O's game blog: Orioles host Blue Jays in series opener

As the American League wild card race comes down the stretch, the Orioles will have plenty of involvement, playing 16 of their remaining 23 games versus three AL East playoff contenders.

Tonight, they begin a four-game series in Baltimore against the Toronto Blue Jays. It's a three-day series that includes Saturday's straight doubleheader that begins at 4:35 p.m. Boston (80-62) holds the first AL wild card as the weekend begins, but New York (78-62) and Toronto (77-62) are right on the Red Sox's heels, with Oakland and Seattle both right there as well at 76-64. So five teams are competing for two spots in the wild card game.

The Orioles have seven games remaining with Toronto, where they will end this season with a three-game series. They have three remaining with the Yankees and six with the Red Sox.

The Blue Jays just swept a four-game series in the Bronx to move half-game back of the Yankees. They swept that series by a combined 25-8 score and never trailed at any point in the four games. Overall, Toronto has won eight in a row by a 59-30 score. The Blue Jays have won 11 of 12 and 14 of 19 games as this series begins. They are 27-14 over the last 41 games.

Their current win streak is Toronto's longest since they won 11 in a row from Aug. 2-13, 2015.

After facing a hot pitcher last night in Kansas City right-hander Carlos Hernández, and the Orioles were shut out 6-0, they face a Cy Young contender tonight in Toronto lefty Robbie Ray (11-5, 2.60 ERA).

Ray has thrown 166 innings, allowing 124 hits with 41 walks and 212 strikeouts. He has a WHIP of 0.994, allowing 6.7 hits per nine with 2.2 walks and 11.5 strikeouts. Ray ranks first in the AL in ERA and is second in innings, WHIP and strikeouts.

Ray has allowed two earned runs or less in 19 of his 27 starts and has recorded 21 quality starts. Consider that the Orioles as a team have 28 for the season. In 10 second-half starts, he is 4-1 with a 1.79 ERA and 0.903 WHIP. In 65 1/3 innings, he has walked 17 and fanned 82.

In his last outing on Sunday against Oakland, Ray went 6 2/3 scoreless innings on one hit with three walks and 10 strikeouts on 107 pitches. Ray has thrown 100 pitches or more 11 times and has done that in three of his last four games.

Ray is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA in two starts in 2021 against the Orioles. Over 11 1/3 innings, he allowed four earned runs. The Blue Jays are 15-12 in his outings this season.

Right-hander Chris Ellis (0-0, 2.84 ERA with the Orioles) gets the start for Baltimore. It's his fourth outing for the club. He threw five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit on Saturday at Yankee Stadium. A scoring change turned an error into a hit and his previous hitless outing is now a one-hit performance.

For the year for the club, Ellis has allowed seven hits and four runs over 12 2/3 innings with four walks and seven strikeouts. His WHIP is 0.868 and the Orioles are 2-1 in his games.

The last two starts against Toronto and New York, he gave up three hits and one run over 9 2/3 innings, and those two clubs went a combined 3-for-32 (.094) against him.

The Orioles (45-94) split four games with Kansas City. In Thursday's loss, they were held to three singles in the second inning and went 0-for-21 at-bat from the third inning on. They were shut out for the ninth time.

The Orioles have won four of their past six games and five of nine. They are 7-8 over the last 15 games. After going 4-24 in August, they are 4-4 in September. The club is 16-44 versus AL East opponents and 4-8 against Toronto.