O's game blog: Hellickson faces Bauer in series finale

The Orioles have lost three in a row and been outscored 18-3 in those games. Tonight they will try to end that streak and Cleveland's 17-game winning streak when they meet on ESPN.

The Indians are 86-56 and lead the AL Central by 12 games over Minnesota. The Tribe has run off the longest win streak in the majors since the Oakland A's won 20 straight in 2002. Cleveland is 39-16 since the All-Star break and 26-4 in its last 30 games.

The Orioles have been swept three straight six times this year. They lost three straight at Kansas City May 12-14, at home against Minnesota May 22-24 and at Houston May 26-28. They were also swept in New York by the Yankees June 9-11, at Milwaukee July 3-5 and at home versus the Chicago Cubs July 14-16.

The Orioles have a record of 20-30 this season against the five teams that currently hold AL playoff berths. They are 10-6 against Boston, 1-5 versus both Houston and Cleveland, 6-9 against the Yankees and 2-5 against the Twins.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (2-3, 6.87 ERA) makes his eighth start for Baltimore. Hellickson gave up just three runs his first two starts, but has a 9.51 ERA over his past five starts for the Orioles. In those games he has pitched a combined 23 2/3 innings allowing 26 hits and 28 runs (25 earned) with eight homers given up.

Over his past two starts, Hellickson has had outings of just 4 2/3 and 2 1/3. So that is seven innings in those games in which he has given up nine hits and 12 runs (10 earned) with eight walks to three strikeouts.

For the season, Hellickson has made 27 starts for the Philies and Orioles with 11 quality starts. His teams are 14-13 in those games with a mark of 4-3 in Baltimore.

Right-hander Trevor Bauer (15-8, 4.39 ERA) gets the start for Cleveland, his 28th. Bauer had an ERA of 5.24 at the All-Star break. But in 11 games since then he is 8-1 with a 3.05 ERA. He has allowed two runs or less in six of his past eight starts. He went 5-0 with a 2.31 ERA in August.

Bauer is starting for the first time this season versus the Orioles and the fifth time in his career. He has never beaten Baltimore, going 0-3 with an ERA of 6.75.

Bauer is 8-0 over his last 10 starts since his last loss on July 16 against Oakland. His 15 wins are tied for second in the AL behind Boston's Chris Sale, who has 16 victories.

During their long win streak, the average score in Cleveland's games is 6.9 to 1.8. The Tribe pitchers have an ERA of 1.96 in that time allowing an opponent slash line of just .204/.256/.286.