O's game blog: Orioles look for four-game split (plus draft news)

The Orioles host the Indians tonight to complete a four-game series and a seven-game homestand at Oriole Park. They are 1-2 in this series and 3-3 on the homestand after taking two of three from St. Louis over the weekend.

At 24-13 (.649), the Orioles own the third-best home record in the American League and fifth-best in the majors. They went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position last night in falling to 35-36. The Orioles have lost 10 of 14, 12 of 18, and 20 of their past 30 games. Since going 22-10 to start the year, they are 13-26 with a rotation ERA of 6.96 in those 36 games.

The Orioles are 11-4 versus the Indians since the start of the 2015. They are 8-3 in their past 11 home games versus the Indians.

Cleveland is 6-1 on the club's current road trip, which began with a four-game sweep of Minnesota at Target Field. The Indians have won 7 of 8 and 14 of their last 23 games and they are 15-8 in series finale games.

At 38-32 (.543), Cleveland's record is fourth-best in the AL and eighth-best in the majors. Cleveland has won 33 of their last 58 games.

Cleveland's offense has tallied 10 or more hits in eight consecutive games, the team's longest such streak since 2005 (eight straight, Sept. 17-24). The last longer such streak came in 2001 when the Tribe had 11 straight double-digit hit totals from April 27-May 9.

On the mound tonight, Orioles left-hander Wade Miley (3-4, 4.29 ERA) pitches against right-hander Mike Clevinger (2-3, 3.89 ERA).

Miley has a 12.66 ERA over his past three starts, raising his ERA from 2.82 to its present number. In those games, he has pitched 10 2/3 total innings allowing 20 hits and 16 runs (15 earned) with three homers. The batting average against him in those games is .377 (20-for-53). His batting average against for the season was .241 before this stretch.

Clevinger has pitched 37 innings on the year, allowing 25 hits, including five homers with 18 walks and 42 strikeouts. In four road starts, he is 2-1 with a 2.61 ERA. Earlier this year at Triple-A, he went 3-2 with a 2.65 ERA.

The 26-year-old right-hander was Cleveland's organizational Pitcher of the Year in 2015. In one previous appearance against Baltimore, he gave up four runs over four innings on May 29, 2016.

Draft pick news: The Orioles today announced the signing of their fifth-round pick high school outfielder Lamar Sparks. He reportedly got a slot bonus of $304,800. That brings their officially announced total of signed picks to 28.

Among their picks in the first 15 rounds, the only remaining unsigned are first-round pick high school lefty DL Hall, second-round pick high school shortstop Adam Hall and fourth-round pick high school right-hander Jack Conlon.

Baseball America reported today that the Orioles signed 18th-round pick high school outfielder Jacob Brown from McLeansville, N.C. The report said he got a bonus of $125,000. That is the largest amount a player drafted in Rounds 11-40 can get without taking money from the draft pool to sign a team's top 10 round selections. Any amount over $125,000 would have to come out of the draft pool allotment.

Short-season Single-A Aberdeen now has four 2017 draft picks on its roster. They are shortstop Mason McCoy (sixth round), catcher Ben Breazeale (seventh round), outfielder T.J. Nichting (ninth round) and outfielder Zach Jarrett (28th round). Jarrett is the son of Dale and grandson of Ned Jarrett, who are both in the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Last night for Aberdeeen, Breazeale went 3-for-4 and McCoy was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

Meanwhile, Austin Hays is making his Double-A debut tonight, batting second in right field for Bowie. That gives the Baysox an outfield of DJ Stewart in left, Cedric Mullins in center and Hays in right.