O's game blog: A look at Orioles' strikeout rates in 2015 and 2016

With Adam Jones batting first and Hyun Soo Kim batting second, the Orioles certainly are sending out a new-look lineup in the first game of the series in Cleveland.

Maybe Buck Showalter thought, "Why not shake some things up?" The Orioles scored just seven runs and struck out 52 times in Houston, a major league record for a three-game series. The Orioles also went just 4-for-28 (.143) in Houston with runners in scoring position.

The Orioles have scored three runs or less runs in five straight games and in seven of their past nine games. They have scored just 12 runs the last five games.

The Orioles now rank fifth in the American League for worst strikeout rate - that is the percentage of a team's batters that strike out. Some may be surprised thinking they would be higher.

Here is the latest list of AL teams:
26.0 - Houston
25.2 - Tampa Bay
23.2 - Minnesota
23.0 - Detroit
22.9 - Orioles

Last year, the O's ranked second with a strikeout rate of 22.2. So they are striking out at a slightly greater rate now but so are other teams for them to drop from second to fifth in the AL.

The Orioles have a walk rate of 8.4 percent to rank eighth in the AL and that is solidly ahead of last year's mark of 7 percent. The Orioles average 4.4 runs per game in 2015 and they are at exactly 4.4 in 2016.

The Orioles do rank first in the AL with a 33.4 percent rate of swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. They also have swung at 49.2 percent of all pitches and that also ranks first in the AL. They are an aggressive team and the stats bear that out.

On the mound tonight, Mike Wright (2-3, 4.97 ERA) pitches against Cleveland right-hander Trevor Bauer (3-2, 4.31 ERA).

Wright gave up four runs (two earned) over 5 1/3 innings in his last start a week ago at Anaheim. Wright is 1-1 with 5.94 ERA in three road starts. The Orioles are 4-3 in his seven starts.

In the first through fifth innings this year, Wright's ERA is 3.34. From the sixth inning on, he has an ERA of 13.50.

Since throwing seven scoreless innings May 10 against Houston, Bauer is 0-2 with a 5.40 ERA his past two starts. Lefty batters hit .267 off him, right-handed batters hit .218 and he yields a .265 batting average when pitching with runners in scoring position.

Bauer was the third overall pick in the 2011 First-Year Player Draft, taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Three times he was ranked among Baseball America's top 100 prospects.