O's game blog: The series in San Diego begins

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

July 29, 2019, 1:12pm

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SAN DIEGO - After losing two of three in Arizona and going 3-1 in Anaheim, the Orioles have arrived at the final stop of their three-city West Coast trip.

And this trip is going much better than their 1-6 run in Oakland and Seattle last month. They gave up 59 runs in seven games then, and had losses of 16-2 in Oakland and 13-3 at Seattle.

But on this trip they are 4-3 with two to play at San Diego's Petco Park. That has lifted their overall record to 35-70. They are 4-2 over the last six games, 7-4 in 11 and 13-12 since June 28. They are playing .520 ball the last 25 games after playing .275 ball (22-58) over the season's first 80 games.

The Orioles were held to five hits in Sunday's 5-4, walk-off loss at Angel Stadium. But they scored 31 runs in that four-game series and have scored 74 the last 11 games. The Orioles did not homer Sunday, so their run of hitting at least two homers in 10 straight games - which established a major record - did end.

Some hitting notes:

* Jonathan Villar went 10-for-18 in the series in Anaheim. He had a double, two homers, nine runs and five steals, and drove in five runs.

* Pedro Severino went 8-for-15 in the series with two four-hit games and four RBIs.

* Trey Mancini has hit seven homers with 13 RBIs over his past 11 games.

* Anthony Santander is batting .388 with four homers and 14 RBIs his past 11 games, and had seven multi-hit games in that span.

San Diego (49-56) is in fourth in the National League West, 19 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres are 4-11 since the All-Star Game and 1-9 in their past 10 home games. They won two straight in Baltimore late last month by a combined 18-8 score, and they hit nine home runs.

The O's batters get a tough test tonight in rookie right-hander Chris Paddack (6-5, 2.84 ERA). Over 95 innings he has allowed just 64 hits with 2.0 walks per nine and 9.4 strikeouts. His WHIP is 0.895. Lefty batters hit .206 off him and right-handers .168.

Over his past four starts, he is 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA, and at home he's 4-2 with a 2.36 ERA and 0.714 WHIP. The Padres are 10-7 in his games.

Right-hander David Hess (1-9, 7.15 ERA) was recalled to make tonight's start on three days' rest as Evan Phillips was optioned back to Triple-A. Thursday at Norfolk, Hess got the start and gave up three runs in five innings. He has a 1-1 record and 4.56 ERA in eight games this season at Triple-A.

The Orioles are hitting .239/.299/.387 in 54 road games this season and they have gone 7-6 in 13 road games this month. Their seven road wins are tied for the fourth-most in the American League in July. They lead the AL with 11 stolen bases on the road this month, and are tied for fourth in home runs with 21. Infielder Hanser Alberto leads the majors with a .352 road batting average.

This is my first trip to Petco Park and it's pretty sweet.