O's game blog: The road trip begins in Cleveland

After a homestand during which they went 4-3, added seven players to their 26-man roster via trades, added two starting pitchers, recalled Jackson Holliday and lost Jordan Westburg to a fractured right hand, the O's hit the road tonight.

They begin a four-game series at Cleveland to start a 10-game trip that also includes stops in Toronto and at Tampa Bay. 

The Orioles went 3-1 in the Toronto series and they are 4-1 in the last five games, scoring 39 runs with a team OPS of .977 in that span. Over the last eight games, in which they went 5-3, the Orioles have scored 54 runs, batting .295 as a club with an .896 OPS. They are scoring 6.8 runs per game in this span.

Baltimore scored at least one run in the first inning in every game of its four-game series against Toronto. Since the All-Star break, the Orioles own the best first-inning run differential in the majors, outscoring opponents, 14-1.

The Orioles (65-44, .596) and Cleveland (65-42, .607) hold the top two records in the American League. The O's begin play tonight leading the AL East by just a half-game over the New York Yankees and by seven games over Boston. Cleveland leads the AL Central by six games each over Minnesota and Kansas City. Cleveland holds the best record in the bigs right now, with Philadelphia (65-43, .602) second.

Since the beginning of the 2023 season, the Orioles (83-48, .634) are the only major league team with a winning percentage of .600 or better on the road. Their .231 batting average allowed away from home is the best mark by any pitching staff over that span.

Cleveland has won three in a row and six of its last eight games. But the Guardians are 8-9 their past 17 games. They have pitched well in that span, posting a team ERA of 3.28. But they have scored only 2.7 runs per game in that stretch with a .590 team OPS. The Guardians are 14-16 the last 30 games.

Cleveland ranks seventh in the AL in team OPS (.710) while the O's .774 team OPS for the year leads the majors. The O's lead the big leagues in homers (171) and now rank second in the AL and third in the majors in scoring average, with 5.07 runs per game. Cleveland ranks second in the AL in team ERA at 3.64 and the Orioles are fourth at 3.78. 

These two teams met at Camden Yards from June 24-26, with Cleveland taking two of three. The Guardians have won six of 10, 23 of 36 and 29 of their last 44 games against the Orioles since the start of the 2017 season, going 5-0-1 in season series over that stretch.

Cleveland's José Ramírez has hit safely in 11 of his last 13 games versus Baltimore, owning a .357 (20-for-56) batting average with six doubles, two home runs, eight RBIs and a .951 OPS, while recording multiple hits in five of his last eight games.

New O's lefty Trevor Rogers (2-9, 4.53 ERA in 21 games with Miami) makes his team debut tonight. The Marlins were just 6-15 in his 2024 starts. But over his past nine outings, he allowed two earned runs or fewer eight times, pitching to a 3.17 ERA. 

This season when facing an AL opponent he went 1-3 with a 5.18 ERA and 1.546 WHIP. He faced Cleveland on June 9 in Miami and allowed one run and two hits over five innings on 88 pitches.

Righty Ben Lively (9-6, 3.44 ERA) gets the ball for the home team. He has a 2.70 ERA over his past three starts. In seven home outings, he is 5-1 with a 2.66 ERA.

Draft note: The O's did sign their 17th-round draft pick, lefty pitcher Iziah Salinas from Cowley County (Kan.) Community College. He was the last unsigned pick for the club after the signing this morning of the Orioles' top pick, University of North Carolina outfielder Vance Honeycutt. He signed for $4 million, per MLB.com, just over the slot amount of $3,802,200. 

The deadline passed today at 5 p.m. ET for clubs to sign 2024 picks and the Orioles went 21-for-21. 

Depending on how the final math officially works out, it appears the O's went a bit over their pool amount of $10.9 million to sign those 21 picks. They may have gone about $500,000 over that amount. They will have to pay a 75 percent tax on the overage, so they seemed to have gone the extra mile to get these picks signed.

Farm note: The Orioles are promoting right-handed pitcher Nestor German from Single-A Delmarva to High-A Aberdeen. Their 11th-round pick last year, German has pitched to a 1.49 ERA with 0.93 WHIP for the Shorebirds.

Aberdeen has added catcher Carlos Rodriguez from their Florida Complex League roster. Righty Preston Johnson is going Aberdeen's injured list.

The Orioles today released right-hander Wandisson Charles. He had an 8.60 ERA this season between Double-A Bowie and Triple-A Norfolk. Right-handed pitcher Patrick Reilly, whom the O's acquired in a trade for Norfolk's Billy Cook, is joining Double-A Bowie. MLBPipeline.com has ranked Reilly as the No. 15 prospect on the O's top 30 list.