O's game blog: Looking for a series win against the Giants

After their 9-6 win over the San Francisco Giants last night the Orioles will win this series if they get a victory either today or tomorrow. That would give the team its first series victory since April 22-24 at Oriole Park against the Chicago White Sox.

The Orioles scored just seven runs in three games earlier this week against Detroit. Last night they had eight by the second inning. Their night included Dwight Smith Jr.'s grand slam in the first, Trey Mancini's two-run shot in the second and a Renato Núñez solo blast in the seventh. Núñez has hit 14 homers including six in his last nine games and seven in his last 11 contests.

The Orioles (18-39) are 3-3 over the past six games. Over longer stretches, they have lost 10 of 13 and 17 of the last 22 games. They are now 2-2 in interleague play after they went 7-13 against the National League last season. The O's are 8-21 at OPACY and finished the month of May going 8-20.

San Francisco starting pitchers finished May with a 7.32 ERA. That total is the highest ERA in a single month by a Giants starting staff in San Francisco-era history (1958-present, min. 10 games played in the month). The previous high was s 6.56 ERA in September, 2006.

O's right-hander David Hess (1-6, 6.71 ERA) takes the mound today for his 11th start. In his last outing Sunday at Colorado he threw scoreless ball over the first four innings, but was changed with a run in the fifth and four in the sixth. His final line showed nine hits allowed and five runs (four earned) over 5 2/3 innings.

Over his past four games, Hess has thrown 20 2/3 innings allowing 26 hits and 22 runs (20 earned) with 10 homers. He has allowed two or more homers in five of his 10 starts. He's allowed 18 homers on the season to lead the majors.

In four home starts, Hess is 0-3 with a 9.47 ERA and has allowed nine homers over 19 innings. He's had two home starts against the Yankees (allowing six homers in 10 innings) and one each against Boston and Chicago.

Hess is 0-2 with a 6.85 ERA and 1.567 WHIP in five career games (four starts) against National League opposition. He's allowed a career .297 batting versus NL opponents.

Young right-hander Shaun Anderson (0-1, 4.80 ERA) will make his fourth start of the season and his MLB career today. Over the first three games he's thrown 15 innings allowing 19 hits and 11 runs with eight earned runs. All three of those games came at home.

Anderson, 24, gave up two earned runs over five innings in each of his first two games. But he yielded six runs (four earned) and nine hits over five in his most recent game versus Arizona. The Giants are 2-1 in those games.

In seven Triple-A games this year, Anderson is 2-1 with a 4.11 ERA and 1.286 WHIP. He was Boston's third-round pick out of the University of Florida in 2016 and was traded to San Francisco on July 26, 2017.

In Friday's 9-6 win over the Giants, San Francisco scored five runs in the top of the first inning and the Orioles answered with six runs in the bottom of the first. According to STATS, LLC., it marked the first time in Orioles history that the Orioles and their opponent each scored five or more runs in the first inning. It also marked the first such game in the majors since July 6, 2012, a 10-8 Yankees win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.

Orioles manager Brandon Hyde will be away from today's game to attend his daughter's graduation. Major League Field Coordinator/Catching Instructor Tim Cossins will serve as acting manager in his absence. Minor League Pitching Coordinator Chris Holt will occupy the vacant coaching position for Saturday's game.