O's game blog: Gonzalez on the mound in road trip finale

The Orioles have not had a losing road trip all year. They need a win today to keep that mark intact. They are 4-4 on this trip, which ends this afternoon at Wrigley Field.

The Orioles also are trying to avoid their first three-game losing streak since they dropped four in a row from May 27-30. They have gone 74 games since May 31 without a three-game streak. That is the longest run by any major league team this year without three consecutive losses.

They have also been swept just once this season in a three-game series. They dropped three in a row against Detroit at Camden Yards May 12-14.

The Orioles have had a strange road trip from an offensive standpoint. They scored 17 runs and hit seven homers in a three-game sweep of the White Sox. But in the other five games, they have scored eight total runs, hitting just three homers.

In the games at Cleveland and at Wrigley Field they have scored, in order, one, zero, four, one and two runs. They are batting just .190 (12-for-63) with only one homer in two games against the Cubs.

On the mound today, Miguel Gonzalez (6-6, 3.80 ERA) has been recalled from the minors to face former Orioles farmhand Tsuyoshi Wada (3-1, 2.75 ERA), who was signed by the team but never pitched in the majors for Baltimore.

In his last big league start, Gonzalez gave up just one run in six innings on Aug. 7 against Toronto. Over his last six starts, he is 2-1 with a 2.43 ERA. The Orioles are 10-9 in 2014 when Gonzalez gets the start.

Nelson Cruz leads the majors with 34 home runs after Chris Davis led the majors in homers with 53 in 2013. According to STATS, if Cruz leads the majors this year, the Orioles will become just the fourth team since 1920 to have two different players win the home run title in back-to-back seasons.

The others were the 1936-37 Yankees (Lou Gehrig, 49; Joe DiMaggio, 46), the 1987-88 Athletics (Mark McGwire, 49; Jose Canseco, 42), and the 1993-94 Giants (Barry Bonds, 46; Matt Williams, 43).

Saturday's three-hour, nine-minute rain delay was the longest for the Orioles since Aug. 11, 2012 to start a game against Kansas City (also 3:09).

The Orioles led the American League East by nine games at the end of the series against the White Sox. Their lead is seven games beginning play today.

Anyone getting nervous yet?