O's game blog: Homestand begins against Toronto

The Orioles return home tonight to begin a two-series, six-game homestand. They will host Toronto for three games this weekend and Houston for three beginning on Monday at Oriole Park.

The Orioles (22-46) went 5-3 on their last homestand, winning series with Minnesota and Cleveland and splitting two games with the New York Mets. But they just completed an 0-7 road trip, losing three to the Tampa Bay Rays and were swept four in a row at Cleveland. On the trip, they lost four games by two runs or less, but also had losses by six, five and seven runs. They were beaten 10-3 on Thursday to end the trip.

The Orioles have gone 11-21 in home games this season, including a mark of 2-6-2 in 10 home series. They are 3-7 in series-opening games at home but have won their last two.

Toronto (33-34) just got swept three in a row by the Yankees with losses by 6-5, 3-2 and 8-4 scores. The Blue Jays have lost four in a row overall and are in fourth in the American League East, 8 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay. Toronto is 0-3-1 in its last four series since early June, going 1-2 versus Houston, 1-2 at Chicago against the White Sox, 2-2 at Boston and 0-3 at home against the Yankees. So they are 4-9 over the past 13 games. They are 6-9 this month.

Toronto is 20-18 in road games and has gone 5-4-3 in 12 road series. The Blue Jays are 12-16 in games versus AL East clubs.

Left-hander Bruce Zimmermann (4-4, 4.83 ERA) was scheduled to start the series opener, but instead went on the 10-day injured list today retroactive to June 15 with left biceps tendinitis.

Making the start will be right-hander Thomas Eshelman, who has been at Triple-A Norfolk all year. He was recalled today and added to the 40- and 26-man rosters.

Eshelman has gone 0-3 with a 6.41 ERA for Triple-A Norfolk in six games with three starts. Over 19 2/3 innings, he has allowed 25 hits with three walks to 10 strikeouts with a .294 opponent batting average and 1.42 WHIP. He has not pitched since June 10, when he gave up four hits and two runs in three innings versus Jacksonville. He allowed six runs in 9 2/3 innings in his past two games for the Tides.

Eshelman, 26, went 3-1 with a 3.89 ERA in four games for the 2020 Orioles and he tied Travis Lakins Sr. for the team lead in wins. Eshelman posted a 1.240 WHIP over 34 2/3 innings with nine walks and 16 strikeouts.

Lefty Robbie Ray (4-2, 3.45 ERA) will make his 13th start of the 2021 season for Toronto. Ray has thrown 70 1/3 innings, yielding 61 hits and 16 home runs with 17 walks and 92 strikeouts. He is tied for the AL lead in homers allowed and tied for second in the majors. But his WHIP is just 1.109 and he walks 2.2 per nine with 11.8 strikeouts.

Lefty batters have hit just .189 off him with an OPS of .572, while right-handers bat .238/.776. He is 1-1 on the road with an ERA of 3.83 and a 1.150 WHIP.

In three June starts, he is 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA and three quality starts. Over 18 1/3 innings, he has given up 15 hits with five walks and 32 strikeouts allowing a .221 batting average against and OPS of .612.

Ray's velocity is up this year from 93.7 mph in 2020 to 95.4 mph and he is using his fastball 57 percent of the time, while throwing his slider 28 percent and curveball 11 percent. Ray ranks in the top 11 percent in the majors in whiff percentage and top 13 percent in strikeout rate. But teams have hit the ball hard off him and he rates in the bottom 5 percent in average exit velocity.

The Orioles are slashing .268/.325/.430 in 14 games in June and their batting average and OBP this month rank as the sixth-best in the AL.

Center fielder Cedric Mullins is slashing .400/.492/700 (20-for-50) in June and ranks second in the AL in OBP this month, third in batting average and fifth in OPS. Ryan Mountcastle is slashing .346/.370/.635 with four home runs, eight runs scored and 15 RBIs in 13 June games. His 15 RBIs are tied for the third-most in the majors in the month. Infielder Maikel Franco is slashing .280/.280/.540 with three home runs in 14 games this month after batting .157/.187/.275 with two home runs in 26 May games. Shortstop Freddy Galvis has hit safely in seven of 14 games this month, with six of those games being multi-hit games.