O's game blog: The homestand begins against Seattle

After a 4-4 road trip where they went 1-2 at New York and 3-2 at Boston, the Orioles return home tonight to open an eight-game homestand where they will face the Mariners and Gaurdians for three games each and the Cubs for a two-game series.

The Orioles are 12-11 at home for the year and 4-2-1 in seven home series. They went 3-4 on their last homestand against the Yankees and Rays, and are 7-5 in the past 12 home games at Oriole Park.

The Orioles improved to 6-2 in rubber match games when they won Monday night 10-0 at Boston to win that series. Ryan Mountcastle’s solo homer in the first provided a 2-0 lead following Trey Mancini’s RBI triple. Ramón Urías added a two-run shot and Anthony Santander hit a three-run blast in the ninth, his team-leading ninth of the season. The Orioles hit eight homers in the Boston series and have hit 15 over their past 12 games.

The Orioles improved to 4-4 in series against American League East teams after going 3-19-2 in such series last season. They are 11-16 against AL East teams, including a 5-3 record versus the Red Sox.

Four shutouts of the 2022 season:

* On April 11, O’s win 2-0 in home opener against the Brewers
* On April 17, O’s beat the Yankees 5-0
* On April 20, O’s won 1-0 at Oakland
* Monday, the Orioles beat the Red Sox 10-0 as Tyler Wells pitched six scoreless on two hits

Sunday’s game was Baltimore's most lopsided win of the year and followed their most lopsided loss of 12-2 the previous day. Their previous biggest win margin was five runs, done three times this season.

The Orioles, who went 5-23 last May, will finish this May at 15-15 with a victory tonight. Baltimore is 7-5 over its last 12 games and 15-15 in the last 30.

The Orioles will get a spot start tonight from right-hander Bryan Baker (1-2, 4.66 ERA) as they use a bullpen game in the series opener with the Mariners. Baker pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings on 31 pitches on Saturday in Game 1 of the Boston doubleheader. Over his past eight games, his ERA is 4.00, allowing 12 hits and four earned runs in 10 innings with five walks and 10 strikeouts. He has thrown 31 pitches twice this year in games with a season-high pitch count of 33.

This will be his second start, with the first going well. On May 12 at St. Louis, the Orioles used a bullpen game in a win over the Cardinals. Baker pitched the first 2 1/3 innings scoreless on one hit with no walks and three strikeouts, throwing 31 pitches.

Lefty batters hit .286 against him with an OPS of .762 and right-handers bat .300 with a .664 OPS. In eight home outings, Baker is 0-1 with a 3.24 ERA and 1.320 WHIP.

Seattle (20-28) won two of three over the weekend versus Houston, beating the Astros on Friday and Saturday by scores of 6-1 and 6-0, respectively, before Sunday’s 2-1 loss. They are 3-7 in the last 10 games, going 0-4 versus Boston, 1-2 against Oakland and 2-1 against Houston.

The Mariners began this season with an 11-6 record on April 26. But they have gone 9-22 since that time, losing 10 of 11 games at one point. They are 12-10 at home and 8-18 on the road. The Mariners are beginning a nine-game road trip tonight that will also take them to Texas and Houston.

Rookie Julio Rodríguez, 21, had a slow start to his major league career, but has it rolling now. After a 1-for-18 start over his first five games, he is now batting .270/.319/.421 for an OPS of .741 and an OPS+ of 118 through 47 games. In 27 games this month, he is batting .314 with 12 runs, six homers and 16 RBIs.

Rodriguez leads the majors with 14 stolen bases. The Orioles' Jorge Mateo has 13 and is tied for second in steals in the majors. Cedric Mullins, with 11, is tied for fourth.  

On the farm: Triple-A Norfolk's Grayson Rodriguez was named today as the latest International League Pitcher of the Week for the period ending Sunday. He threw seven scoreless innings on two hits on Friday in his latest strong outing. 

In his last five starts, Rodriguez is 3-0 with a 0.94 ERA (3 ER, 28 2/3 IP), allowing 14 hits and nine walks (0.80 WHIP) while striking out 43. He’s struck out at least eight batters in four straight starts, totaling six such games this season. He’s the first pitcher in the International League to have a four-game eight-strikeout streak since Michael Kopech did so with Charlotte in 2018.

Lefty DL Hall is set to start tonight for the Tides with Rodriguez set to make his next start for Norfolk on Wednesday night.