A look at the O's offense during a 13-4 run and the strong AL East play

The Orioles began play Sunday leading the majors in runs per game at 5.11 and they also led the majors in team slugging at .448 and in home runs with 100 even.

Then they went out and showed off that offense again in their latest win by 9-2 over the Tampa Bay Rays.

It was the first game in team history, which dates of course to 1954, where they produced three triples and a grand slam.

Against a team and organization where they once had a 2-27 run, the Orioles tonight can sweep their first-ever four-game series at Tropicana Field.

The Orioles (42-22) are 5-1 this year versus the Rays and 13-6 since the beginning of last year. They have won 13 of the past 18 meetings between the teams and are 22-13 the last 35 games against Tampa Bay. The Rays last series win against the Orioles came at home in August of 2022.

Consider this stat: With Sunday's win the Orioles are now 16-6 this year against AL East teams. That is a win percentage of .727. If a team could play that well over 162 games, that team would win 118 games.

From May 20-22, the Orioles were swept three in a row at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, scoring eight total runs that series. They had 14 hits in the three games, and twice were held to three hits by Cards pitching.

But since that series, the Orioles are now 13-4 and have scored 102 runs in that span, for 6.0 per game. The team batting average over the 17 games is .270 with a .507 slugging percentage and .844 OPS with 33 homers, nearly two per game.

The Orioles have hit two or more homers seven times the last nine games, with 23 homers in the nine games and 57 in their last 34 games. 

Before Sunday's game, co-hitting coach Ryan Fuller talked about how the O's offense is humming along recently and how it features power throughout the lineup.

“These guys have incredible pop the whole way through,” Fuller said. “And it’s one of those things where more time in the league, how pitchers are attacking them, especially in-division opponents, we’ve got a really good sample to look at. Their approaches have been so good and it’s not something that we’re focusing on trying to hit home runs every time, but it’s definitely a byproduct of their preparation and really good approaches going into the game.”

Sunday's game featured seven extra-base hits and the Baltimore batters have produced 20 runs and 31 hits thus far this series with six doubles, four triples and seven home runs.

Adley Rutschman hit his second career grand slam in Sunday's 9-2 win and also had a pair of RBI singles for a career-best six-RBI game. This year with the bases loaded he is 4-for-6 with two homers and 11 RBIs. Rutschman has driven in 21 runs his last 16 games. In that span he is batting .333/.375/.530/.905 going 22-for-66.

Sunday's game was the 10th three-triple game in club history and first since Sept. 27, 2022 against Boston.  

The Orioles have outscored the Rays 20-5 this series, allowing just four earned runs. Their three starters have allowed four earned runs over 17 1/3 innings with one walk to 21 strikeouts.

Their bullpen pitchers allowed an inherited run to score but have thrown 9 2/3 scoreless this series and the O's bullpen has an ERA of 0.51 the last 11 games.

The Orioles tonight end a stretch of 14 straight games against AL East teams. They are 9-4 during this stretch. The gauntlet of June will keep rolling on even after the O's leave the Trop. Tuesday night they begin a homestand against two of the National League's best teams hosting the Braves and Phillies. Those two series will be followed by an off day and then a three-game series at Yankee Stadium.