O's game blog: Wrapping up the homestand against Astros

After scoring 24 runs in a recent four-game span that ended Saturday, the Orioles will look to get their offense going again tonight in the series and homestand finale against the Houston Astros.

The Orioles (23-50) have scored just seven runs on 13 hits over the past three games since Saturday - the last game of the Toronto series and the first two versus Houston. Astros pitchers have held Baltimore batters to three runs and eight hits in this series. The Orioles have gone four straight games without many scoring chances and have gone 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position in that span.

Houston won 10-2 Monday night and 3-1 last night as Myles Straw homered and drove in two runs and Chas McCormick added a sac fly. Right-hander Zack Greinke allowed five hits and one run over 7 1/3 innings as he improved to 8-2 with an ERA of 3.56.

O's right-hander Jorge López gave the club a rare six-inning outing by a starter last night as he allowed two runs and five hits over 6 1/3 innings on 95 pitches. The Orioles have gotten just two starts of six innings or more in 19 games this month, López last night and Dean Kremer on Saturday versus Toronto. The Orioles have 16 such starts for the season and John Means has eight of them. López is next with three starts of six innings or more. Bruce Zimmermann and Kremer have two each and Matt Harvey has one.

Houston (45-28) leads the American League West by one game over Oakland. The Astros hold the best record in the AL and second best in the majors behind San Francisco at 47-26. Houston has won nine in a row, outscoring its opponents 68-21. The Astros have won 13 of 15 and 18 of 22 games. They are 38-18 since April 22. Houston has won this series and now has won seven consecutive series and 14 of its last 18.

The Orioles have lost four in a row since a 7-1 win over Toronto on Friday that started this homestand. They are 12-25 at home and 6-13 in June.

Right-hander Thomas Eshelman (0-0, 1.93 ERA) was called up from Triple-A on Friday to start against Toronto. He pitched well that night, allowing three hits and one run over 4 2/3 innings with one walk and three strikeouts. It was his first big league game since Sept. 25, 2020.

Eshelman had gone 0-3 with a 6.41 ERA for Triple-A Norfolk in six games with three starts. Over 19 2/3 innings, he gave up 25 hits with three walks to 10 strikeouts and a .294 opponent batting average and 1.42 WHIP. Eshelman, 26, went 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA in four games for the 2020 Orioles and tied Travis Lakins Sr. for the team lead in wins. Eshelman posted a 1.240 WHIP over 34 2/3 innings with nine walks and 16 strikeouts.

Right-hander José Urquidy (5-3, 3.65 ERA) will get the start for the Astros. In 12 starts this year, he has allowed 57 hits, including 11 home runs, over 69 innings with 12 walks and 60 strikeouts. He has a WHIP of 1.000, allowing 7.4 hits per nine with 1.6 walks and 7.8 strikeouts. Houston is 8-4 when he pitches.

Urquidy has made two straight seven-inning starts, allowing a combined eight hits and five earned runs versus Minnesota and the Chicago White Sox. He has thrown six quality starts and pitched six innings or more seven times.

He features reverse splits with right-handers hitting him better than lefties, who bat .168 against him with an OPS of .510. Right-handers bat .250/.758.

Ryan Mountcastle has hit safely in 14 of 18 games this month, with eight multi-hit efforts. His 40 RBIs this season are the second-most on the O's and he's batting .330/.356/.634 with 28 RBIs in his last 30 games since May 15. Mountcastle is batting .326 with 10 home runs in 36 home games and .189 with two home runs in 31 road games.

The Orioles are batting .287 as a team in the first inning, the fifth-highest first-inning batting average in the majors and the O's highest batting average of any inning.

O's pitchers have allowed a major league-high 61 runs in the third inning (7.52 ERA), their most runs allowed in any single inning.

Opposing batters are batting a major league-high .335 against O's pitching the third time through the lineup.