O's game blog: Looking for two in a row over Blue Jays

After ending a losing streak on Friday night, the Orioles will try to build on that victory and start a winning streak today. They host the Toronto Blue Jays in the second game of a three-game series.

The Orioles (23-46) beat the Blue Jays 7-1 as center fielder Cedric Mullins hit two homers and drove in four, and five pitchers allowed just four hits with 10 strikeouts. Thomas Eshelman got the start and gave up three hits and one run over 4 2/3 innings. Tyler Wells replaced him and got the win. Tanner Scott, Hunter Harvey and Paul Fry followed Wells. The four bullpen pitchers threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings on one hit with seven strikeouts. Wells averaged 95.6 mph on his fastball with Scott at 97.2 mph and Harvey at 97.8 mph. Toronto went 1-for-14 versus the O's 'pen after going 3-for-17 versus Eshelman.

The Orioles improved to 9-18 against the American League East. That includes a 9-12 mark combined versus the Yankees, Red Sox and Blue Jays, and an 0-6 mark against the Rays.

The Orioles improved to 12-21 at home, 6-9 in June, 9-14 in series-opening games and 5-5 on Fridays, their best record on any day of the week.

Toronto (33-35) has now lost five in a row, seven of nine and nine of 12 games. The Blue Jays are 6-10 in June and had a six-game winning streak at Camden Yards snapped.

Mullins opened the scoring with a solo shot to right-center field in the first inning for his 10th home run of the season. It was the sixth leadoff home run of his career and third by an O's batter this year, all from Mullins. The 428-foot blast was the second-longest home run of his career, behind his 440-foot longball on June 5 versus Cleveland. Then he added a three-run shot in the eighth for a 7-1 lead. Mullins produced his third-career multi-homer game, all this year, and the sixth overall by an O's batter this season. His five career longballs against the Blue Jays are his most against any opponent. Friday marked the first four-RBI game of his career and was Mullins' team-leading 20th multi-hit game.

Mullins' three multi-homer games from the leadoff spot are tied for the second-most in a single season in O's history, along with Jackie Brandt in 1964 and Brady Anderson in 1999. The club record is five such games by Anderson in 1996.

When Mullins was hit by a pitch for the third straight game in the seventh inning, he tied the individual club record for consecutive games with a hit-by-pitch. This has happened seven times in club history, most recently by Jonathan Schoop from July 5-8, 2016.

Outfielder Austin Hays gave the Orioles a 2-1 lead with an RBI single to left field in the fifth inning, before stealing his first base of the season. Over his last three games, Hays is 4-for-13 (.308) with a home run, three RBIs, one run scored, one walk and one stolen base. It is the fourth time in his career that he has driven in a run in at least three straight games.

Ryan Mountcastle's 36 RBIs are tied for the second-most on the O's. He's batting .313/.343/.573 (30-for-96) with 24 RBIs in his last 26 games since May 15. He hit .212/.236/.328 with 12 RBIs in his first 37 games. Mountcastle is batting .371 (26-for-70) with four home runs and 22 RBIs with two outs.

On the mound today for the Orioles will be right-hander Dean Kremer (0-6, 6.65 ERA). Kremer has not picked up a win since he won his major league debut last September, so he's got a 13-game winless streak. In his last start at Cleveland, he gave up four hits and four runs (three earned) over 5 1/3 innings on 71 pitches. In his past three starts, Kremer is 0-3 with an ERA of 8.76 allowing 12 runs in 12 1/3, giving up a .300 batting average and .963 OPS against.

In five home starts, Kremer is 0-3 with an ERA of 8.41 and 1.721 WHIP. The Orioles are 3-7 in his 10 starts this year.

Right-hander Alek Manoah (1-0, 2.66 ERA) will make his fifth major league start for Toronto. Manoah, 23, was Toronto's first-round pick (No. 11 overall) out of West Virginia University in 2019. He signed for a bonus of $4.55 million.

Manoah made just nine career minor league starts, going 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA in those games. He made six starts during the 2019 and three last year for Triple-A Buffalo, going 3-0 with an ERA of 0.50 with three walks and 27 strikeouts over 18 innings.

In his last two starts for the Blue Jays, against two good clubs in the White Sox and Red Sox, he has allowed eight hits and two runs over 11 innings with three walks and nine strikeouts.

Manoah throws his fastball 63 percent at an average velocity of 94 mph and uses his slider 26 percent and changeup 11 percent. He was rated as Toronto's No. 5 prospect by Baseball America in 2020 and No. 7 this year.