O's game blog: Right-hander Albert Suarez makes the start in Game 3 of the series with the White Sox

CHICAGO – With Dean Kremer going on the injured list Friday with a right triceps strain, the Orioles, at least for today, are moving right-hander Albert Suarez back into their rotation.

In 10 games, three starts this year, he is 2-0 with a 1.78 ERA. Over 25 1/3 innings he has allowed 18 hits and just one home run with six walks and 21 strikeouts. He has given up a .198 batting average and .560 OPS.

The team is 2-1 in his three starts. In his first two against the Twins and Angels, he pitched a combined 11 1/3 scoreless on seven hits with two walks and nine strikeouts.

In his last five appearances, all out of the bullpen, he has thrown 5 2/3 scoreless giving up three hits.

Right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde (4-1, 3.10 ERA) will make his 11^th start and get the ball today for the home team.

Fedde has made 10 starts with Chicago going 5-5 in those games. For his season he has thrown 58 innings allowing 48 hits with 15 walks and 52 strikeouts. He has a 1.086 WHIP with a 2.3 walk rate and an 8.1 K rate.

It’s been a mixed bag over his past four starts as he has allowed five, zero, zero and five runs.

He has an outstanding record in home games only, going 4-0 with an ERA of 1.14 in five starts. In that stretch, he has a WHIP of 0.884 and has walked four with 30 strikeouts over 31 2/3 innings. That is the second-best home ERA in the AL, behind New York’s Nestor Cortes at 1.12.

And Fedde has been very good in three career games versus the Orioles, going 2-0 with an ERA of 0.52, allowing one earned run over 17 1/3 innings. In that time, Baltimore batters are hitting .161 with an OPS of .431 against him.

The Orioles (31-18) begin play this afternoon three games behind the Yankees for the AL East lead. While they are 5-6 over their past 11 games, in longer stretches they have won 12 of 19 and 18 of their past 30 games. They are 12-8 in May and 14-8 on the road.

Chicago (15-37) has lost seven of its past eight games and now has a minus-111 run differential. They are 4-11 versus the Orioles since the 2022 season.

Chicago is 2-7 against Baltimore at Guaranteed Rate Field since 2022. The Sox are 8-7 in their last 15 home games and 9-13 over their last 21 games overall. 

Andrew Vaughn is batting .304 (24-for-79) with five home runs and 15 RBIs over 22 career games against Baltimore. He recorded all four of his home runs on the season in May and 12 of his 18 total RBIs. His solo shot to right in the seventh last night tied the game 4-4 before Adley Rutschman's two-run single an inning later gave the Orioles the 6-4 win.

Chicago's Paul DeJong is hitting .274 (17-for-62) with two doubles, four home runs, 11 RBIs and a .833 OPS over his last 18 games. Catcher Korey Lee is batting .308 (16-for-52) with a double, two home runs and six RBIs over his last 15 games.

Rutschman for the Orioles produced his second game-winning hit in the eighth inning or later this season. He also hit a walk-off home run on May 15 against Toronto. He entered the game 1-9 (.111) career as a pinch-hitter. He is hitting a career .292 (14-for-48) with five doubles, one home run, three game-winning RBIs and 13 RBIs against the White Sox.