O's game blog: Orioles begin West Coast trip at Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES – It's the Orioles' first trip to Dodger Stadium since 2016 as they begin a six-game road trip tonight versus the Dodgers. 

Los Angeles (78-53) took two of three over the weekend from Tampa Bay and has won six of seven, 12 of 16 and 15 of the last 21 games.

But the Dodgers' lead in the National League West is just three games over the Diamondbacks and four games over the Padres.

The Dodgers have won their division every year since 2013, except in 2021 when 106 wins only got them second place. They won 100 last year but lost three straight to the D-backs in the NL Division Series.

Chasing back-to-back American League East titles for the first time since 1973 and 1974, the Orioles (76-56) are coming off a four-game split with the Astros. They began play today two games behind the Yankees in the division. But with the Nationals 4-2 win over the Yankees, the O's would move to 1 game back with a win tonight. 

The Orioles have lost three of five and six of their past 10. They are 16-21 versus National League teams, while Los Angeles is 25-13 (.658) versus American League teams and a 9-3 against the AL East.

Lefty Cole Irvin (6-5, 4.82 ERA) gets the start in tonight's series opener. In 99 major league innings for the year, he has allowed 117 hits with a 1.414 WHIP, 2.1 walks and 6.2 strikeouts per nine innings.

On Wednesday at Citi Field, he gave up five hits and two runs over 4 1/3 innings on 83 pitches against the Mets.

Irvin's splits for the year show a .204 average and .496 OPS against lefty batters but .316/.916 against right-handers.

In two career games against the Dodgers, he is 0-0 with a 4.70 ERA, allowing four runs and eight hits over 7 2/3 innings.

Right-hander Jack Flaherty (10-5, 3.00 ERA), acquired by Los Angeles from Detroit on July 30, starts for the Dodgers.

In 22 starts for the year, he's allowed 106 hits in 129 innings with a 1.008 WHIP, 1.7 walks per nine innings and 11.3 strikeouts.

Over his past seven games between two teams, he is 5-0 with a 2.48 ERA, allowing a .205 batting average and .602 OPS.

In four Dodgers starts, he is 3-0 with a 3.22 ERA and 1.254 WHIP.

Flaherty was an Oriole last year for nine games and seven starts, going 1-3 with a 6.75 ERA.

The Orioles look to get an offense going tonight with a team batting average of .151 the past five games and .172 while scoring 3.7 runs per game the past nine.

Several hitters would like to get it going this series. Just a few are Gunnar Henderson, who is 1-for-11 in the past three games and 4-for-25 in his last seven.

Adley Rutschman has just one homer his last 29 games. He is 5-for-30 over nine games. In his last 26 games, he is batting .221 with a .604 OPS.

Jackson Holliday is 1-for-23 his past eight games, but the one hit was his bases-loaded pinch-hit double to beat Houston on Saturday at Oriole Park.

Ryan O'Hearn is batting .207 his last 14 games and without a homer over his past 33 games. 

The Orioles may have swept the Dodgers in the 1966 World Series, but have won just 7 of 18 regular season meetings between the clubs. 

O's worst records versus opponents:

.318 vs. Cubs (7-15) and Marlins (14-30)
.381 vs. Cardinals (8-13)
.389 vs. Dodgers (7-11)
.400 vs. Mets (20-30)