O's game blog: Trying to avoid being swept by the Chicago Cubs

Leading the American League East by two games over the Yankees, the Orioles take the field as a first-place team tonight, but one that is looking to avoid a three-game sweep.

The Cubs have beaten the Orioles by 9-2 and 4-0 the past two nights and could hand the Orioles their first home sweep this year. Baltimore has been swept twice on the road - May 20-22 at St. Louis and June 21-23 at Houston.

The Orioles have not been swept at home in a series of at least two games since Aug. 27-29, 2021 versus Tampa Bay when they lost three straight.

With last night's loss, the O's have lost this series, falling to 20-7-3 in series play and they have lost three of their past six series.

At 57-35, the Orioles have lost three of four and four of the last six games. They are 8-10 since June 21 with a team ERA of 5.68 in this span while scoring 4.2 runs per game.

Last night the Cubs (44-49) pitched their sixth shutout of the year and the Orioles were blanked for the third time. They were shutout 2-0 by the Yankees on May 1 and 3-0 by the Nationals May 7. both on the road.

On the mound tonight for the Orioles will be right-hander Albert Suárez (5-2, 2.48 ERA), making his 12th start. A couple of starts ago, Suárez allowed five runs in five innings at Houston. In his last two starts since, he has allowed two runs and seven hits over 12 innings. 

For the year over 65 1/3 innings, he has given up 56 hits and just four homers with a 1.209 WHIP, a 3.2 walk rate and 7.0 strikeout rate. The Orioles are 7-4 in his starts.

In his 11 starts only, Suárez is 4-2 with a 2.77 ERA and 1.301 WHIP. He is 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA in eight games (five starts) at Oriole Park. 

The Cubs send lefty Justin Steele to the mound in hopes of a sweep (1-3, 2.95 ERA). He is making his 14th start and coming off a complete-game, 5-1 win Friday versus the Angels. He pitched a two-hitter on 95 pitches. That was Steele's first career complete-game and the first for the Cubs since Marcus Stroman against Tampa Bay on May 29, 2023.

Steele has allowed two earned runs or less in seven of his past eight starts, going 1-1 with a 1.67 ERA. In 54 innings in this stretch, he has allowed just two homers with a .187 batting average against.

Steele is celebrating his 29th birthday today and pitching on his birthday for the first time in the majors.

The Cubs today recalled outfielder Alexander Canario from Triple-A Iowa, and placed outfielder Cody Bellinger on the 10-day injured list with a left middle finger fracture after he was hit by a pitch in the seventh inning last night by Cionel Perez. Canario, 24, is 6-for-22 (.273) with a homer in 13 games with the Cubs this season.  

O's outfielder Austin Hays went 1-for-4 with a double last night. Hays is batting .340/.379/.574 (32-for-94) with 13 doubles, three homers, 14 runs,  and 12 RBIs in 35 games since returning from the injured list on May 13.

Infielder Jordan Westburg extended his hitting streak to eight games with a double in the sixth inning, one shy of his career-high nine-game hitting streak from April 12-21, 2024. He has doubled in four of his last seven games.

Ryan Mountcastle collected his 26th multi-hit game of the season Wednesday and seventh three-hit game after going 3-for-4 on the night with three singles. He was 4-for-32 his previous nine games.