O's game blog: O's face Chris Sale in White Sox series finale

Had the Orioles won last night, today they would be looking for their first four-game home sweep of the Chicago White Sox since 1990. Instead, they merely need to beat Chris Sale to win the series.

That figures to be tough, indeed.

Sale is 5-0 with a 1.66 ERA this year in five starts. Over 38 innings he has allowed just 21 hits and eight runs (seven earned) with five walks and 32 strikeouts. Opponent batters are hitting just .159 off him.

If those numbers are not impressive enough, over his last three starts, Sale has an ERA of 0.38. In 24 innings, he has given up just eight hits with two walks and 18 strikeouts.

Lefty batters are hitting just .174 against Sale and right-handed batters hit .156. Batters leading off an inning are hitting just .079.

But the Orioles have had some success against the lefty. In 10 career games (four starts) versus Baltimore, he is 1-2 with a 3.72 ERA. In six games at Camden Yards, Sale is 1-1 with a 2.70 ERA.

Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2, 3.91 ERA) is his mound opponent today. The right-hander will be making his fifth start.

In two home starts, Jimenez is 1-0 with a 2.25 ERA. Lefty batters hit .353 against him, while right-handed batters are hitting .236. Jimenez has allowed just three hits in 28 at-bats when pitching with runners in scoring position for a batting average of just .107.

According to Elias Sports Bureau, When reliever Darren O'Day gave up an eighth inning home run to Todd Frazier on Saturday, it marked only the fourth home run that O'Day has allowed to a right-handed batter with one or more runners on base in his nine seasons in the majors. The previous three were hit by Jose Bautista (2010, 2013, 2015).

Orioles relievers rank second in the majors with a 2.24 ERA. The Orioles bullpen has held batters to a .215 clip with 77 strikeouts over 80 1/3 innings. Overall, the Orioles own a 3.63 ERA team ERA to rank seventh in the American League and 10th in the majors.