O's game blog: O's look for fifth win in a row in series opener against Texas

The American League East race now features four teams separated by one game in the standings. The Orioles have the best winning percentage in the division at .547 as they open a four-game series tonight against the Texas Rangers.

The Orioles and Tampa Bay sit atop the division, but by just 1/2 game over the Yankees and one game over the Blue Jays.

The Orioles are winners of four in a row, seven of eight, 10 of 13 and 18 of their last 23 games. They are 25-13 at home, which is the best home record in the AL, and 10-1 in their last 11 home games.

The outings by Ubaldo Jimenez and Chris Tillman yesterday were much needed, both for the quality with which they pitched and the innings they covered. Going into that doubleheader, the Orioles had one outing from a starter of seven innings or more in the last 25 games, and then they got two in one day.

O's pitching gave up just three runs in the weekend sweep of the Indians, and O's starters allowed just two runs in 21 innings in the series.

Bud Norris (2-6, 6.70 ERA) makes his 11th start of the year tonight and faces Texas left-hander Wandy Rodriguez (4-3, 4.06 ERA), who will be making his 13th start.

Norris has allowed two earned runs in 11 2/3 innings over his past two starts. He is 1-2 with a 2.82 ERA in four June starts and 2-0 with a 5.91 ERA in two career starts versus Texas.

Rodriguez is coming off his worst start of 2015. On Wednesdsay against Oakland, he gave up 11 hits and eight runs over four innings as his ERA increased from 3.20 to 4.06. While Rodriguez is 0-3 with a 7.11 ERA at home, in seven road starts this year, he is 4-0 with a 2.28 ERA.

The Orioles are 18-8 overall in the month of June. The last time an Orioles team posted 20 wins in a month was September of 1999 (20-8). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Orioles have won four shutouts at Camden Yards over the past 20 days. This is the first calendar month in which the Orioles have pitched three or more shutouts at home since August 2006, when they did so four times.

The Orioles' .319 team average with runners in scoring position leads the majors. Baltimore ranks ahead of the Rockies (.308) and Blue Jays (.301). Jimmy Paredes ranks first in the majors with a .467 (21-for-45) average with runners in scoring position. He is batting .667 (12-for-18) with runners in scoring position and two outs.

Hess honored: Single-A Frederick right-hander David Hess has been named the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week. Pitching against the Salem Red Sox on Saturday, Hess tossed five scoreless innings of three-hit baseball.

In 15 games (14 starts) with Frederick this year, Hess is 3-4 with a 5.43 ERA. In 71 1/3 innings, he has allowed 72 hits, walked 29 and struck out 59. Opponents are batting .255 against Hess. Drafted by the Orioles in the fifth round of the 2014 draft out of Tennessee Tech, Hess is ranked as the organization's No. 20 prospect by Baseball America.