O's game blog: Looking for a sweep in Anaheim

After winning Saturday night to provide a series victory, the Orioles shoot for another win today over the Los Angeles Angels as they seek to sweep this three-game series.

The Orioles, who are 3-3 on this road trip and 5-4 the last nine games, beat the Angels 5-3 Friday night and 5-4 last night. Baltimore is now 3-3 in games decided by one run and 2-3 in two-run games.

The last five games on this trip to Oakland and Anaheim have been decided by one or two runs and the Orioles are 3-2.

Right-hander Chris Ellis (0-0, 0.00 ERA) will get the start in today’s series finale, his second of this season and road trip. On Tuesday at Oakland, Ellis went 4 1/3 scoreless innings on four hits with three walks and two strikeouts. He threw 62 pitches and did not get a decision in a game the Orioles would lose 2-1 to the Athletics. He threw first-pitch strikes to 12 of the first 16 batters he faced that night, and getting ahead in the count was important during his outing.

Ellis made one start this season at Triple-A Norfolk before joining the Orioles and he threw four hitless and scoreless innings for the Tides. After his strong outing on Tuesday, Ellis remarked how excited he was to be back in the big leagues.

“Any time I can pitch on the big stage, it’s exciting. I wish we came away with a win tonight, but I feel like we still played a good game,” he said.

Ellis said that evening that he didn’t want to be the pitcher to have a bad night with the staff off to such a great start on the mound.

“Yeah, 100 percent. I watched Spenser Watkins just shove (the previous night), so I took some notes from him, or at least tried to," he said. "Wanted to mix my pitches and lead us to a place to win the game.”

Today, Ellis is facing the team that originally drafted him. The Angels selected him in the third round of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of Mississippi. As a junior, he helped Ole Miss reach the College World Series for the first time in 42 years. Previously he was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 50th round of the 2011 draft out of Spain Park (Ala.) High School, but did not sign.

Ellis, between late last year and this season, has made seven career starts with the Orioles, going 0-0 with a 2.12 ERA in 29 2/3 innings. He has a WHIP of 1.281, allowing 6.7 hits per nine and 0.9 homers with a 4.9 walk rate and 5.5 strikeout rate. In nine career big league games, counting five innings with Kansas City and Tampa Bay, he is 1-0 with a 1.82 ERA and 1.269 WHIP. In road games with the Orioles he has an ERA of 0.64 (1 earned run in 14 innings).

His mound opponent today is lefty José Suarez (0-1, 5.19 ERA), who will make his third start. The 24-year-old Venezuelan has thrown 8 2/3 innings for the season, allowing five runs and 1.615 WHIP.

In his first start versus Houston he gave up two runs over 4 1/3 innings. In his last one, at Texas, he permitted five hits and three runs over 4 1/3. In 46 career games since 2019, Suarez is 10-17 with a 5.67 ERA over 190 innings.

The latest rankings for Orioles pitching:

* Team ERA is 2.89 (2nd in American League, 6th in the majors)
* Rotation ERA is 2.97 (4th in AL, 8th in the majors)
* Bullpen ERA is 2.81 (7th in AL, 11th in the majors)