O's game blog: Going for a series sweep against Indians

Today, an Orioles team that has not won a series since April 22-24 goes for a three-game sweep of Cleveland at Camden Yards. The Orioles have posted back-to-back 13-0 wins over the Indians.

They became the first team in major league history to post back-to-back shutouts while scoring 13 or more each game. Friday and Saturday were the sixth and seventh times in team history that the club scored at least 13 runs during a shutout. It marked the O's first back-to-back shutouts since Sept. 2-3, 2016 at home against the Yankees.

The Orioles (24-58) had lost 13 of 14 and seven straight at home before this series started. And they were 4-19 in June. Cleveland (44-38) was 16-7 in June at the start of the weekend, which was the best American League record this month.

Right-hander Gabriel Ynoa (0-5, 6.75 ERA) gets the start for the Orioles today and they are 1-5 in his previous six starts. Ynoa has really struggled recently. Over his last two games, he has thrown 7 2/3 innings, allowing 12 hits, 13 runs and four homers. His ERA jumped up from 5.02 to its present level. At home, Ynoa is 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA.

Cleveland's starter today is right-hander Shane Bieber (6-3, 3.83 ERA) who will be making his 18th appearance and 17th start. Over his past three starts, he has an ERA of 2.84. Over 19 innings, he has allowed 15 hits with three walks and 26 strikeouts.

In his only previous career start against the Orioles, Bieber was dominant against Baltimore on May 19 at Cleveland. Bieber fanned a career-high 15 with no walks in a complete-game five-hitter on 107 pitches. The five hits he allowed were all singles.

It was the first shutout by a big league starter with 15 or more strikeouts since Houston's Gerrit Cole on May 4, 2018 at Arizona. The last time a Cleveland pitcher did this, it was Carlos Carrasco on Sept. 25, 2015 at Kansas City.

"I just thought we got completely dominated," said Orioles manager Brandon Hyde after that game. "That was masterful. He worked ahead, had really good stuff, had a great breaking ball that we just continued to swing at underneath the zone and didn't make any adjustments during the game. He was just really, really good. And we didn't adjust at all and make it tough on him."

Bieber's complete-game gem was just the 15th since 1908 where a major league pitcher has thrown a shutout with 15 or more strikeouts and no walks. It was last was done by Colorado's Jon Gray when he fanned 16 on Sept. 17, 2016 against San Diego. It was done just one other time in Indians history. That was by Luis Tiant when he fanned 19 against Minnesota on July 3, 1968. According to Major League Baseball, Bieber is the fourth-youngest since 1908 to record 15 strikeouts with no walks in a shutout behind only Dwight Gooden, Kerry Wood and Vince Velasquez.