O's game blog: Looking for a win in the Milwaukee series finale

Only once this year did the Orioles lose the first two games of a three-game series and that was May 26-27 versus Texas, but they did win the series finale to avoid a sweep. They need to do that again today or they will be swept by an opponent for the first time in 2023.

The last time they were swept in a series of two or more games was by Detroit on May 13-15, 2022 on the road.

Milwaukee has posted wins by 4-3 in 10 innings and 10-2 to leave the Orioles at 37-24 overall and 2-3 on their road trip that ends today.  The Orioles have their third road series loss of the season and are now 8-3 in road series. They remain in second place in the AL East, but are now 6.5 games back of Tampa Bay and just 1.5 games up on the New York Yankees, who reside in third in the division.

Even with a recent downturn by the offense, the Orioles remain with the sixth-best team OPS in the American League at .731 and they rank fourth in the AL in runs per game at 4.87.

But here were the O’s offensive numbers through their first 49 games: They batted .253/.330/.427/.757 and scored 5.18 runs per game.

Over their past 12 games they look like this: Batting .222/.271/.350/.621 and scoring 3.58 runs per game.

The Orioles have scored five runs on 13 hits in Milwaukee, going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They have scored 16 runs in five contests on the road trip and have scored three runs or less in nine of their past 12 games.

O's pitchers did not issue a walk in a game for the fourth time this season last night and the first since May 16 vs. Los Angeles-AL.

Outfielder Aaron Hicks has reached safely in each of his first six games with Baltimore and has hit safely in five of them, slashing .368/.455/.632 (7-for-19) with one triple, one home run, five runs scored, three RBIs, and three walks with two multi-hit efforts.

Manager Brandon Hyde was ejected by home plate umpire Hunter Wendelstedt in the top of the fifth inning, his 11th career ejection and second this season, also on April 10 versus Oakland.

The 10-2 loss Wednesday was the second-biggest loss margin of the year by the Orioles, topped only by a 12-2 loss to Texas on May 26. It was only the eighth time all year they played in a game decided by five or more runs.

So, of Baltimore's 61 games, 53 have been decided by four or fewer runs, second-most in MLB behind Los Angeles-AL with 55. The O's have gone 33-20 in those games, the most wins and second-best winning percentage (.623) in the majors behind Tampa Bay (.644, 29-16). The O's are 24-14 in games decided by three or fewer runs, the best winning percentage (.632) and second-most wins in such games in MLB, behind Cleveland (25-23).

Right-hander Kyle Bradish (2-2, 4.13 ERA) will make his 11^th start in the series finale, the Orioles are 6-4 in those 10 games. For the year he has thrown 48 innings allowing 50 hits with a 1.354 WHIP, 2.8 walk rate and 7.7 strikeout rate.

Saturday at San Francisco he gave up three runs over four innings on 79 pitches. But, in his past five starts, he is 1-1 with a 2.86 ERA and three quality starts. In six road games he is 1-1 with a 4.44 ERA and 1.519 WHIP.

Right-hander Colin Rea (3-3, 4.94 ERA) makes the start for the home team, which is 6-3 in his games in 2023. Over 47 1/3 innings, he has allowed 42 hits with a 1.268 WHIP, 1.7 home run rate, 3.4 walk rate and 7.6 K rate.

Rea allows a .263 batting average and .862 OPS versus lefty batters and those numbers are .222/.656 against right-handed hitters. In his past four starts, he is 3-0 with a 4.95 ERA and .802 OPS against.