O's game blog: O's look to extend the win streak against Detroit

Friday’s 2-1 walk-off victory provided the Orioles with a 12-7 record and a fourth win in a row. If they can win one more this weekend versus Detroit (7-11) they will have four consecutive series wins.

They went 3-1 versus Oakland, 2-1 at Chicago against the White Sox and 2-0 at Washington. Overall the Orioles have won six of seven and eight of their past 10 games. They are now 5-3 at home and 5-2 in games decided by one run.

The AL East standings at this hour:

Tampa Bay, 17-3
Orioles, 12-7
New York, 13-8
Toronto, 12-9
Boston 11-10

New York beat Toronto 3-2 this afternoon via a walk-off win scoring in the last of the ninth on DJ LeMahieu's single. Danny Jansen's two-run homer had tied the game 2-2 in the top of the ninth for Toronto.

The AL East is the only division in baseball with all its teams at .500 or better. There are three AL East teams playing .600 or better ball and there is just one such team in the rest of the AL. The O’s .632 win percentage ranks tied for second-best in the AL and is tied for sixth-best in MLB. A team playing that percentage all year would win 102 games.

O’s pitching has allowed just five runs over the last four games and just one run over the last 35 innings. The team ERA was 5.49 about a week ago, but is 4.48 now to rank eighth-best in the league.

Baltimore's last three wins have come via scores of 1-0, 4-0 and 2-1 for a total score of 7-1 in those contests.

The Orioles are now 7-0 in series-opening games.

Second baseman Adam Frazier recorded his fourth career walk-off plate appearance Friday night. It was also his first since a walk-off home run in the 11th inning on Aug. 19, 2018, vs. Chicago-NL with Pittsburgh.

Outfielder Austin Hays connected on his fourth home run of the season in the seventh inning to snap an 0-for-8 skid. He has reached base safely in nine of his last 10 starts since April 10. Hays has 11 extra-base hits in 19 games and a .966 OPS.

Center fielder Cedric Mullins singled in the first inning to extend his on-base streak to eight games since April 12. He’s hitting .423/.571/.577 (11-for-26) with two doubles, a triple, seven RBIs, nine walks, and four stolen bases in that stretch. Friday he produced his fifth multi-hit performance of the season and third in the last five games.

O’s shortstop Gunnar Henderson’s double in the fifth inning registered an exit velocity of 109.2 mph, his hardest-hit ball this season. Henderson has reached base safely in each of his last 11 starts since April 7.

Ryan Mountcastle snapped an 0-for-8 slump with a single in the ninth inning and scored the game-winning run. Mountcastle is 4-for-36 since his nine-RBI game.

Detroit is now 1-9 versus AL East teams and has been outscored 61-22 in those games. Detroit has scored three runs or less in nine of the 10 games against division teams. The Tigers went 0-3 against Tampa Bay and Boston, 1-2 versus Toronto and 0-1 against Baltimore.

The Orioles were just 1-5 last season against Detroit and Detroit has won the season series over the Orioles in each of the last five seasons they have played.

Right-hander Tyler Wells pitched seven scoreless on just three singles Friday. He threw 95 pitches and provided the club its fifth quality start of 2023 – they are 5-0 in those games. The last three O’s starters – Dean Kremer, Kyle Bradish and Wells – have thrown a combined 19 2/3 scoreless with two walks and 17 strikeouts. Going back to the second inning last Sunday at Chicago, O’s starters have now thrown 23 2/3 straight scoreless.

Right-hander Kyle Gibson (3-0, 4.18 ERA) gets the start for Baltimore tonight. The Birds are 3-1 in his four games this year and he has thrown two quality starts. Hitters leading off an inning are batting .560 (14-for-25) against him, but he gives up an average of just .136 (3-for-22) when pitching with two outs.

Lefty Joey Wentz (0-2, 6.39 ERA) starts for Detroit. The team is 1-2 in his starts and he gave up one run on six hits over 5 2/3 on Friday vs. San Francisco.