Beginning today leading the AL East by 1.5 games over Tampa Bay with a record of 95-59, the Orioles have eight games remaining in the 2023 regular season and two in the series at Cleveland.
They started their road trip with a series win at Houston but have lost 5-2 and 9-8 in Cleveland. After Aaron Hicks' two-out, two-run double gave Baltimore an 8-7 lead in the top of the ninth Friday night, the Guardians produced a walkoff win in the last of the inning on David Fry's two-run double. He hit a first-pitch two-seamer off Yennier Cano with an exit velocity of 100.2 mph to win the game.
The Orioles have followed a four-game win streak with a three-game losing streak and have lost seven of their last 11 games. So, since Sept. 12, they are 4-7 while Tampa Bay is 5-5. The Rays have gone from three games back to 1 1/2 out.
The O's magic number to clinch the AL East is six as Saturday begins.
The Orioles have lost just three times this year in 36 games when scoring eight or more runs and Cleveland has beaten them twice in such instances.
