O's game blog: Orioles and Nationals begin two-game series

They avoided being on the wrong side of a combined perfect game Sunday, but the Orioles still lost to Tampa Bay and dropped three of four games in that series. They host the Washington Nationals tonight to begin a brief two-game interleague series. The homestand continues this weekend against Boston.

The Orioles (28-65) are now 5-23-2 in 30 series in 2019. They are 9-21 in series-opening games. They are 12-34 at home and 2-12-1 in home series. The Orioles are 6-7 over their past 13 games and 2-2 in the last four series.

Orioles starting pitchers have gone five games without quality start. In that span they've allowed 20 earned runs over 19 2/3 for an ERA of 9.15.

The O's offense produced just 11 runs against Tampa Bay and they've scored 12 runs over the past five games. They had scored 53 runs in the previous eight games.

Over his past 12 games, catcher Chance Sisco is batting .308 (12-for-39) with four homers, 12 RBIs and an OPS of 1.053.

Jonathan Villar has hit safely in 12 of his past 14 games, batting .358 with three doubles, a homer and eight RBIs. He has scored nine runs in that span with an OPS of .933

Renato Núñez is batting .333 with five homers and 11 RBIs over his past 11 games. Over his last 44 games he is batting .277/.356/.626 with 12 doubles, 14 homers, 32 RBIs and an OPS of .982.

But a couple of players are looking to end long hitless runs tonight. Richie Martin is 0-for-20, Trey Mancini 0-for-24 and Dwight Smith Jr. 0-for-26.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Asher Wojciechowski (0-2, 6.10 ERA) will make his third start and fourth Baltimore appearance. He allowed four runs in 5 1/3 innings on July 2 at Tampa Bay and gave up three in 4 1/3 frames July 7 at Toronto in the last contest before the All-Star break.

The O's acquired the right-hander from Cleveland for cash considerations on July 1 and he started for the Orioles the next day. With Cleveland he spent the year in Triple-A, going 8-2 with a 3.61 ERA at Columbus.

Right-hander Austin Voth (0-0, 5.52 ERA) will make his fourth start of the year for Washington. For the season he has thrown 14 2/3 innings allowing 15 hits and nine runs with five walks and 16 strikeouts. The Nats are 0-3 when he starts.