O's game blog: Suspended game resumes in the sixth

If you want to confuse yourself consider this: The Orioles will have a six-game winning streak if they hold on to win the completion of Sunday's suspended game against Washington. If the Nats come from behind to win the Orioles will have a three-game winning streak.

How can they have a winning streak if they lose?

Well, this game will officially count on the day it started - Aug. 9. So an O's win and they will complete a three-game sweep a week after that series started. Coupled with what followed the Nats Park series - three wins at Philadelphia - the winning streak will increase to six games. Should they lose the game, it will be a loss from Aug. 9. So what followed would be three wins in Philly.

Got all that?

Player individual stats will revert to that day as well. Not to mention the fact this is an O's road game that will end at Oriole Park. To confuse you further - and it did me somewhat - the stats from Sunday for the players and team have already been counted. They'll add to them later this afternoon.

When the game was halted on Sunday afternoon and the Nats grounds crew could not get the tarp on the field in time, the Orioles led 5-2 and were batting in the top of the sixth. They'll have runners on first and second with one out and shortstop Pat Valaika leading off and scheduled to be followed by catcher Bryan Holaday. Since José Iglesias did not start that day, the O's could pinch-hit him for Valaika and send him to short if they choose.

During his earlier pregame Zoom interview today, O's manager Brandon Hyde said he would check on his relievers after they do some light pregame throwing to decide who will be on the mound in the last of the sixth.

When they play the regularly scheduled game 45 minutes after the suspended game is completed, the O's will send lefty Tommy Milone (1-1, 3.21 ERA) to the mound for his fourth start of 2020. His last one was a gem. He threw six scoreless innings against the Nats last Friday allowing three hits.

"I think the biggest key with that lineup is to be unpredictable," Milone said after his 90-pitch outing. "That is easier said than done. Because obviously you have to hit your spots and got to throw strikes, and you have to throw it out of the zone when you need to, when you're ahead. It was just a mix of everything tonight that kind of helped. Just being unpredictable and staying away from the middle of the plate for the most part. Not walking guys, getting guys on base and letting them have that big hit, that big inning."

Milone has allowed five runs in three starts, and four of them came in one very poor inning at Boston on opening night. In his last two starts - versus the Rays and Nats - he's allowed one run on nine hits with no walks and 11 strikeouts over 11 innings

Milone became the first and still only O's starter to go six innings this season. He threw first-pitch strikes to 14 of 18 batters the first two times through the order. And he did all that with a great changeup that played well off a fastball at 86 mph. Yep, 86 mph.

The Nationals will start right-hander Stephen Strasburg (0-0, 10.38 ERA) tonight. He has no won-loss record yet but he could be the losing pitcher in the completion of the suspended game. It was his first start of the year and he gave up seven hits and five runs over 4 1/3 innings against the O's on Sunday. He sailed through the first four innings before Baltimore scored five in the fifth. That inning included Holaday's RBI single, a two-run double by Hanser Alberto and two-run single by Anthony Santander.

Strasburg had been dealing with a right wrist injury and that game last weekend was his season debut. In the 2019 regular season, he went 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA over 33 starts. He led the National League in wins and innings (209) and finished second in the NL in strikeouts (251). He finished fifth in voting for the Cy Young Award and 15th in voting for the NL MVP.

Strasburg was a playoff hero as the Nationals won the World Series. In six postseason games, he went 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA. He walked four and fanned 47 in 36 1/3 innings. He went 2-0 with a 2.51 ERA on his way to being named the World Series MVP in the Nats' win over Houston in seven games.

Santander is 11-for-34 (.324) during an eight-game hitting streak. He has driven in at least one run in seven consecutive games with 12 RBIs in that span. For the year he has 19 RBIs to rank second in the AL and third in the majors.

Catcher Pedro Severino is 9-for-17 (.529) during a five-game hitting streak with a double, two homers and nine RBIs. Alberto is batting .387 (12-for-31) during a seven-game hitting streak with six doubles and nine runs scored. He has 10 multi-hit games for the year.

The Orioles (10-7) have won five in a row and are 7-1 in weekend games that have been played against the Red Sox, Rays and Nationals.

The defending World Series champs are 6-9 and have not been over .500 this year. They just split four games with the Mets, losing the last two. They are 2-5 over the last seven games.

This will be the game blog for both games tonight. So stay here for between-game and Game 2 comments.