O's game blog: O's offense faces Nats' lefty Patrick Corbin

After another "flush it" game for the Orioles, it's "bounceback" time again.

Their two most lopsided losses of the 2020 season have come in their first game and their last game. They lost 13-2 on opening night at Boston and 15-3 last night at home versus the Washington Nationals. Tonight they host the Nats in the second game of a three-game series.

The Orioles' (11-8) previous three losses before last night were by one run each, and their previous four losses were by seven total runs. But the Nationals hammered O's pitching for 19 hits and scored six runs in the eighth and two in the ninth to pour it on in their blowout win. The Nats (7-10) are in fourth in the National League East, four games behind division-leading Miami.

The Orioles would be the No. 4 seed in the American League playoffs through Friday's game. At 11-8 they hold the fourth-best record in the AL and are in second place in the division, percentage points ahead of Tampa Bay. Both the Rays and Orioles are two games behind division-leading New York.

The O's offense continues to rank among the best in the majors. The team batting average of .261 ranks second in the AL and fourth in Major League Baseball. They rank fourth in the league in OBP (.330), second in the AL and MLB in slugging (.459), and second in the AL and third in MLB in team OPS (.789).

The Orioles are among the AL leaders in runs per game:

5.47 - New York and Houston
5.29 - Tampa Bay
5.26 - Orioles
5.12 - Detroit

The Orioles have been one of the more successful teams in baseball when swinging at the first pitch. They rank first in the majors in batting average (.468), doubles (11), extra-base hits (19) and OPS (1.374) on an 0-0 count and lead the AL and rank second in the majors in hits (37) as a team on the first pitch. Anthony Santander leads the Orioles with eight hits on the first pitch, tied for most in the AL with Chicago's Luis Robert.

Santander, who hit a solo homer last night, has a streak of one or more RBIs in eight straight games heading into tonight. The team record of 11 in a row is held by Doug DeCinces. Santander, tied for the MLB lead with 20 RBIs, has hit safely in nine straight games. In that span he is batting .308 (12-for-39) with four doubles, a triple, three homers and 13 RBIs.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Asher Wojciechowski (0-2, 3.95 ERA) makes his fourth start. In his last one, Sunday at Washington, he did not allow a run but it was over just 3 2/3 innings and 65 pitches. On an O's staff with just one six-inning outing on the year, Wojciechowski could stand to go longer in his starts. In his first three he's gone five, five and 3 2/3.

His fastball usage from last year is down from 54 to 38 percent. His slider usage is up from 25 to 33 percent and his cutter usage has increased from 19 to 23 percent. Lefty batters are hitting .190 with a .689 OPS against him and right-handers are batting .250/.826.

In five career games (three starts) against Washington, he is 0-2 with a 4.05 ERA and 1.100 WHIP. In 20 innings he has walked five and fanned 22 Nats batters.

Left-hander Patrick Corbin (2-0, 2.50 ERA) makes his fourth start for Washington. In 18 innings for the season he has allowed 15 hits with three walks, 20 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.000. The team is 2-1 in his starts.

In the first three innings of his 2020 games, Corbin has not allowed a run, and opponents are 3-for-30 with 10 strikeouts against him. In three career games against Baltimore, he is 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA. In 16 innings he has issued one walk to 20 strikeouts.