O's game blog: It's Chen against Cueto in series finale

The Orioles continue to look for consistent starting pitching and, I'd say that with 21 games to go, they may not get it during the 2015 season. In this series against Kansas City, Mike Wright and Chris Tillman have allowed eight runs over 10 1/3 innings.

In the last 15 games, the Orioles have one quality start. In their last 13 games, their starter has pitched fewer than six innings 12 times and fewer than five innings five times. In the last 18 games, the O's rotation has an ERA of 6.85. So, yes, there is room for improvement.

In two games this weekend, O's pitchers have allowed 22 runs and 24 hits. The Royals are 4-2 versus the Orioles this season and they've scored 43 runs in the six games. Kansas City is 11-5 against the Orioles in the last 16 regular-season games the teams have played.

Tonight, Wei-Yin Chen (8-7, 3.48 ERA) tries to slow the AL Central leaders. Over his past two starts, Chen has allowed 10 runs and 18 hits, including four homers over 9 2/3 innings. Prior to those outings, he had given up three earned runs or less in 16 of his past 17 outings.

Right-hander Johnny Cueto (9-11, 3.24 ERA) takes the mound for Kansas City. Cueto is really struggling. Over his first four starts for the Royals, he went 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA. In his last four, he is 0-4 with an ERA of 9.45. He has allowed four homers and 21 runs over 20 innings in that stretch. After going 7-6 with a 2.62 ERA for the Reds, Cueto is 2-5 with an ERA of 4.86 for the Royals.

O's third baseman Manny Machado has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games (.341/.451/.561), including five straight (.389/.542/.778). Last night, he produced his 45th multi-hit game of the season, the most among all Orioles.

Outfielder Adam Jones slugged a three-run home run in the third inning and that gave him his 20th multi-RBI game of the season. The Orioles left a season-high tying 12 runners on base last night. They also did that Aug. 23 against Minnesota.

The Orioles lead the American League and rank second in the majors with the fewest number of errors at 64. The Orioles lead the AL and rank third in the majors with a .988 team fielding percentage.

The Orioles rank second in the majors with 40 outfield assists. Jones Jones leads the team and is tied for fourth in the majors with 13 outfield assists. According to FanGraphs, Orioles outfielders rank seventh in the league with eight defensive runs saved.