O's game blog: O's face Guardians in Game 2 of the series

The Cleveland Guardians, the American League Central leaders who hold the best record in the AL, have been tough to beat for the Orioles. Both this year and in recent seasons.

Cleveland hit three homers accounting for eight runs last night as they beat Baltimore 10-3 to take the opener of this four-game series. David Fry and Bo Naylor hit three-run homers and José Ramírez added a two-run shot.

The Guardians are 3-1 this year versus the Orioles and have won seven of the past 11 games between the teams. In their last 45 games, Cleveland is 30-15 against Baltimore.

The Guardians are 66-42 and are 34-15 at home. They have won four in a row and seven of their past nine games. 

The Orioles are 4-2 in the last six games, scoring 42 runs. But over their past 12 games, they are 5-7. And since June 21, they are 16-20.

They begin tonight tied for first atop the AL East with the Yankees. Both clubs are 65-45. The Yankees have won five in a row scoring 46 runs. This after a stretch where the Yankees went 11-24 over 35 games. New York (AL) begins a long homestand tonight against Toronto, the Los Angeles Angels and Texas.

Right-hander Dean Kremer (4-7, 4.20 ERA) gets the start tonight for the Orioles, making his 15th of the season. The Orioles are 6-8 in those games, losing three of the past four.

In his last outing against San Diego, Kremer allowed four runs (one earned) over six innings on 105 pitches. In seven road starts, he is 3-3 with a 3.05 ERA. In three career games against Cleveland, he is 0-2 with a 6.23 ERA and 1.462 WHIP.

Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (3-9, 5.68 ERA) starts for the Guardians. He has an ERA of 12.00 his past two starts allowing 15 hits and 12 runs over nine innings against Detroit and Philadelphia. They batted .366 against him in those games.

Carrasco allows an OPS of .754 the first time through the order, .882 the second time and .967 the third time through.

He faced the Orioles this season on June 26 in Baltimore and gave up two runs and six hits over five innings on 91 pitches.

Some O's hitters lately:

* Colton Cowser has a 14-game hitting streak, going 20-for-52. During this run, he is batting .385/.441/.673/1.114 with four homers and 13 RBIs. His OPS has increased for the season from .724 to .790.

* Adley Rutschman went 0-for-4 in the series opener. Over his past seven games, he is 2-for-24. Since June 30, Rutschman is 10-for-84 batting .119 with an OPS of .439.

* Gunnar Henderson looks like his bat is heating up again. He has four hits his last two games. He is batting 10-for-31 during an eight-game hitting streak, batting .323 with an OPS of .884. Henderson has just one homer his last 22 games.

* Center fielder Cedric Mullins went 0-for-4 Thursday at Cleveland. But he is 7-for-18 over his past six games, batting .389 with a homer and six RBIs.

* Anthony Santander mashed his 32nd homer last night and has now reached base safely in 19 straight games. He has hit three homers his last five games, nine in 15 games and 23 homers in 54 games since June 1. In those 54 games, Santander is batting .282/.335/.643/.978.

Santander ranks second in the AL in homers since the 2022 season:

Aaron Judge, Yankees - 138 
Anthony Santander, Orioles - 93
Yordan Alvarez, Astros - 88
Corey Seager, Rangers - 85