O's game blog: The AL East has been a beast in the second half

The teams in the American League East have stepped up their games a bit since the All-Star break. That includes the Orioles, who just concluded a 16-game stretch against the AL West going 10-6. The Orioles led the division by four games at the break and lead Toronto by 3 1/2 games heading into tonight's makeup game at Washington. The four best records in the AL since the break belong to AL East teams: .714 - Tampa Bay at 10-4 .647 - Toronto at 11-6 .625 - Orioles and New York at 10-6 The Orioles have compiled that record even though they rank last in the AL in batting average and OPS and 12th in runs since the break. They are batting .202/.265/.342 with 53 runs scored in 16 games. But the Orioles rank third in team ERA in that time at 2.78, trailing only Seattle (2.42) and Tampa Bay (2.43). The O's are third in opponent batting average since the break at .225 and tied for third in WHIP at 1.11. The Orioles and Rays have allowed the fewest homers with eight in the second half. One final note on O's pitching: Over the last 13 games, Orioles starters have pitched to ERA of 2.24 with 10 quality starts, allowing one earned run or less eight times. On the mound tonight at Nats Park, Kevin Gausman (5-3, 3.70 ERA) faces 27-year-old right-hander Tanner Roark (11-6, 2.74 ERA). While Gausman's walk rate has gone up and his strikeout rate down since last year, he is giving up fewer homers. This year he's allowed just two in 56 innings and last year he gave up eight in 47 2/3. That drops his homer rate from 1.5 per every nine innings to 0.3 in 2014. Roark is having a tremendous year and is 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA over his last four starts. In his past 11 starts, he is 8-3 with a 2.12 ERA. He ranks 10th in the NL in ERA and fifth in WHIP at 1.08. In four starts against the American League - he has faced the Angels, A's, Rangers and Astros - he is 1-1 with a 1.03 ERA, allowing three earned runs in 26 1/3 innings. The Orioles are 2-1 against the Nationals this year, 9-4 since 2012 and lead the all-time series, 28-21.