O's game blog: Orioles go for three-game sweep of Toronto

The Orioles have a chance for a 2018 first tonight. They can complete their first sweep of any three-game series. They have beaten Toronto by scores of 7-0 and 12-5 over the past two nights, generating plenty of offense while getting wins from rookie pitchers David Hess and Josh Rogers.

When this series began the Orioles were 1-12 this year against Toronto and they had lost the last 10 games played between the teams. Now they can sweep tonight.

Not only have the Orioles not had a three-game sweep this year, but they have only had one previous chance to do so. June 22-23 they won the first two games of their series at Atlanta, but then they lost the series finale.

The Orioles (39-94) have been swept in a three-game series nine times this year, by Houston, Boston, Detroit, the Los Angeles Angels, Oakland, Washington, Boston, Toronto and Toronto again. They have been swept five times in four-game series, by Toronto, Seattle, Minnesota, Boston and the New York Yankees.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Alex Cobb (4-15, 5.00 ERA) will make his 25th start. Cobb gave up two runs and three hits in six innings Friday against the Yankees. He has thrown six straight quality starts, going 2-2 with a 2.20 ERA. He has seven quality starts his past eight games with an ERA of 2.24, allowing two earned runs or fewer seven times. Cobb's ERA has been on a steady decline. In mid-June it was 7.14.

Cobb is looking for his first win at Camden Yards. He is 0-7 with a 4.80 ERA in nine starts. The Orioles have gone just 5-19 in his games this year, losing nine of his past 11, even with him pitching better.

Toronto's starter is lefty Ryan Borucki (3-3, 4.12 ERA) who will be making his 12th start. On Friday he got a win against Philadelphia, allowing two runs and seven hits in 6 1/3. In his previous three starts versus the Red Sox, Royals and Yankees, he had given up 14 runs over 9 2/3 innings. In six road starts, he is 1-2 with a 5.86 ERA.

Lefty Josh Rogers gave up three runs in five innings to get the win in his major league debut. Rogers is the 53rd player and 27th pitcher that the Orioles have used this season. The 53-player mark ranks second in club history to the 54 used by the 1955 team. The 27 pitchers used matches the club high, also reached in 2016, 2011, 2009 and 2007.

Rogers is the first left-handed starter the Orioles have used in 134 starts, and Baltimore was one of two teams to have not started a lefty entering last night's game, with Cleveland the other. The 134 consecutive starts by right-handers matches the second-longest streak by the club: Sept. 21, 1998 to Aug. 26, 1999.