O's game blog: Shooting for another AL East series victory

Having gone 18 straight series against American League East opponents without losing one - winning 13 with five ties in this span - the Orioles can extend that streak with one more win this weekend.

They beat the Rays 3-1 Friday to take the opener of a three-game series. The Orioles are 36-19 for the season, 3-1 on this homestand, 20-11 at home 10-3 against division teams and 13-6 in series-opening games.

The Orioles, winners of seven of their last eight games, begin play today in second place, two games behind the New York Yankees. 

Friday was another well-pitched game by Baltimore pitchers. They have allowed one run in back-to-back games and three times the past five games. Over their last 28 games since April 29, they have a team ERA of 2.73 and have allowed two runs or less 13 times. Only the Yankees (2.43) have a better mark in baseball during this span.

O's starters have a 3.01 ERA for the year, the third-best rotation ERA in MLB behind the Phillies (2.69) and Yankees (2.72). In 28 games since April 29, the rotation's ERA is 2.26, second-best in MLB during that time behind the Yankees (2.19).

Coming off his outing last Sunday in Chicago where he threw seven no-hit innings right-hander Kyle Bradish (1-0, 1.75 ERA) gets the start today for the Orioles.

Bradish fanned 11 with four walks and threw 103 pitches on Sunday against the White Sox. The Orioles are 4-1 in his five starts this season.

For the year, Bradish has thrown 25 2/3 innings allowing 16 hits and no home runs with 11 walks, 34 strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.052 and averaging 11.9 Ks per nine.

Bradish takes a 10-inning scoreless run into his start versus the Rays. He is 1-3 with a 6.18 ERA and 1.410 WHIP in five career starts against Tampa Bay. In those games, he has allowed a .295 batting average and .842 OPS. Last season, Bradish was 1-2 with an ERA of 4.00 in three starts against the Rays.

Bradish has not allowed a run in the first inning of his five 2024 starts and opponents have gone 1-for-16 against him with seven strikeouts in the opening frame.

This season lefty batters hit just .163 with a .513 OPS against him and right-handers are batting .188/.583.

Right-hander Taj Bradley (1-2, 3.13 ERA) gets the start for the Rays, his fifth of this season. It started late for him and he made his season debut on May 10. On March 12 in spring training, on the day he was to start against the Orioles in Sarasota, he suffered a right pec strain while warming up pregame and that led to an injured list start to begin his year.

A fifth-round pick of the Rays in the 2018 season, Bradley, 23, has thrown 23 innings for his season allowing 15 hits with six walks and 29 strikeouts with a WHIP of 0.913.

The Rays are 2-2 in his starts. In his last one on Sunday versus Kansas City, he pitched five scoreless allowing one hit and his 95 pitches tied his career high.

Before he began his year he made two Triple-A rehab starts, allowing one run in 11 innings with Durham and fanned 15.

In two career starts against the Orioles – both last year at the Trop – Bradley is 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA allowing four runs over 11 innings.

Bradley recorded 128 strikeouts in 21 starts last season, the most in Rays history through a rookie pitcher’s first 21 career starts and he posted a 28.4 pct. strikeout rate, the highest mark by a rookie in Rays history (min. 300BF). Bradley was the youngest pitcher in the majors last season to make 20+ starts.

With a 17-9 record in May, the O's have now been above .500 in eight consecutive full months since the start of 2023, the longest streak by the team (min. 10 games played in the month) since May 1982 through September 1983 (11), per the Elias Sports Bureau. The current stretch is the longest active in the majors after Atlanta had its streak of 11 since June 2022 snapped with a 13-14 record in May.