O's game blog: Orioles look for first win on the road trip

The Orioles (40-98) are 0-4 so far on a nine-game road trip. They lost 2-1 in Seattle last night to start a three-game series at Safeco Field. The Orioles have scored just eight runs on just 26 hits in the four games at Kansas City and Seattle.

The last two games the Orioles have scored one run in each and both came on solo homers by Jonathan Villar. The Orioles are 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position on this trip.

Right-hander Alex Cobb (4-15, 5.11 ERA) will make his 26th start. In his last one against Toronto he gave up five runs over 5 2/3 in a no-decision last Wednesday. Before that game, Cobb had thrown six straight quality starts, going 2-2 with a 2.20 ERA. And he had seven quality starts his previous eight games with an ERA of 2.24, allowing two earned runs or fewer seven times.

Cobb will be making his ninth career start against the Mariners. He is 2-4 with a 7.14 ERA. Cobb faced Seattle earlier this season on June 27 at Oriole Park and did not factor into the decision after allowing five runs on eight hits over 4 2/3 innings.

Right-hander Luis Ortiz was called up today by the Orioles from Triple-A Norfolk. He will become the 13th Oriole to make his MLB debut this season, the most in a season since 1955 when 14 players made their debuts. With his first appearance, Ortiz will become the 54th player and 28th pitcher to appear in a game for the Orioles. The 54 players used would tie the most in club history matching the 54 used during the 1955 season. The 28 pitchers would be the most in O's history (the 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2016 teams each used 27 pitchers).

Lefty Wade LeBlanc (8-3, 3.71 ERA) gets the start for Seattle. He threw seven scoreless versus Oakland in his last start. Over his past two games he's thrown 13 innings, allowing seven hits and one run. In 13 home games he is 6-2 with a 3.95 ERA.

With LeBlanc's next win, the Mariners will have a trio of left-handers with at least nine wins apiece for just the third time in club history. Randy Johnson, Jamie Moyer and Jeff Fassero accomplished this feat in back-to-back seasons in 1997 and 1998.

Seattle (77-61) won yet another close game last night. The Mariners are 50-22 (.694) in games decided by one or two runs, the highest winning percentage in the majors. That includes a 34-18 (.654) mark in one-run games and 16-4 (.800) in games decided by exactly two runs.

And finally this note from Orioles public relations: The Orioles are currently on a three-city, nine-game road trip that includes stops at Kansas City (0-3), Seattle (0-1), and Tampa Bay. If driving this trip, the journey would cover 7,058 miles between ballparks. The 7,058 total miles includes Oriole Park to Kauffman Stadium (1,107 miles), Kauffman Stadium to Safeco Field (1,843 miles), Safeco Field to Tropicana Field (3,145 miles) and Tropicana Field to Oriole Park (963 miles). If driving, the trip would traverse 22 states plus Washington, D.C.

Base brawl: It appears that a few Mariners players were brawling with each other before tonight's game. That is one way to get some pregame prep work in. Here are the details.