O's game blog: Looking to end a losing streak in Cleveland series finale

During a five-game losing streak, the Orioles have allowed 40 runs and lost games where they scored eight and eleven runs. So Captain Obvious said the pitching must improve as they host Cleveland tonight in the series finale.

After getting swept once all year - from May 20 to 22 at St. Louis - a loss tonight would secure back-to-back series the O's have been swept. 

The Orioles (49-30) hit the 80-game mark tonight and begin play two games behind the New York Yankees (52-29). At 51-26, the Guardians have the best record in the American League and second-best in the majors behind the Phillies. The Yankees have the AL's second-best record and the Orioles have the third-best.

The Orioles have been outscored 40-23 during the losing streak and their team ERA is 7.71 in this stretch. Baltimore's starting pitchers have gone eight straight games without a quality start. In that span, the rotation ERA is 7.26 with a WHIP of 1.789. O's starters pitched five innings or less in six of the eight games.

In the past four games, O's batters have gone 2-for-24 batting with runners in scoring position. For the year, the O's are batting .262 when hitting with RISP to rank seventh-best in the American League. Their team OPS of .783 with RISP is fourth-best in the AL.

While the Orioles have scored 47 runs the last seven games, they have three games of two runs or less in this span and four games of seven runs or more. Their team batting average in the seven games is .299 with an OPS of .912.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (8-3, 3.82 ERA) will try to be a stopper and is making his 14th start. He allowed seven runs and nine hits over five innings on Friday at Houston. He has given up seven runs in a game twice this year while allowing two runs or less in 10 of his 13 starts.

Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (3-6, 5.40 ERA) gets the start for Cleveland. The Guardians are just 5-8 in his 2024 outings while the Orioles are 9-4 when Rodriguez gets the start.

Carrasco gave up one run in six innings in his last start. But over his past four games, he has a 5.95 ERA and .751 OPS against. In seven career games versus Baltimore, he is 4-2 with a 2.06 ERA and 0.992 WHIP.

The O's five-game losing skid is their longest since losing six straight from May 13-18, 2022. Following that streak, they won four of five, five of eight, six of 10, seven of 12, and eight of 14.

The Orioles lead the majors with 129 home runs and are one of three clubs with 100+ homers this season, along with the Yankees (117) and Dodgers (110). The Birds homered in 22 consecutive games from June 1-23, the longest streak in MLB this season and the longest such streak in team history, ahead of a 20-gamer from July 17 to Aug. 9, 1998.

The Orioles are 42-20 this year when homering, 33-6 when hitting multiple home runs, 17-5 when hitting at least three, and 4-2 when hitting four, as they did last night.

The Orioles need two wins in their next five games to clinch a winning record in June, currently at 13-11. With a 17-9 record in May, the O's have been above .500 in eight consecutive full months since the start of 2023, the longest streak by the team (min. 10 games played in the month) since May 1982 through September 1983 (11), per the Elias Sports Bureau.