O's game blog: The road trip finale in Chicago

Still looking for their first win since May 16 and still looking to end a long losing streak, the Orioles play the first-place Chicago White Sox today. It is the finale of a four-game series and a 10-game road trip.

The last Orioles win was two weeks ago today, when they beat the New York Yankees 10-6 at Oriole Park. Ryan Mountcastle drove in four runs and Maikel Franco knocked in three as the O's improved to 17-23.

But the Orioles (17-35) are winless since that date and have lost 12 in a row, 16 of 17 and 19 of their last 21 games. They were 15-16 when this losing run began.

A loss today would tie the third longest losing streak in club history:

* 21 straight losses from April 4-28, 1988.
* 14 straight losses from Aug. 11-25, 1954.
* 13 straight losses from Sept. 17-30, 2009.

The Orioles are 5-21 in May and this will be the fewest May wins in club history and their most losses in the month. The previous high was 19, done three times.

On the mound today, rookie lefty Keegan Akin (0-0, 6.10 ERA) will make his first start of this year and the seventh of his career. Akin has allowed 12 hits in 10 1/3 relief innings this year with one walk and 10 strikeouts. He went three innings in his most recent game on Tuesday at Minnesota and allowed two runs on 45 pitches.

Akin's last start was Sept. 27, 2020, when he allowed four runs in three innings against Toronto. In his six starts last season he was 1-2 with a 4.03 ERA and 1.522 WHIP. He fanned 13.7 batters per nine innings with 34 strikeouts over 22 1/3 innings.

This year Akin has used his fastball 58 percent at an average velocity of 91.9 mph. He uses his changeup 30 percent, up from 17 percent last season, and throws his slider 11 percent.

Right-hander Lucas Giolito (4-4, 4.04 ERA) will make the start for Chicago as they try and sweep the four-game series. Over 55 2/3 innings, he has allowed 44 hits with 21 walks and 66 strikeouts. He has recorded 1.168 WHIP with 3.4 walks and 10.7 strikeouts per nine.

Giolito went 4-3 with a 3.48 ERA and 1.037 WHIP in 2020, when he finished seventh in the American League Cy Young voting.

This year he started slowly, posting a 5.68 ERA in April. But in five May starts, he is 3-2 with a 2.67 ERA and has walked 11 and fanned 33 over 30 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run exactly in four of his five games.

O's infielder Tyler Nevin made his major league debut in yesterday's first game and went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk. He recorded a ground-rule double in his first plate appearance in the second inning against Dallas Keuchel for his first career hit. He became the 29th Oriole (since 1974) to record a hit in his first plate appearance, according to STATS, and the first since Cedric Mullins on Aug. 10, 2018. Yesterday was Nevin's 24th birthday, and he became the first player in Orioles history to make his big league debut on his birthday.