O's game blog: Looking for back-to-back wins in Texas

After their crazy 12-11 win at Texas last night, the Orioles play the Rangers again tonight in the second game of a three-game series and six-game road trip.

The O's (19-41) now have two shots to win their first series since April 22-24 versus the White Sox. A win tonight would give them their first two-game win streak since May 4-6. The Orioles have now won the series-opening game for a third straight series.

The O's tied a season-high for runs last night. They also scored 12 on April 8 against Oakland. They set a season-high with five homers and they also put 12 balls in play with an exit velocity of 100 mph or more.

Pedro Severino hit three home runs, connecting on his sixth, seventh and eighth of the year in a 3-for-5 day with four RBIs. The last Oriole with a three-homer game was Manny Machado on Aug. 18, 2017 versus the Los Angeles Angels.

Severino became the first catcher in Orioles history with three home runs in a game and Tuesday's game marked the 36th three-homer game by a catcher in MLB history. Severino is the 34th different catcher to do so as Johnny Bench and Gary Carter each did so twice. According to STATS, LLC., he was the first AL hitter to have a three-home run game after entering a game with fewer than 10 career home runs in at least 125 career games since Baltimore-native Al Kaline did so for the Detroit Tigers in a 16-0 win over the Kansas City Athletics on April 17, 1955.

There have now been 23 times when an Oriole has homered three times in a one game. Boog Powell did this three times and so did Eddie Murray. Machado and Chris Davis have a pair of three-homer games.

Here is the list of Orioles to do this once: Albert Belle, Bobby Grich, Cal Ripken Jr., Curt Blefary, Dan Ford, Don Baylor, Juan Beníquez, Lee Lacy, Nick Markakis, Paul Blair, Randy Milligan, Roberto Alomar and now Severino.

The Orioles offense broke out for 15 hits last night after the team produced just three runs and 10 hits in its two previous games. In fact, the O's had scored two runs or less in four of the five previous games.

Dwight Smith Jr. had six RBIs and he produced that career-high by the fourth inning. He hit a three-run homer in the first and three-run double in the fourth.

There have been 69 instances where on O's player drove in six or more runs in one game since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954. The record of nine RBIs in one game is held by Jim Gentile and Murray. The three Orioles to drive in eight in one game are Ripken, Chris Hoiles and Frank Robinson. The Orioles have had 15 games where a player drove in seven runs and 49 times with a six-RBI game.

Severino's three home runs and Smith's six RBIs accounted for 10 runs in the O's 12-11 win. According to STATS, LLC., it marked just the ninth time since 1920 (when RBIs became official) that one teammate recorded at least three home runs and another produced at least six RBIs in the same game. The last such game came when Yasiel Puig (three home runs) and Cody Bellinger (six RBIs) did so in a 17-4 Dodgers' win over the Cardinals on Sept. 15, 2018.

Earlier today, infielder Jake Means was selected in the 22nd round (No. 649 overall) of the First-Year Player Draft out of Indiana State University by the Kansas City Royals. He is the younger brother of tonight's starter John Means, who was selected by the Orioles in the 11th round of the 2014 draft out of West Virginia University.

Single-A Delmarva completes a seven-game road trip tonight at Kannapolis with Gray Fenter (4-1, 2.34 ERA) on the mound. The Shorebirds are on pace for the best half in franchise history. At 43-14, they own Minor League Baseball's best record and winning percentage (.774). The Shorebirds' magic number to clinch the first half Northern Division title stands at seven with 12 games to play.

The Shorebirds will send eight players to the South Atlantic League All-Star Game in Charleston, West Virginia, most of any team in the league. Pitchers Grayson Rodriguez, Drew Rom, Ofelky Peralta and Zach Matson will join catcher Daniel Fajardo, shortstop Adam Hall, outfielder Doran Turchin and designated hitter Seamus Curran to represent the Northern Division in the Sally League's 60th annual midsummer classic.