O's game blog: The road trip ends with one more in Cleveland

CLEVELAND - The Orioles two-city road trip through New York and Cleveland ends this afternoon against the Indians at Progressive Field. After two rainouts and then a doubleheader loss Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, the Orioles are 1-2 in this series.

They lost 14-7 Thursday, won 5-1 behind Dylan Bundy Friday and were one-hit yesterday in losing 4-1 to the Tribe. The Orioles are 15-30 overall, 9-15 on the road and have lost eight of 10 and 14 of their last 19. Cleveland is 24-20 and 11-10 over its past 21 games. The Indians are 13-8 at home and 6-1 versus AL East teams.

Coming out of the bullpen to get today's start will be right-hander Yefry Ramirez (0-1, 5.14 ERA). Ramirez has pitched in three games since being called up from Triple-A Norfolk. Over seven innings he has allowed five hits and four runs with five walks, eight strikeouts and a WHIP of 1.429.

Ramirez made 12 starts last season, going 1-8 with a 6.92 ERA and 1.650 WHIP. He ended his year with a good one, allowing three runs over six innings against Houston on Sept. 29.

Ramirez is certainly rested and will be pitching, in fact, with 10 days rest. He threw an inning May 8, allowing a run versus the Red Sox. He was called into the game on May 10 but a rain delay was called and he never threw a pitch that night.

"Well, we need a starter. And Yefry, it's a good opportunity," manager Brandon Hyde said yesterday. "Want to see him locate his fastball and I like the way his changeup plays, so I think that's a good matchup for him against these guys. There are a lot of proven hitters over there, so it's a challenge for sure. That's a playoff-caliber lineup and you have to move the ball around and mix speeds, like Dylan (Bundy) was doing."

Cleveland's starter is right-hander Shane Bieber (2-2, 3.81 ERA) will will be making his ninth 2019 start. In his last game he suffered his first career road loss against the White Sox in Chicago when he allowed five runs and four homers in 6 1/3 innings.

The 23-year-old will be making his first career start versus the Orioles. He has a 4-2 record and ERA of 4.46 in seven games and six starts all-time against AL East teams. This season he limited Toronto to two runs and two hits with nine strikeouts over six innings on April 5.

Bieber is 0-1 with a 4.43 ERA in four home starts. He has a 4-6 mark and 5.43 ERA over 13 career appearances and 12 starts at Progressive Field. He has walked two or fewer batters in six of eight starts this year and in 24 of his 27 career starts.

The Orioles have allowed only 12 stolen bases in their first 45 games, the fewest allowed in the AL and the fourth-fewest in the majors. They have caught 14 attempted base stealers, and their 53.8 caught stealing percentage is the best in the majors. The O's 48 double plays turned this season lead the AL and are tied for most in the majors.