. Houston is scoring a major league-best 7.14 runs per game on the road. When compared to previous full season totals, the Astros runs per game on the road would rank fourth in major league history, trailing only the 1939 (7.80), 1930 (7.58) and 1936 (7.35) Yankees.

The Astros are off to their best 95-game start in club history, besting their previous record of 56-39, set in 1998 and 1999. They have won six of their past eight series and are 21-6-2 in series in 2017.

Houston swept three from the Orioles in Houston in May by 2-0, 5-2 and 8-4 scores. The Astros have won six straight, nine of 10 and 13 of their last 16 games versus Baltimore and have won three straight at Camden Yards.

On the mound tonight, Ubaldo Jiménez (4-5, 7.01 ERA) makes his 20th appearance and 15th as a starter. Jiménez pitched eight shutout innings June 29 at Toronto, in one of his best games ever with the Orioles. But in three starts since, he has pitched to an ERA of 9.88 allowing 15 runs and 21 hits in 13 2/3 innings. In 13 career games (11 starts) versus Houston, he is 4-1 with a 2.87 ERA.

Right-hander Mike Fiers (6-4, 3.75 ERA) gets the start for Houston. In eight starts since June 1, he is 4-2 with a 2.44 ERA. In nine road starts he is 4-1 with a 4.79 ERA.

Fiers gave up a ton of home runs his first two months and then very few the last two, in a big reversal. In April and May, he yielded 18 homers in 52 2/3 or 3.08 per every nine innings. In June and July he has given up three over 48 innings, or 0.56 per every nine frames.

Fiers has made one career start against the Orioles. On Aug. 20, 2016, he pitched seven innings, allowing five hits and one run with one walk and seven strikeouts. Current Orioles are batting .167 (8-for-48) against him.

The Orioles hit four home runs in the win on Thursday. The homers came from Jonathan Schoop, Adam Jones, Mark Trumbo, and Chris Davis. The Orioles have 10 games this season with at least four homers, the most such games in the majors. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles have had three other seasons with at least 10 four-homer games - 1995 (10), 1996 (14) and 2016 (16). The 2016 Orioles also had exactly 10 four-homer games through July 20.