O's game blog: It's Gallardo against De La Rosa in series opener

The Orioles are 5-2 against National League opponents as they get set to host the Colorado Rockies tonight for the first of a three-game series at steamy Camden Yards.

The O's have gone 2-1 versus the Los Angeles Dodgers and 3-1 against San Diego. This is their first series with the Rockies (47-51) since they went 2-1 in 2013. The clubs have split 12 all-time meetings, all in Baltimore since the Orioles played at Coors Field in 2004.

Since the All-Star break, Colorado won two of three at Atlanta, lost two of three against Tampa Bay at home and just swept four from Atlanta at home. The Rockies are 7-3 since the break and 10-6 over the last 16 games.

The Rockies have three former Orioles on their roster in Mark Reynolds, Nick Hundley and Gerardo Parra. Reynolds and Hundley are in the lineup tonight. Parra is on the disabled list with a sprained left ankle.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Yovani Gallardo (3-2, 5.69 ERA) makes his 12th start and faces Colorado left-hander Jorge De La Rosa (6-7, 6.07 ERA).

In seven starts since returning from the DL, Gallardo is 2-1 with a 5.06 ERA. Wednesday at New York he gave up four runs over seven innings, pitching seven for the first time since June 27, 2015. In 10 career games versus the Rockies, he is 0-5 with a 6.08 ERA.

In his last start on Wednesday, De La Rosa went four innings and gave up 11 hits and nine runs (seven earned) versus the Rays. In his previous four starts, he had worked to an ERA of 2.77. In seven road starts in 2016, he is 2-5 with a 6.50 ERA.

Today, Colorado's 23-year-old rookie shortstop Trevor Story was named the National League Player of the Week for the period ending yesterday.

In seven games last week, Story led the major leagues with six home runs, 30 total bases and a 1.304 slugging percentage, while tying for the lead in RBIs (12) and runs (10). He hit .478 (11-for-23) with a .571 on-base percentage. He added four walks and a pair of stolen bases to his weekly totals, helping the Rockies win five of seven.

For the season, he is batting .275 with 27 homers, 69 RBIs and an OPS of .939. The 27 homers are the most by a rookie shortstop in National League history and are the third-most in major league history behind Cal Ripken Jr.'s 28 (1982) and Nomar Garciaparra's 30 (1997). Story's 27 homers surpassed Todd Helton (25 in 1998) for the second-most by a rookie in franchise history, trailing only Wilin Rosario (28 in 2012).

Sunday's win gave the Orioles their seventh series sweep of the season and third in a three-game series. The Orioles have had five series sweeps at home. The previous sweeps were versus Minnesota (April 4-7, three games), Tampa Bay (April 8-10, two games), at Minnesota (May 10-11, two games), versus Kansas City (June 6-8, three games), Tampa Bay (June 24-26, four games) and at San Diego (June 28-29, two games).

The Orioles are 10-1 in their last 11 home games, winning their past five. They are 36-14 at home for the season and have won 19 of 23 at Camden Yards. Overall, the Orioles have won their last four games by a combined 19-7 score.