O's game blog: Orioles have won nine of 13 as homestand begins

One night after striking out 20 times in Washington against the Nationals Max Scherzer, the Detroit Tigers are in Baltimore. They begin a four-game series against the Orioles tonight at Camden Yards.

Since they were 14-10, the Tigers have lost eight of nine games to fall to 15-18. They are 10-9 in road games. The Orioles are 20-12 on the year and have outscored their opponents 30-10 during a four-game win streak. The Orioles have won six of eight and nine of 13 games. They are 13-5 at Camden Yards.

The Orioles have hit 12 homers the last three games. It started with a six-homer game the last time they played here on Sunday against Oakland. In that stretch they have scored 25 runs on 42 hits with a team batting average of .368.

While the homers have been coming rapid fire in those recent games, the O's starting rotation is also doing well. The starting pitchers have recorded four consecutive quality starts for the first time in 2016. Over the last 14 games, O's starters have 11 quality starts and an ERA of 3.40.

Coming off a strong outing versus Oakland, right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez (2-3, 4.54 ERA) pitches against Tigers right-hander Mike Pelfrey (0-4, 6.23 ERA).

In Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Athletics, Jimenez went eight innings allowing nine hits and two runs, throwing 104 pitches. Lefty batters are hitting .355 against him and right-handed batters are at .247. He is 5-11 with a 5.60 ERA in 19 career starts versus Detroit.

Pelfrey pitched to an ERA of 3.68 his first three starts but that number is 8.62 his past three. Lefty batters have bashed him this year with an average of .420 and OPS of 1.085. He yields an average against of .273 against right-handed hitters.

The Orioles now have the No. 1 bullpen ERA in the majors at 2.33 with Seattle next at 2.34 and Chicago at 2.63.

The Orioles are now fourth in the AL in team ERA:
3.11 - Seattle
3.19 - Chicago
3.26 - Toronto
3.56 - Orioles

Tonight's game features four of the top six leading hitters in the AL with Detroit's Nick Castellanos first at .378, Manny Machado second at .359, Detroit's Victor Martinez third at .348 and the O's Mark Trumbo sixth at .323.