O's game blog: O's face Verlander in series finale

So after they gave up 23 runs and lost last night, the Orioles face Justin Verlander today as they try to avoid getting swept three straight by Houston. The Orioles lost 3-2 Friday night and 23-2 last night.

Before this series they lost by scores of 9-6, 9-4 and 14-2 to the New York Yankees. So the O's are 0-5 in a 10-game stretch against the Yankees and Astros.

Before the Orioles began this stretch against New York and Houston, they had gone 7-5 the previous 12 games, 10-7 in 17 and 16-15 in the previous 31 games.

Last night they allowed their most runs since the 30-3 loss to Texas on Aug. 22, 2007. The O's have allowed 23 or more runs four times in club history.

During their five-game losing streak they've allowed 58 runs with a team ERA of 11.00. The rotation ERA is 9.70 in this span and the bullpen ERA is 12.17 with 13 homers allowed over 23 2/3 innings. In the five games, the O's have allowed five, six, five, zero and six home runs.

On the mound today, right-hander Asher Wojciechowski (2-5, 4.89 ERA) will make his eighth start for Baltimore. Over his past two starts against Toronto and the New York Yankees he has allowed nine runs and five homers in 8 2/3 innings. In the two starts before that against the Red Sox and Angels, he pitched to an ERA of 1.26. Over 14 1/3 he gave up four hits and two runs with three walks and 16 strikeouts.

The Orioles today face Verlander (15-4, 2.68 ERA), who will be making his 25th start. The Astros are 18-6 in his starts winning the last five and seven of the past eight. Verlander went 16-9 last year with an ERA of 2.52 and finished second in the Cy Young voting. He was the AL Cy Young Winner in 2011 with Detroit.

Over his past five starts, Verlander is 5-0 with an ERA of 1.45 and .170 average against. Over 31 innings he has walked six and fanned 53.

Over his past three starts, he is 3-0 with an ERA of 0.47 and .108 average against. In that span Verlander has allowed just seven hits in 19 innings with four walks and 34 strikeouts.

In 21 career starts against Baltimore he is 10-5 with a 3.59 ERA and 1.154 WHIP.

In their win last night, Houston set a few franchise records:

* The 23 runs set a franchise record, besting a 21-5 win on Oct. 2, 2015 at Arizona and it was the most runs scored by a major league team this season.

* The 21-run win marked their largest ever.

* The 13 extra-base hits (seven doubles, six homers) is a franchise record, besting the previous record of 11, most recently reached on July 18, 2001 versus St. Louis.

* The Astros' 50 total bases set a franchise record and marked just the 16th time in MLB history for a team to reach 50 total bases in a game.

* Houston hit its 11th grand slam, extending the franchise record.

* Shortstop Carlos Correa hit a 474-foot home run, the longest of his career and the longest hit at Camden Yards in the Statcast era (since 2015).