A look at the Orioles offense on this homestand and at home this year

For the Orioles, this has been a homestand where they fall behind in the early and middle innings, and try to pull out the game late. They have pulled out a few games, but yesterday was one where they could not do that.

They fell behind 5-0 after four innings against Tampa Bay and pulled within 5-4 after eight innings, but they lost by that one-run margin.

The Orioles have trailed after the sixth inning in five of the six games on this homestand. They have scored 23 runs in the six games, with just seven coming in the first six innings of the game and 16 coming from the seventh inning on.

That is some nice late offense, but they are putting pressure on their starting pitchers with so little offense early in these games and then pressure on the offense to come back late.

The Orioles have scored just 10 runs in losing two of three in this series against Tampa Bay. They are just 3-for-19 with runners in scoring position in the series.

In going 3-3 on this homestand, they are batting just .174 (8-for-46) with RISP.

The Orioles continue to be a team that is hitting much better on the road this year. They score on average 1.8 runs per game more for every road game than home game. That is a big disparity.

O's on road: 5.07 runs per game, .276 average, .330 OBP, .444 slugging.
O's at home: 3.28 runs per game, .250 average, .304 OBP, .385 slugging.

The Orioles pitch better at home with a 3.59 ERA at Camden Yards, compared to a 4.21 ERA on the road, but they don't have to pitch as well getting over five runs per game on the road.

Have the Orioles faced better opponents at home? Better pitchers? Do they feel more pressure to produce in front of the home fans?

Only three Orioles have a .280 or better batting average at home this year. They are Delmon Young at .370, Steve Pearce at .352 and Adam Jones at .304.

The Orioles (42-38) will reach the halfway point of the season today by playing their 81st game. With a win, they would be on a pace to finish the season with 86 victories. That is probably not enough to make the playoffs, even in an American League East that is down this year.

As the second half of this season arrives, the Orioles are going to need to a find way to start scoring more runs and winning more at home to get where they want to go this season.