O's game blog: Dan Straily pitches in Boston series finale

New Orioles right-hander Dan Straily, signed by the team on April 5, has certainly struggled in his first two appearances with the team. He is 0-1 with a 19.29 ERA after allowing 10 runs over 4 2/3 innings.

In his first Baltimore appearance, he gave up five runs in 1 1/3 in relief versus the Yankees. Then in a start last Wednesday versus Oakland, he allowed five runs and eight hits over 3 1/3 innings.

Opponent batters have produced a slash line against him of .500/.536/1.077, going 13-for-26, and Straily has allowed four homers. So maybe the only way to go is up as he takes the mound today at Fenway Park in the finale of this four-game series.

The Orioles would love to see Straily post stats similar to those from his 2018 season, when he went 5-6 with a 4.12 ERA and 1.300 WHIP for Miami. He yielded 7.9 hits per nine innings, 1.5 homers and 3.8 walks, and recorded 7.3 strikeouts. In two career games against the Red Sox - both at Fenway Park - Straily is 0-1 with an ERA of 6.00.

Boston will start 30-year-old right-hander Hector Velázquez, who is 0-0 with a 2.79 ERA in five games, with one start. In 9 2/3 innings this season he has allowed 10 hits and four runs (three earned) with no walks and nine strikeouts. In 47 games last season he went 7-2 with a 3.18 ERA. In six career games (two starts) against Baltimore, he is 1-0 with a 2.84 ERA with four walks and 10 strikeouts over 12 2/3 innings.

Both teams are 6-10 after Boston's 4-0 win Sunday behind David Price's seven scoreless innings. The Orioles have lost five of six and nine of 11 games since their 4-1 start. They are 5-4 in road games.

Over the last five games, O's batters produced four, four, four, 13 and five hits. The Orioles went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position yesterday and are 5-for-33 in this series. They've scored four runs or fewer in nine of the last 12 games.

O's pitchers have allowed at least one homer in every game of 2019. Doing so in their first 16 games, they have tied the major league record for most consecutive games allowing a homer to start a season. They have matched the 2009 Philadephia Phillies. But while O's pitchers have allowed 28 homers in seven home games, they have yielded just 12 in nine road contests.

Today (and tomorrow for clubs with scheduled days off today), all of baseball will commemorate the 72nd anniversary of Jackie Robinson's first Major League game for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15,1947. Robinson's uniform No. 42 was retired by the Dodgers in 1972 and in 1997, the 50th anniversary of his breaking of baseball's color barrier, Major League Baseball permanently retired his uniform number league-wide.

Jackie Robinson Day has been celebrated throughout baseball on April 15 each year since 2004, and all on-field personnel have celebrated Robinson's legacy by wearing his No. 42 during games played on Jackie Robinson Day since 2009. Each game-worn No. 42 jersey and hat the Orioles wear will be authenticated, autographed and auctioned at www.orioles.com/auctions to benefit the Baltimore Orioles Charitable Foundation and the Jackie Robinson Foundation. Since the Tampa Bay Rays have a scheduled off-day on Monday, the Orioles will celebrate Jackie Robinson Day twice -- today at Boston and tomorrow at Tropicana Field.