O's game blog: Going for a sweep in Oakland

The Orioles are enjoying the West Coast so far. They've started a six-game road trip by going 2-0 at Oakland and can record a three-game sweep of the Athletics today at Oakland Coliseum.

If the Orioles win:

* They will have their second three-game sweep, with both coming on the road.
* They will have a season-best four-game winning streak.
* They'll be back at .500 for the first time since April 10 when they were 4-4.
* They will be 4-2 against the first-place Athletics.
* They will be 10-4 in road games.
* They will be 6-2 in their previous eight games and 9-6 in the last 15.

César Valdez recorded a shaky save as the Orioles held off Oakland to win 3-2 Friday night. Yesterday, the Birds scored six runs in the third inning and went on to beat the A's 8-4. The six-run inning was the most runs allowed in one inning this year by Oakland. It was the second-best inning of the year by O's batters. Baltimore scored seven runs in the third inning on April 4 at Boston.

The Orioles had 10 hits yesterday. It was their sixth game of the season with double-digit hits. They had 10 players bat and each had one hit.

The Orioles (13-14) are now 9-1 when they score first and 11-2 when scoring four runs or more. They had lost seven in a row at Oakland when this series began, a losing streak that dated to Aug. 12, 2017.

The A's (16-12) have lost five of seven games, scoring just 15 runs in that span with a team batting average of .185. The A's have led in just two innings in this series - the first two innings on Friday night,

Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann (1-3, 5.33 ERA) will make his sixth start of the year today and his first career start versus Oakland. Zimmermann was hit hard on Tuesday when he gave up nine hits and four runs over 3 2/3 innings versus the Yankees. New York went 9-for-19 against him in that game with two doubles and two homers. The Yankees hit eight balls into play with an exit velocity of 102 mph or better.

In his first three starts, Zimmermann recorded an ERA of 4.24, but his ERA is 7.56 over his past two starts, allowing 15 hits and seven runs over 8 1/3 innings. The Orioles are 1-4 in his outings this season.

Lefty Sean Manaea (3-1, 2.83 ERA) gets the start for Oakland. In 28 2/3 innings for the year, he has walked seven and fanned 28. He has a 1.186 WHIP, allowing 0.9 homers per nine with 2.2 walks and 8.8 strikeouts. He has allowed just one run in 12 innings his past two starts and the Athletics are 4-1 when he takes the mound.

All nine Baltimore starters, along with defensive substitute Pat Valaika, each collected one hit in yesterday's game. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it was just the second time in Orioles history in which all position players who appeared in the game collected exactly one hit. That also happened on July 11, 1990 against Kansas City, when nine batters recorded one hit. The last time this occurred in the majors was on June 18, 2018, when Kansas City did it in a game against Texas, with nine players collecting one hit.