O's game blog: Looking for a series win against the White Sox

The Orioles won the first two series on this homestand against the Blue Jays (2-1) and the Rockies (2-1). After their 9-0 win last night against the White Sox, they will secure yet another series win with a victory tonight at Camden Yards.

The Orioles are 26-13-3 in series this season and are 13-7-1 in home series.

The win Monday night improved the Orioles' record to 29-14 in series-opening games and White Sox falls to 12-31 in such games.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez pitched six scoreless on one hit in the win Monday. He and three relievers teamed on a four-hitter for the Orioles' ninth shutout of the season. It was the club's fifth shutout in the last 29 games. 

Orioles starting pitchers have an ERA of 2.63 over their past nine games. And O's starters have allowed three earned runs or less in 25 of the last 29 games. Their ERA in those 25 games is 2.72.

Meanwhile, the Baltimore bullpen has allowed just two earned runs over the past 16 1/3 innings and six games for an ERA of 1.10 in that span.

The Orioles (82-49) have clinched back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since they had three in a row from 2012-2014.

The Orioles also now have gone 82 straight series without being swept. It is easily the longest current streak in the major leagues by a big margin.

Most consecutive series without being swept:
82 - Orioles
24 - Mariners
20 - Dodgers
19 - Cardinals, Phillies

The Orioles' Gunnar Henderson went 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs and two stolen bases last night. Over his past 12 games, Henderson is batting .364 (20-for-55) with four doubles, a triple, three homers, 12 runs and 13 RBIs. 

Henderson is one stolen base shy of becoming the first rookie in team history with 20-plus doubles, five-plus triples, 20-plus homers and 10-plus stolen bases. He would be the 20th rookie in major league history with such a stat line, joining Arizona's Corbin Carroll this year, and the first in the American League since Kansas City's Bobby Witt Jr. last season.

The Orioles have scored 65 runs the last 10 games and have hit 15 homers over the last nine games.

Right-hander Dean Kremer (12-5, 4.31 ERA) gets the start tonight, his 27th. The Orioles have a great record in his outings this year, going 19-7, and they are 8-1 in the last nine Kremer starts.

Kremer is 4-1 with a 3.06 ERA in those nine games, allowing a .197 batting average and .589 OPS. He has walked 19 with 47 strikeouts over 53 innings.

He pitched six scoreless in his last start, Wednesday versus Toronto, allowing five hits on 94 pitches.

Rookie righty Jesse Scholtens (1-6, 4.15 ERA) will start for Chicago. He has made 21 appearances with seven starts and the Sox are 1-6 in those games.

A ninth-round draft pick out of Wright State by San Diego in 2016, Scholten's last five games all came as starts. He allowed 10 runs in 8 2/3 over his past two games. In five August starts, he is 0-3 with a 5.33 ERA.