O's game blog: Looking for a win on this road trip

SEATTLE - So the Orioles are due for a win. Will tonight be the night? They play the Seattle Mariners in Game 2 of a four-game set at T-Mobile Park.

Going into last night's series opener Seattle (33-46) had gone 33 games without winning two in a row, but that run ended with their 5-2 victory Thursday night. The Orioles have the longest run in the majors this year without back-to-back wins, a current streak of 40 straight games dating to May 4-6.

The Orioles (21-54) have now lost nine straight since their last victory when they beat Toronto over a week ago, 4-2 on June 11 at Oriole Park.

The Orioles were held to just four hits last night as they got singles from Rio Ruiz to drive in two runs in the first inning and singles from Keon Broxton, Pedro Severino and Richie Martin.

But in going 0-4 on this road trip, the Orioles have scored just nine runs on 17 hits with a team batting average of .140. They have just one extra-base hit on the trip and that was a Jonathan Villar homer on Tuesday at Oakland. The Orioles have seven games this year without an extra-base hit and they've had three of those come on this trip.

During the nine straight losses, the Birds have been outscored 80-28. The longest losing streak in the majors this season is 10 in a row. Detroit lost 10 straight from May 12-23 and Kansas City did so from March 31-April 11.

Last night Dylan Bundy fanned eight batters in taking the loss. He has fanned eight batters five times in 15 starts and three times in his last five. Bundy has received four or fewer runs of support in 14 of his 15 starts and two or fewer nine times.

There has been at least one homer in all 79 Mariners games in 2019, which marks the longest single-season streak in MLB history. The record of 69 straight was set by three different teams: The 1985 Orioles, 2017 White Sox and 2017 Rangers.

Seattle has now hit 138 homers, second-most in the majors behind Minnesota at 141. It is tied for third-most in franchise history before the All-Star break with the 1998 club. By the way, the Orioles and Mariners are first and second in the majors in home runs allowed. O's pitchers have given up 150 and the Mariners have allowed 134.

The Orioles will pitch a bullpen game tonight with lefty Sean Gilmartin getting the start. It's his first MLB game of 2019 after he went 1-1 with an ERA of 3.00 in 12 Orioles game last year. This season for Triple-A Norfolk, Gilmartin was 0-1 with a 2.48 ERA over 17 games. In four games in June he pitched 9 1/3 scoreless on four hits with no walks and 13 strikeouts.

Seattle will start right-hander Mike Leake (6-6, 4.14 ERA) tonight to make his 16th start. Leake has allowed 22 homers, giving up 2.1 per every nine innings. He has thrown well recently, going 3-0 with an ERA of 2.40 his last four starts. In three career starts against Baltimore, he is 1-0 with a 4.76 ERA.

Farm and draft notes: The Orioles have signed Competitive Balance Round B selection (No. 71 overall) center fielder Kyle Stowers from Stanford from the 2019 First-Year Player Draft. The Orioles have signed 29 of 41 draft picks.

On the farm today, right-hander Mike Baumann was promoted from Single-A Frederick to Double-A Bowie and right-hander Tim Naughton moved from Single-A Delmarva to Frederick. Lefty Zach Muckenhirn moves from Double-A to Triple-A Norfolk. Outfielder Cole Billingsley goes on the Bowie seven-day injured list. Bowie outfielder Yusniel Diaz was activated from paternity leave.