O's game blog: The road trip begins in Seattle

After a much-needed off-day, the Orioles (53-31) begin a six-game West Coast road trip tonight at Seattle in a match up of first-place clubs. The trip heads to Oakland starting Friday night. 

When we last saw them, the Orioles were getting blown out 11-2 at home Sunday night by the Rangers. But the Orioles had won the first three games of that four-game series. They finished June going 17-12 and ended a run of 30 games in a 31-day span by going 18-12 (.600).

The Orioles, who lead the majors with 139 homers, were held without one in that game for just the second time in the last 29 games.

Ryan O'Hearn and Heston Kjerstad drove in the O's runs on Sunday as the Rangers outhit the Orioles 13-7.

The Orioles had their best scoring and hitting month of the year in June, averaging 5.62 runs per game and hitting 60 homers. As a team, they batted .273/.333/.513/.847 during the month. 

That slugging percentage led the majors in June. And it was also the second-highest mark in Orioles history in the month of June (2016 - .531).

O'Hearn over 17 games since June 10 is batting .310 with a .793 OPS with a homer and 13 RBIs.

Kjerstad made three starts in the Texas series, going 5-for-8 with a double, two homers, one grand slam and eight RBIs. He had three walks and just one strikeout. So he hit .625 in those games, reached base nine times in 12 plate appearances and produced a three-game OPS of 2.250.

A closer look at the O's offense this year:

* .255 batting average (second in American League, sixth in majors)
* .316 on-base percentage (sixth in AL, 13th in majors)
* .462 slugging (first in majors)
* .778 OPS (first in majors)
* 39 home runs (first in majors)
* 5.21 runs per game (first in majors)

By scoring those 5.21 runs per game, the Orioles are on pace to score 844 runs over the full season. If they did that, this team would rank among the highest-scoring teams in O's history:

* 949 runs - 1996
* 851 runs - 1999
* 844 runs (projection) - 2024
* 842 runs - 2004

The 2023 Orioles scored 807 runs to rank seventh-most in club history. 

Seattle (47-39) leads the AL West with a three-game lead on Houston. While the Mariners are 28-14 at home on the year, they have now lost four straight series, including one at home. They went 1-2 at Cleveland, Miami and Tampa Bay and 1-2 at home versus Minnesota.

The M's have lost two in a row, five of seven and eight of their past 11 games.

For the year, Seattle's 3.86 runs per game ranks 13th in the AL and 27th in the majors. Seattle's .218 team batting average is last both in the AL and majors. 

During this 3-8 stretch, Seattle is batting .194/.273/.319/.592 and scoring 3.3 runs per game. Seattle batters have struck out 877 times to lead the majors. Seattle's team strikeout rate of 27.9 leads the majors. The O's are tied for 18th with a 21.2 K rate.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (9-3, 3.72 ERA), who gave up two runs in seven innings Wednesday versus Cleveland, makes his 15th start tonight. The Orioles are 10-4 in the first 14.

Rodriguez allows a .785 OPS facing a lineup the first time through, .612 the second time and .736 the third. When the O's took two of three from Seattle in May, he pitched six scoreless inning on one hit. That was his first career start against Seattle. The longest scoreless-inning streak to start a career against the Mariners by an Orioles pitcher was Mike Boddicker with 12 in 1983.

Righty George Kirby (7-5, 3.35 ERA) starts for the home team, making his 18th start. In 99 1/3 innings, Kirby has fanned 96 with just nine walks. He ranks second in the AL in walks per nine innings at 0.8 and leads the majors in strikeout-to-walks ratio at 10.67.

While the Mariners are just 9-8 in his starts, he has allowed two earned runs or less six straight starts since May 29, going 3-0 with a 1.70 ERA in that span.

The Orioles got him for nine hits and five runs in six innings on May 19 at Oriole Park. In five career starts, he is 1-3 with a 4.02 ERA and .767 OPS versus the Orioles.