O's game blog: Orioles go for four-game sweep of Texas

The Orioles started the second half and lost three straight to the Cubs and were outscored 27-11. They've now won three straight against Texas and outscored the Rangers 25-4.

Tonight, the O's and Texas play the fourth game of this series and they bring identical 45-49 records into the finale. The Orioles last swept four straight from the Rangers at home on June 30-July 3, 2014.

After winning 3-1 over the Rangers on Monday night, the Orioles have won 12-1 and 10-2 the past two nights. They've scored 22 runs on 27 hits with four doubles, a triple and five homers and have gone 10-for-23 with runners in scoring position.

Second baseman Jonathan Schoop singled in his first at-bat, doubled in his second and singled in his fourth for his fourth three-hit game of the season last night. It was his second straight multi-hit game and his 31st of the year, which leads the team. Schoop now has 99 career doubles.

Trey Mancini hit his second triple of the season, a bases-clearing triple in the seventh inning. Mancini is 5-for-12 his last three games and has five RBIs his last two games.

In the seventh inning on Wednesday, the Orioles saw bases-loaded, run-scoring hits from Adam Jones, Manny Machado, Schoop and Mancini. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles entered play on Wednesday with the fourth-lowest batting average (.203) with bases loaded this season. Following Wednesday's win, the Orioles now own a .239 mark with the bases loaded.

On the mound tonight, left-hander Wade Miley (4-8, 5.40 ERA) makes his 20th start for the Orioles. In his last game on Saturday versus the Cubs, he gave up seven runs and nine hits over 4 2/3 innings in a 10-3 loss. Miley has allowed seven, one and seven runs his past three starts, allowing 24 hits and 15 runs over 12 innings.

The southpaw got off to a 2-3 start with an ERA of 2.82 and five quality starts among his first 11 outings this year. But over his past eight games, he is 2-5 with a 10.19 ERA and zero quality starts.

Lefty Cole Hamels (4-0, 3.05 ERA) makes his 10th start for the Rangers. Hamels enters tonight's series finale with 21 consecutive scoreless innings, just two innings shy of matching the best run in the American League this year. That is a 23-inning scoreless streak by Seattle's James Paxton.

Entering play today, the Orioles have hit an equal number of home runs at each of their home parks in Baltimore. They have hit 2,490 home runs at Memorial Stadium from 1954-1991 and have hit 2,490 home runs at Oriole Park at Camden Yards since the ballpark opened in 1992.