O's game blog: A chance for a series win at Pittsburgh

The Orioles and Pittsburgh Pirates play the second game of their three-game series this afternoon after the Orioles won 5-2 on Friday to begin the weekend.

The Orioles (5-2) won their first road game of the year and now are 3-0 in series-opening games.

As of this morning, they are in third place in the American League East, 1/2-game behind both New York and Boston at 6-2.

If the Orioles win one of the next two games, they will have three series wins to start the season. The last two O’s teams to do that were in 2009 and 2016.

Orioles pitchers are doing a solid job thus far. Their team ERA of 3.14 ranks seventh-best in the AL and eighth overall in the majors. Baltimore’s bullpen ERA is 2.38, which ranks sixth-best in the AL and seventh overall in the big leagues. Over the last five games, the O’s bullpen has allowed two earned runs over 16 2/3 innings.

The Orioles have allowed four runs or fewer in each of their seven games to start the season. That ties a club mark for most games allowing four or fewer to start a season. The O’s also did that in 2002.

Last season the Orioles went 82-19 (.812) when allowing four runs or fewer, the best record in such games in the AL.

Heading into Friday’s game, the O’s had hit just two homers over the last four games. Then they hit a season-high three homers at Pittsburgh. Ryan O’Hearn, Gunnar Henderson and Cedric Mullins all hit solo shots. It was No. 1 for O’Hearn and the second homers of the year for Henderson and Mullins.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez allowed two runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings on 97 pitches. He improved to 2-0 with a 2.19 ERA.

O’s starting pitchers have a 3.57 ERA through seven games, and six times allowed three earned runs or fewer. Baltimore starters have four quality starts on the 2024 season.

Today right-hander Tyler Wells (0-1, 4.50 ERA) will make his second start of the year. He allowed four runs, three earned, over six innings on Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels, throwing 82 pitches.

In that game, lefty batters went 2-for-5 against him and right-handers were 3-for-18 with seven strikeouts. In his only previous start versus Pittsburgh, on May 13, 2023, he threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while notching eight strikeouts.

Pittsburgh (6-2) was handed its second loss of the season on Friday. The Bucs are tied for first in the National League Central with Milwaukee, but the Brewers, at 5-1, lead by percentage points.

The Pirates scored 49 runs their first seven games but were held to a season-low two runs in the series opener. They had scored 39 runs during their 5-0 start.

Left-hander Bailey Falter (0-0, 13.50 ERA) gets the ball today. He started Sunday at Miami and allowed six runs and five hits over four innings on 67 pitches. He gave up five runs in the first inning that day, including four on Jazz Chisholm's grand slam.

Last season, between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, he went 2-9 with a 5.36 ERA. Falter has one career inning against the Orioles, and it was scoreless. He is 0-6 with a 5.18 ERA for his career in April games.