O's game blog: Gabriel Ynoa gets start against Cleveland

After last night's 5-0 loss, the Orioles play at Cleveland this afternoon in the second game of this three-game series. Cleveland (85-56) will try to extend its winning streak to 17 straight today. That is the longest win streak in the majors since the A's won 20 in a row in 2002.

The Orioles are 71-70 and have fallen three games back in the chase for the second American League wild card. Minnesota (74-67) leads for that spot by two games over the Angels, 2 1/2 over the Rangers and three over the Orioles.

From Aug. 23-30, the Orioles won seven in a row. They outscored their opponents 52-17 in those games and had a starting pitcher ERA of 3.80 in that stretch. Since then, they have gone 3-5 and been outscored 49-28 with a rotation ERA of 7.32.

The Orioles offense has been held to 20 runs over the last seven games and to one run on 11 hits the past two games.

Right-hander Gabriel Ynoa (1-0, 3.68 ERA) will make his sixth appearance for the Orioles and his first start. His last outing was a two-inning scoreless appearance on Monday versus the Yankees. In three career major league starts, Ynoa is 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA.

He faced Cleveland twice in relief, pitching against the Indians June 19 and June 22. In those games, he pitched 5 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and one run with two walks and five strikeouts.

Ynoa went 6-9 with a 5.25 ERA as a starter at Triple-A Norfolk this year. But in nine second-half starts, he was 5-1 with a 2.87 ERA. Over 53 1/3 innings, he walked just seven, fanned 44 and allowed an average against of .240. He ended the year throwing four straight quality starts for the Tides.

Right-hander Josh Tomlin (8-9, 5.20 ERA) gets the start for Cleveland. He gave up one run over 5 2/3 innings in his last start against Detroit. In 11 home starts, Tomlin is 5-6 with a 5.71 ERA.

O's second baseman Jonathan Schoop ranks among AL leaders in several offensive categories. He is eighth in batting average at .304 and second with 102 RBIs. Schoop's 31 home runs are tied for ninth and his 64 extra-base hits are tied for sixth. His 164 hits rank fourth in the AL and his .537 slugging percentage is eighth.

Among qualifying AL rookies, Trey Mancini ranks first in batting average (.292), second in slugging (.501), and third in home runs (23), on-base percentage (.339) and RBIs (73). His 23 home runs rank third-most in Orioles history for a player during his rookie season, trailing only Eddie Murray's 27 in 1977 and Cal Ripken Jr.'s 28 in 1982.