O's game blog: The road trip begins

TORONTO – The Orioles, who are 16-8 on the road this year and are 5-2-1 in road series, begin their latest road trip tonight at Rogers Centre facing the Toronto Blue Jays. 

The Orioles (37-20) will play four games at Toronto and then four more in St. Petersburg, Fla. against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Birds took two of three from Tampa Bay over the weekend. They let a 3-0 lead get away Sunday and lost 4-3 to the Rays, missing the chance to sweep them.

The O’s 13 total runners left on base Sunday are a season high. Their 15 hits tie a season high, matching their total on April 20 at Kansas City. Sunday’s game marks the team’s first loss when outhitting an opponent in the 2024 season. and they are now 29-1 in those games.

Overall, the Orioles have won three of four and eight of their last 10 games, and they just completed a 4-2 homestand against Boston and Tampa Bay.

The Orioles are 11-4 (.733) versus American League East teams. This is their best 15-game start in division play since the 2017 Orioles also were 11-4.

Gunnar Henderson hit another leadoff homer Sunday, and the 420-foot blast was his second career homer onto Eutaw Street. It was his 19th home run of the season and marks his sixth leadoff home run this year, and the eighth of his career. The six leadoff homers are the most in the majors and fifth-most in a single season by an O’s batter.

Henderson also singled stole a base and scored in the third inning as part of a 3-for-3 day with two walks. He swiped his eighth bag of the year, which he did not do last year until Aug. 28, in his 118th game. He tied his career high of April 24, 2024 against the Angels, when he also reached base five times.

Austin Hays had a single and double, recording his second multi-hit game of the year. In his last 15 games since April 19, he is 12-for-38, batting .316 with four doubles, four RBIs and a .778 OPS.

Tonight’s pitching matchup features two players who were drafted in the first round by the Orioles. Toronto’s Kevin Gausman (4-3, 4.14 ERA) was selected No. 4 overall by Baltimore in 2012 out of Louisiana State University. Righty Grayson Rodriguez (5-2, 3.53 ERA) was a high school pick, taken No. 11 overall in the 2018 MLB Draft.

Rodriguez gave up four runs over six innings in his last start, against Boston, but has allowed two earned runs or fewer in seven of his nine outings this year. The Orioles are 6-3 in those games. He has allowed 20 runs this year, and 11 have come in two starts.

Rodriguez went 0-1 with a 4.32 ERA in three starts last season against Toronto, and those are also his career numbers.

Gausman, 33, has thrown 54 1/3 innings for the season, allowing 60 hits with 14 walks and 56 strikeouts. He has surrendered 1.362 WHIP, and the Blue Jays are 6-5 in his 11 outings so far.

He has thrown three consecutive quality starts, going 2-0 with a 2.50 ERA with four walks to 19 strikeouts in 18 innings.

Gausman has struggled against lefty batters this year, allowing a .323 batting average and .903 OPS. Those numbers are .244/.656 versus righty batters.

In five career games against his former team, he is 1-3 with a 4.61 ERA and 1.427 WHIP.

Toronto (28-30) has won five of its past six games, going 3-0 against the White Sox and 2-1 versus the Pirates. Since May 18, when Toronto’s record was 19-25, the Blue Jays are 9-5. They are 14-13 at home and 7-8 in division games.