O's game blog: O's try to even series against Oakland

If the rain holds off, we should get a few answers to a few questions tonight. Such as, will the O's offense struggle again? And, can anyone soon beat the Oakland Athletics?

The A's beat the Orioles 3-1 last night to improve to 13-7. They are 13-1 with 12 wins in a row since an 0-6 start. At the beginning of this season they were losing by scores of 8-1, 9-1 and 10-3, but their last loss was April 8 - more than two weeks ago.

Oakland has outscored its opponents 74-34 during this win streak and posted a team ERA of 2.74.

Their 12-game winning streak is the longest in the majors since the Houston Astros also won 12 straight from June 6-18, 2018. This is the third-longest streak in A's history, trailing only a 14-game streak from April 23-May 9, 1988, and a 20-game win streak during the 2002 season.

The Athletics have now won seven straight games versus the Orioles dating back to 2019, and 12 and their last 14 games against Baltimore. They are 69-58 all-time at Oriole Park.

Oakland has won five straight road games and on Friday night improved to 10-1 when scoring first. They are 7-0 in games decided by three runs or fewer.

On the mound tonight for the Orioles will be left-hander Wade LeBlanc (0-0, 5.40 ERA). LeBlanc has made five relief outings this season. He gave up three runs in his first game on April 6 at New York. He has thrown four scoreless innings on two hits over his past four games. But how long can he go tonight? He threw 24 pitches in his last game, going 1 1/3 innings last Saturday at Texas. That was his season high in pitches in 2021.

LeBlanc's last start was last Aug. 23, when he lasted just two outs versus Boston, leaving due to a stress fracture in his left elbow. It ended his season, although surgery was not required.

LeBlanc posted an 8.06 ERA last summer with 1.567 WHIP over 22 1/3 innings. He said it took him about 10 or 11 weeks to feel healthy again after last season, and that after about 14 weeks he felt like the injury had never happened.

Right-hander Chris Bassitt (1-2, 4.43 ERA) will make his fifth start for Oakland. On the season, he has thrown 22 1/3 innings, allowing 20 hits and just two homers with 1.343 WHIP. He has walked 4.0 per nine with 7.7 strikeouts. The A's are 2-2 in his starts. He gave up five hits and two runs over six innings in his last game on Sunday against Detroit, throwing 90 pitches.

The Orioles offense has now scored three runs or fewer in 10 of 19, and the Orioles are 1-9 in those games. The offense has scored just seven runs in the club's last six losses. And the Orioles allowed just 17 runs in those six games.

I asked manager Brandon Hyde during his pregame press briefing today if the team is considering any roster changes to try to help the offense.

"Right now, as of tonight, we're going with what we've got. Who's here," Hyde said. "And we're hoping we can put a bunch of good at-bats together and win. We're day-to-day. We'll go from there."