O's game blog: Orioles go for a sweep against the Mets

The Orioles have scored 17 runs in winning the first two games of their series with the New York Mets. They go for a three-game sweep this afternoon which would lift them to a season-high 28 games over the .500 mark if they get that done.

The Orioles beat the Mets 10-3 Friday night and 7-3 last night to open a three-game lead over the Tampa Bay Rays atop the American League East. They lead Toronto by 7.5 games and are 11 up on New York and 11.5 games ahead of the Boston Red Sox.

The Orioles have won three in a row, six of seven, 10 of 14 and are 20-7 in the last 27 games, playing .741 ball in that span.

The Orioles have now scored five runs or more 15 times in the last 27 games and they are 15-0 in those games. The Birds have scored 37 runs in the last five games and 50 in their past seven.

In going 6-1 in the last seven games, the Orioles have a run differential of +31, winning those games by six, two, 10, five, seven and four runs.

The Orioles have won each of their last three series. And last night they had all nine starters reach base safely for the 14th time this season and for the first time in consecutive games since July 22-23, 2022 against the Yankees.

Right-hander Kyle Gibson recorded his 100th career victory and 11th of the season after allowing three runs on four hits and one walk with nine strikeouts in a season-high-tying seven innings.

It was the Orioles’ 45^th quality start of the year and they are 35-10 when they get one. They rank sixth in the AL in QS. And it was their 14^th outing of seven innings or more and they are 13-1 in those games. For Gibson, it marked his fourth straight quality start, his longest such streak since another four-gamer from July 27 to Aug. 16, 2022 with Philadelphia. His 13 quality starts lead the Orioles.

Catcher Adley Rutschman has recorded an RBI in five straight games since Aug. 1, the longest such streak of his career.

Shortstop Gunnar Henderson blasted a two-run, 422-foot homer to center field in the first inning, his 19th of the year. As of the end of Saturday’s game, he ranks second among AL rookies and fourth among MLB rookies in home runs.

Anthony Santander clubbed his team-leading 20th home run of the season in the fifth inning. The blast registered an exit velocity of 108 mph, his hardest-hit homer of the season. He homered on a 3-0 count for the fourth time in his career and for the first time since May 4, 2023, at Kansas City.

Ryan Mountcastle extended his hitting streak to a season-high-tying eight games since July 28 with a fifth-inning single.

Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish (7-6, 3.32 ERA) makes his 21st start today. He allowed three runs over seven innings Tuesday at Toronto. Since June 14 over nine starts, Bradish is 5-4 with a 2.48 ERA and .578 OPS against. In eight home starts in 2023, he is 3-3 with a 2.39 ERA.

Lefty José Quintana (0-2, 3.57 ERA) starts for New York. Quintana began this season on the injured list after ribcage surgery in March. He began a minor league rehab stint on June 13 and was activated by the Mets on July 14. So he has made just three MLB starts, pitching 17 2/3 innings thus far. 

ON THIS DATE IN 1986: Orioles Legend Jim Palmer is inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Palmer won 268 games in a 19-year career, all of it with Baltimore. He won three Cy Young Awards in a four-year span (1973, '75, '76) and in 1983, became the only hurler to win a World Series game in three different decades. He is currently celebrating his 60th season with the club as a player or broadcaster.