O's game blog: Kyle Bradish faces Boston in Game 2 of series

As the Orioles host Boston tonight in Game 2 of a three-game series, they will send out right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-0, 0.00) to make his third start. Those first two starts came 16 days apart because he was hit by a liner in Texas and went on the injured list between those two.

The second was last Wednesday in Washington. Bradish threw six scoreless innings on five hits and 92 pitches versus the Nationals. So he has pitched 7 2/3 scoreless to begin his year.

A case could be made that Bradish has been the Orioles' best starter since late last July. Going through his last 15 starts, beginning July 29, 2022, Bradish is 4-3 with a 2.96 ERA and the Orioles are 11-4 in those games. He has five quality starts. In 79 innings in that span he has recorded 1.15 WHIP, allowing just a .211 batting average and .597 OPS.

This year, lefty batters are 2-for-16 (.125) against him and right-handers are batting (.308) at 4-for-13.

But Bradish has never recorded a win against an American League East opponent, going 0-7 with a 7.21 ERA and .904 OPS against in 14 games.

The Orioles' (15-7) seven-game win streak has them in second place in the division, 4 ½ games behind Tampa Bay (20-3). Baltimore’s .682 win percentage is second-best in the AL and third in the major leagues, with Pittsburgh coming right after Tampa Bay at .696 (16-7).

In the O’s 5-4 win Monday night, they scored five runs on nine hits in five innings versus lefty Chris Sale. In two starts this season against the Orioles, Sale has recorded a 13.50 ERA while allowing 12 runs in eight innings.

Sale had allowed two runs or fewer in eight of his last 10 starts in Baltimore, going 7-1 with a 1.85 ERA. He had given up one home run and a pair of walks while striking out 42 and compiling a .163 opponents' batting average in four starts at Camden Yards since Aug. 12, 2018. Last night the Orioles swung and missed just twice on 42 swings against Sale in a game when they did not strike out at all for the first time since Aug. 8, 2010 against the White Sox.

The Orioles' seven-game winning streak is their longest in the month of April since they opened the 2016 season with seven straight victories. Baltimore starting pitchers allowed one run over 31 innings in the previous five games, reducing their ERA from 6.75 on April 18 to 4.88 before Dean Kremer gave up four runs over 5 2/3 last night.

Right-hander Corey Kluber (0-4, 8.50 ERA) makes his fifth start for Boston tonight. He is having a tough year, allowing 19 hits over 18 innings with 1.500 WHIP. On Opening Day at Fenway Park, he gave up five runs over 3 1/3 against the Orioles.

Then, after giving up one run in five innings against Pittsburgh in his second start, he has pitched poorly in his past two games. Against Tampa Bay and Minnesota he allowed a combined 11 runs and 10 hits over 9 2/3 innings.

According to STATS, O’s shortstop Jorge Mateo has the best batting average in the majors on inside pitches (minimum 15 plate appearances) at .615. He is second in batting average versus pitches deemed to be middle-middle at .778. And O’s catcher Adley Rutschman leads the majors in the lowest percentage of swinging at the first pitch, at 6.1 percent.

O’s center fielder Cedric Mullins was 2-for-3 with a double in Monday’s win. He picked up his sixth multi-hit performance of the season. Mullins has hit safely in eight of his last 11 games since April 12, batting .382/.523/.529 (13-for-34) with three doubles, one triple, three runs scored, seven RBIs, and 10 walks during that time.

Ramón Urías pulled the Orioles within 4-3 with a two-run double in the fourth. He recorded his 100th and 101st career RBIs on the hit.

In four games against Boston this year, whiile going 2-2, O’s batters are hitting .354/.426/.590/1.016 while collecting seven home runs and scoring 28 runs. In seven games versus the Yankees and Boston, the O's have scored 39 runs with a team OPS of .849.

The Orioles are now 8-0 in series-opening games. Beyond winning seven in a row, they have won nine of 10 and 11 of 13 games and are 8-3 at home with five consecutive wins.