O's game blog: Keegan Akin faces Indians in series opener

After taking two of three against Minnesota, snapping a 14-game losing streak and picking up their first series win since early May in the process, the Orioles homestand continues tonight at Oriole Park. They host the Cleveland Indians in the start of a weekend series.

The Orioles have posted back-to-back wins over Minnesota by 7-4 and 6-3 scores. A win tonight would match the three-game win streak they posted from April 29 through May 1 versus the Yankees and Athletics.

The O's have gone 17-11 when scoring four-or-more runs. They recorded double-digit hits in both wins (10 and 11) and outhit the Twins on Wednesday. They are 14-8 when outhitting their opponent and 6-9 when recording double-digit hits as a team. The O's have hit .316 (6-for-19) with runners in scoring position in their last two games. For the season, the Orioles are batting .289 (46-for-159) with RISP in their 19 wins and .178 (48-for-269) with RISP in their 37 losses.

The Orioles are just 6-12 this season in series-opening games and just 1-7 at home. They have lost their last eight series opening games since beating Seattle 5-3 on May 3.

Lefty Keegan Akin (0-0, 4.80 ERA) gets the start for the Orioles tonight. It will be his second start of the year after he faced the Chicago White Sox on the road Sunday. Over 4 2/3 innings, Akin gave up five hits and one run with two walks and four strikeouts on 94 pitches. He got 12 swings and misses.

Akin has thrown 15 innings for the year, allowing 17 hits with three walks and 14 strikeouts. He has a WHIP of 1.333, allowing 10.2 hits per nine with 1.8 walks and 8.4 strikeouts. He is 1-0 with a 3.66 ERA in five home games in his career.

In seven career starts, Akin is 1-2 with a 3.67 ERA over 27 innings with 11 walks, 38 strikeouts and a 1.519 WHIP.

He has never faced the Indians in his career and only faced two opponents outside of the American League East during the 2020 season, the Washington Nationals and the Atlanta Braves. Tonight marks Akin's third straight appearance against an AL Central opponent. He had never faced the division prior to May 25 at Minnesota and has pitched to a 3.52 ERA (three earned runs in 7 2/3 innings) across the two games (one start) with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Cleveland will start right-hander Jean Carlos Mejía (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who has thrown five scoreless innings of relief this year with one hit, one walk and seven strikeouts. He has had outings of 2 1/3, one and 1 2/3 innings. Lefty batters are 0-for-6 and right-handers are 1-9 with four strikeouts and a single against him.

The 24-year-old from the Dominican Republic made two starts at Triple-A this season, allowing six hits and two runs over nine innings with five walks and 10 strikeouts. In seven years on the farm, he is 18-17 with a 2.76 ERA in 101 games, making 27 starts. In his outings this year, he has thrown his fastball 64 percent of the time at a velocity of 94.3 mph, throwing his slider 18 percent and changeup 14 percent.

Cleveland (30-24) is in second, three games behind Chicago. The Indians have won nine of 15 and are 22-13 since April 25. They are 7-7-3 in series and 2-5 in seven games versus the AL East.

Minor league honors: Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez has been named the Orioles' Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May, while infielder Jordan Westburg has been named the Orioles' Minor League Player of the Month.

Rodriguez, who was also named the High-A East Pitcher of the Month for May, went 3-0 with a 1.54 ERA (four earned runs in 23 1/3 innings) in five starts during May for High-A Aberdeen. He held opponents to a .138 batting average with 40 strikeouts and just five walks. He was promoted to Double-A Bowie on June 1 and made his Double-A debut a day later, earning the win in five innings of work, allowing one run on four hits with eight strikeouts and two walks.

Westburg slashed .366/.484/.592 (26-for-71) in 20 games in May for Low-A Delmarva with five doubles, a triple and three home runs, while also scoring 18 runs and driving in 24. He added 12 walks and five stolen bases. Westburg was promoted to Aberdeen on June 1 and has appeared in two games for the IronBirds, going 2-for-7 with a double and three RBIs.

The O's four full-season affiliates have combined for a 66-35 record (.654 winning percentage) and plus-140 run differential. Bowie, Aberdeen and Delmarva are in first place and those three affiliates are playing at a combined .747 win percentage (56-19).

At 20-5, Bowie has the second-best record in minor league baseball (Triple-A Nashville, at 21-5, is first). Delmarva leads all of Minor League Baseball with a team OBP of .393 and the Shorebirds' 150 walks are the sixth-most in the minors. Infielder Gunnar Henderson leads all of Minor League Baseball with 35 RBIs and his 62 total bases are the sixth-most. Infielder Anthony Servideo is tied for the minors lead with 28 walks and his 30.4 walk rate ranks first across all levels of the minors.