O's game blog: Looking to keep it rolling in Game 2 against Pittsburgh

On a night when they twice trailed by a run and didn't score over their first five innings, the Orioles used late offense to beat Pittsburgh 6-3 last night. Tonight they look for a second straight win over the Pirates, which would provide them with yet another series win.

The Orioles (25-13) sit at 3 1/2 games behind Tampa Bay and could pull to within three games of the Rays with a win tonight. Tampa Bay let a 6-0 lead get away at New York today and lost 9-8 to the Yankees to fall to 30-11.

The Orioles have not been as close as three games to first place since April 7.

Center fielder Cedric Mullins provided the headlines on Friday night, producing the seventh cycle in Baltimore Orioles history. He singled in the third, tripled in the fifth, hit a double in the seventh and provided a huge three-run homer in the last of the eighth. That turned a 3-2 lead into a more comfortable 6-2 advantage and, ultimately, a three-run win.

Mullins joins Austin Hays (6/22/22 vs. WSH), Jonathan Villar (8/5/19 vs. NYY), Félix Pié (8/14/09 vs. LAA), Aubrey Huff (6/29/07 vs. LAA), Cal Ripken Jr. (5/6/84 at TEX), and Brooks Robinson (7/15/60 at CWS) as Orioles to hit for the cycle.

He is the second player to hit for the cycle in the majors this season, the other being Miami's Luis Arraez (4/11 at PHI).

The Orioles recorded their 14th comeback win of the season, tied with Boston for the most in the majors. Since the start of 2022, the O's have 50 victories in games in which they trailed, third-most in the major leagues (Dodgers, 58 and Mariners, 51).

The Birds improved to 12-1 in series openers.

James McCann pinch hit in the seventh inning of his 800th career game in the bigs.

The O's have won three games in a row, 16 of 22, 19 of their last 26, and 21 of their last 29. Their 25-13 overall record is tied for the second-best in the majors to start the season. The 2023 Orioles' 25-13 record is tied with the 1979, 1997 and 2005 teams for the third-best start in O's history through 38 games. Only the 1969 and 1970 Birds did better, going 26-12 to start. All five of those teams won their 39th game in their respective seasons.

On the mound tonight for Baltimore will be right-hander Tyler Wells (2-1, 3.15 ERA), making his eighth appearance. The Orioles are 5-2 in his previous games, and Wells has allowed two earned runs or fewer four times and thrown six innings or more three times.

He has been tough on both left-handed and right-handed batters. Lefties are batting .169 with a .575 OPS against Wells and righties bat .169/.570.

O's pitching has been on a roll lately. The team is 4-3 since last Friday at Atlanta and the O's staff ERA is 2.52 in that span, allowing 21 runs.

O's starting pitchers have a 2.04 ERA over the past seven games, throwing four quality starts in that span. They've allowed two earned runs or fewer six times. The rotation ERA ranks second best in the majors in that seven-game stretch.

Adley Rutschman reached base safely three times last night (2 H, BB), his 11th such game of the season, tied for third-most in the majors. His 70 times on base lead the American League and are tied for fourth in the big leagues. He leads the AL and is second in the majors with 31 walks, while ranking sixth in the AL with a .407 on-base percentage.

The Orioles are 12-5 at home for the year and are 9-2 in the last 11 games at home.

Right-hander Roansy Contreras (3-3, 4.74 ERA) gets the ball for Pittsburgh. The team is 4-3 in his games. But in his last two, versus AL East clubs Tampa Bay and Toronto, he allowed a combined nine runs and 15 hits in 10 1/3 innings. Lefty batters hit .312 against him with a .787 OPS and right-handers bat .253/.728.