O's game blog: Mike Wright gets the start as Orioles take on Houston

As the Orioles look to find some offense tonight at Houston, they face a pitcher that has been quite effective over his last 20 starts.

Right-hander Collin McHugh (5-2, 4.24 ERA) pitches for the Astros against the Orioles tonight. While his ERA is over 4.00 this year, McHugh is 12-2 with an ERA of 2.98 over his last 20 starts, dating to Aug. 1, 2014. The 12 wins are tied for second-most in the majors in that stretch.

The Astros won a franchise-record 11 straight starts made by McHugh from Aug. 28, 2014-May 7, 2015. Prior to McHugh's run, the previous record was 10 straight starts, accomplished by Dallas Keuchel (2014-15), Roger Clemens (2004-05), Donne Wall (1996), Nolan Ryan (1983) and Joe Niekro (1979).

McHugh is facing the Orioles in back-to-back starts. Last Wednesday at Camden Yards, he took a no-decision and went six innings, allowing nine hits and four runs, throwing 101 pitches. Over his most recent four starts, he is 1-2 with a 5.84 ERA. On the season over 63 2/3 innings, he has walked 11 and fanned 52.

After a month of May where the Orioles ranked 14th in the American League at 3.3 runs per game and last in batting average at .231, the club was held to two runs in last night's 5-2 loss.

The O's have scored two or fewer runs in three of the last four, five of the past eight and 12 of the last 22 games. They are 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position the past two games, and batting .220 with RISP the last 11 games.

Right-hander Mike Wright (2-0, 1.40 ERA) will make his fourth major league start tonight. He pitched a combined 14 1/3 scoreless innings on seven hits his first two starts. Then Wright gave up three runs and six hits over five innings in getting a win last Thursday against the Chicago White Sox in the nightcap of a doubleheader.

The 2013 Orioles minor league Pitcher of the Year, Wright is the third pitcher in club history to begin his Orioles career with two straight scoreless starts. Both Tom Phoebus and Bill Short did that in 1966. For Phoebus, both games were complete-game shutouts.

In 19 1/3 innings, Wright has allowed 13 hits and three runs with three walks, 12 strikeouts and a .188 batting average against. Opponents are 0-for-8 against him when batting with RISP.

The Yankees are the only AL East team over .500 right now, and no team in the East has a winning record outside of the division:

* New York is 11-12
* Tampa Bay is 8-12
* The Orioles are 8-10
* Toronto is 9-15
* Boston is 12-14

The Single-A Frederick Keys swept a doubleheader today. Game 1 began at 11 a.m. The Keys won the opener 3-1 over Lynchburg as Mitch Horacek improved to 4-5 with a 3.73 ERA. Over five innings he gave up just three hits and one run and Jon Keller pitched shutout ball the last two frames to record his third save. Tucker Nathans had two hits, including a two-run homer in the first inning. Trey Mancini followed with a homer as the Keys hit back-to-back homers for the first time in 2015.

The Keys won Game 2, 3-0, as Chris Lee gave up just one hit over five innings. It was Frederick's fourth shutout. Mancini and Adrian Marin drove in runs for the Keys, who are 27-25. They started the day 2 1/2 games out of first place.