O's game blog: John Means tries to pitch O's over Rays

He has been one of the best pitchers in the majors this year and tonight the Orioles ask left-hander John Means (4-0, 1.21 ERA) to pitch them to a win to end a losing stretch. Not a losing streak so much, but a run where they have lost five and six and eight of their last 10 games.

Means is pitching on seven days' rest since his last outing on Tuesday May 11 at the New York Mets. That day, he pitched six scoreless innings on six hits in the follow-up act to his no-hitter. Four times this year, he has not allowed a run, including these past two starts. In those games, he gave up six hits in 15 innings with no walks and 15 strikeouts.

Means takes the mound tonight leading the American League and is second in the major leagues in ERA. He leads the league and is second in the majors in WHIP (0.712). Means ranks tied for fifth in the league in strikeouts (53) and eighth in innings pitched (52).

Opponents are batting .125 (2-for-16) against Means with runners in scoring position and have gone hitless (0-for-6) with RISP and two outs. Five of the seven earned runs Means has allowed have come via a solo home run. His .242 opponent slugging percentage and .438 opponent OPS lead the AL.

Means has produced six quality starts on the year and has thrown five in a row. In those five games, his ERA is 0.76. He has walked six and fanned 39 over 35 1/3 innings.

He has allowed one run or less in 10 of 12 starts dating to his final four outings of 2020. Means is 6-1 with a 1.31 ERA in this great run of pitching. Over 75 2/3 innings, he has walked 13 and fanned 83.

The Orioles are 5-3 in his eight starts this season and he has allowed one run or less in six of them. In two home starts, Means is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA. It was at Oriole Park on April 13 where he allowed a season-high three runs in five innings versus Seattle. That is the only start this season where he gave up more than two runs.

In five career games (four starts) against Tampa Bay, he is 3-1 with a 3.25 ERA and 0.831 WHIP.

Means will try to slow down a hot Tampa Bay club tonight. The Rays (24-19) have won five in a row and are now just one game back of division-leading Boston in third place, with Toronto in second, just a half-game out. The Rays have scored 44 runs on 57 hits during their winning streak. They are 11-4 over the last 15 games. And since beginning the year 5-8, Tampa Bay is 19-11.

The Rays hit five homers last night and improved to 11-1 when hitting two or more homers. The Orioles are now 4-19 when allowing four or more runs and 15-6 when scoring four or more after Tuesday's 13-6 defeat.

Baltimore pitching has yielded 39 runs over the last five games, giving up five runs or more each game and the O's staff has allowed 10 hits or more in five of its last six games.

The Rays start lefty Ryan Yarbrough (2-3, 4.20 ERA) tonight for his ninth appearance and fifth as a starter. His last game was in relief last Wednesday when he pitched 3 1/3 scoreless versus the Yankees. For the season, Yarbrough has thrown 40 2/3 innings, allowing 44 hits, but just two homers. He has recorded a 1.279 WHIP with a 1.8 walk-rate and 7.3 strikeout rate.

In his four starts only, he is 0-3 with a 6.75 ERA and 1.544 WHIP, and Tampa Bay is 1-3 in those games. In eight career games (three starts) against Baltimore, he is 3-1 with a 3.24 ERA and 1.200 WHIP.

Trey Mancini leads the Orioles with seven home runs and 33 RBIs and has also recorded the second-most hits on the team with 40. His RBI total is tied for the second-most in the AL and the majors. In 15 games in May, Mancini has recorded 16 RBIs, tied for the most in the AL. Mancini is batting a team-best .392 (20-for-51) with runners in scoring position and his 20 hits with RISP are the most in the majors.