O's game blog: Looking to extend a winning streak

After recording their fourth 1-0 win of the year Friday night against Pittsburgh, the Orioles host the Pirates again today and a win in either of the next two games will give them their 16^th series win of the year. They are 15-14-4 in series play thus far through the Texas series.

The 1-0 win came via a six-hitter which was a combined effort of right-handers Dean Kremer and Félix Bautista and lefty Cionel Pérez. Kremer allowed four hits over 6 1/3 innings and his ERA had been 6.94 his previous five starts. Pérez got five big outs and lowered his ERA to 1.15. Bautista got the final three outs, the last two on strikeouts with two men in the ninth. It was his fourth save, but first save chance since the trade of former closer Jorge López to Minnesota.

The O’s have won four in a row and their pitchers have allowed just seven earned runs in those four wins. Last night was Baltimore’s 10^th shutout of the year and second in the last eight games. The team ERA is 2.57 in those eight games.

Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Kremer is the first Baltimore pitcher since Jim Palmer in 1978 to start three games in a season that ended in 1-0 O's wins. The Orioles won their fourth 1-0 game, the most by an MLB team since the San Francisco Giants won five in 2019. The last year in which the Birds won four games by a 1-0 score was 1983, and before 2022, the O's did not have a 1-0 win since July 4, 2018 versus Texas.

In the last turn through the pitching rotation, Austin Voth, Spenser Watkins, Jordan Lyles, Kyle Bradish and Kremer have allowed three earned runs over 28 2/3 innings for an ERA of 1.14. With the win last night, Kremer improved to 4-3 with a 3.43 ERA.

The Orioles (55-51) begin play today 1 ½ games behind Seattle for the third AL wild-card spot. They have won eight of 11, 20 of 27, 25 of 37 and 31 of 47 games.

In going 20-7 the last 27 games, the O’s have posted their best single-season stretch of 27 games since also going 20-7 from Aug. 28-Sept. 24, 2014. The Orioles are four games over .500 this late in the season since ending the 2016 season at 89-73.

Voth (1-1, 5.54 ERA) will make his eighth O’s start today. In his O’s games, covering 11 appearances, he is 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA and 1.263 WHIP. In 31 2/3 innings he has allowed 30 hits and 10 earned runs with 10 walks and 31 strikeouts.

His last outing was a scoreless one when he blanked Cincinnati for five innings on Sunday at Great American Ball Park. He allowed four hits and no walks with six strikeouts on 77 pitches. Voth has allowed two earned runs or less in six of his seven starts for Baltimore.

Right-hander JT Brubaker (2-9, 4.40 ERA) starts for the Pirates. Their sixth-round pick in 2015, he gave up seven runs and 12 hits in 4 1/3 innings his last start versus Philadelphia. Pittsburgh is 7-13 in his games this season, losing his past four starts. 

Baltimore improved to 10-1 at home against Pittsburgh all-time on Friday while outscoring the Pirates 75-48 (+27) in those games. The O's have won eight straight games at Oriole Park against the Bucs. This series is the first meeting of the two squads since 2017, and the teams did not meet for the first time until 2005.