O's game blog: A chance for another AL East series win

TORONTO – The Orioles are unbeaten at the Rogers Centre this year, going 5-0 thus far in a ballpark where the 2018 Orioles went 0-10. A win tonight would give Baltimore another series win in the third game of this four-game series between American League East rivals. 

The Orioles pulled out a close win on Monday, taking the opener 4-2, and last night they routed the Blue Jays 13-3 while getting six extra-base hits among 16 hits. They scored three runs early and scored 10 from the sixth through the ninth innings.

Gunnar Henderson’s solo homer, No. 18, put the Orioles ahead 4-3 in the sixth, and they poured it on from there. Henderson added a two-run single an inning later, part of a four-RBI game. Anthony Santander was 3-for-4 and his grand slam in the eighth opened an eight-run lead, which grew to 10 on Ryan McKenna’s two-run single off Jordan Hicks in the ninth.

The Orioles are 7-1 this year against Toronto, outscoring them by 27 runs at 53-26. The Orioles have scored 6.63 runs per game in the season series, batting .298 with an .854 OPS against a Toronto pitching staff that ranks fourth in the AL with a 3.84 ERA. O’s pitchers have an ERA of 3.00 in the eight games versus Toronto hitters.

The Orioles have won three straight games, outscoring the Yankees and Blue Jays 26-8.

Heading into this series the Orioles were 7-0-2 in their last nine AL East series and were 19-9 in 28 games in this span. Now they will have another non-losing division series (worst they can do is split), and they are now 21-9 in their last 30 division games. That is .700 ball in a division that is maybe one of the toughest divisions in baseball history.

Tonight O’s right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (2-2, 6.21 ERA) will make his 14^th start and fourth since returning from Triple-A. He is coming off a pitcher’s duel with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole on Friday in a game the Orioles won 1-0. Rodriguez pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings on three hits, throwing 97 pitches.

He has certainly shown improvement in his fastball command, and he used his four-seamer 57 percent in that game at an average velocity of 98.3 mph. He used his fastball and changeup a combined 79 percent against the Yankees.

In three starts since he rejoined the roster, he has a 3.18 ERA with six walks and 14 strikeouts over 17 innings. Batters have hit .220 with a .564 OPS against him in this span.

In four AL East games in 2023, Rodriguez is 1-0 with a 2.38 ERA and .654 OPS.

Lefty Yusei Kikuchi (8-3, 3.79 ERA) will make his 22^nd start in the third game of this series. He has allowed just two earned runs his past three games for an ERA of 1.13 in that span. And his ERA is 3.10 over his past 11 starts.

But in two games this year against the Orioles, he is 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA. And in 10 career games, seven starts, versus Baltimore batters he is 3-5 with an ERA of 6.00.

Ryan Mountcastle is 5-for-7 this series with four doubles and five RBIs. He has driven in eight runs in five games on the year against Toronto. In 47 career games versus Toronto pitchers, he is batting .322 with 12 doubles, 15 homers, 41 RBIs and an OPS of 1.021.