O's game blog: Kyle Bradish faces Seattle at the Yard

During a season when the Orioles have played so many close games – with 30 of 51, or 59 percent, decided by one or two runs – the last three Orioles games were blowouts. All three produced 10-run margins.

Sunday at Boston the Orioles lost 12-2 to the Red Sox, and then Monday night the O's beat the Sox 10-0 at Fenway Park. And last night the Orioles fell behind 8-0 in the third inning and were held to just five hits in a 10-0 loss to Seattle. Yep, back-to-back 10-0 games, so at least the run differential is zero for the two games.

But the Orioles fell to 21-30 with that loss that started a three-game series and eight-game homestand against the Mariners, Guardians and Cubs. The O’s are now 12-12 at home. They had a chance to produce a month of .500 baseball, but instead finished May at 14-16. Their last non-losing-record month was July 2019, when they went 12-12.

The Orioles have been held to two runs or fewer in 24 games this season, and five hits or fewer 12 times.

Baltimore is now 7-9 in series-opening games and 9-25 when their opponent scores first. They are 5-22 when they score three or fewer runs. Over their past 13 games the Orioles have a 7-6 record, and they are 15-16 in 31 games since April 30.

Orioles rookie right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-3, 7.31 ERA) will make his seventh start tonight. He has struggled since his outing on May 10 at St. Louis, where he allowed two runs over seven innings with no walks and 11 strikeouts. Since then he has made three starts, allowing four, five and six runs in those games. In the three his ERA is 11.91, as he's allowed 19 hits and 15 runs over 11 1/3 innings, with four homers surrendered. Opponents are batting .380 against Bradish in those games, with an OPS against of 1.118.

In his last start on Friday at Boston, he lasted just 1 2/3 innings and gave up six runs on 62 pitches at Fenway Park. The Orioles are 3-3 in his six starts.

The 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner, left-hander Robbie Ray (4-5, 4.75 ERA), gets the start for Seattle. Last season for Toronto, Ray went 13-7 with a 2.84 ERA in 32 games. He fanned 248 batters over 193 1/3 innings and had a 2.4 walk rate and 11.5 K rate for the Blue Jays.

With Seattle, he has already allowed four earned runs or more in four of his 10 starts, and he did that last year in four starts all season. The Mariners are 5-5 in his 10 games.

Ray’s ERA is 6.00 over his past three games, and he’s allowed 12 earned runs and four homers in 18 innings, with six walks to 27 strikeouts. For the year his WHIP is 1.203 and he owns a 3.1 walk rate and 10.1 strikeout rate.

Last season, in three starts against Baltimore, he went 1-1 with a 4.02 ERA and 1.468 WHIP. In five career games he is 2-2 with a 4.97 ERA and 1.658 WHIP versus Baltimore batters.

Seattle rookie outfielder Julio Rodríguez went 1-for-5 with an RBI double last night. Rodríguez hit .309 with 12 runs scored, four doubles, a triple, six home runs, 17 RBIs, five stolen bases, a .339 on-base percentage and a .527 slugging percentage with an .866 OPS in 28 games in May.

Seattle's offense is tied as the 5th-best in the major leagues and the third-best in the American League by weighted runs created plus, per FanGraphs.com. Seattle carries a 112 wRC+ coming into play today, trailing only New York (113) Los Angeles (116) in the AL. 

Baltimore shortstop Jorge Mateo leads all big league fielders with 10 defensive runs saved (DRS), per Sports Info Solutions. The next closest fielders have eight DRS. Mateo accumulated nine DRS in May, and no other player had more than six DRS last month.