O's game blog: The series opener at Cleveland

Coming off an impressive series win at Houston, the Orioles have moved on to Cleveland, where they will look to keep their momentum going tonight. The Orioles and Guardians will play the opener of a three-game series.

The Orioles are 30-36 on the road this year. But that record looks better when we are reminded that they were 3-10 on the road in April and were 5-14 in early May. Now the Orioles have won two straight road series and three of five, and two of those series were at Toronto and Houston.

The Birds have won four of their past six road games, are 13-9 in the last 22 and are 24-20 on the road since late May. They are 6-6-2 in road series for the year.

The Orioles (67-60) had a three-game win streak snapped Sunday at Minute Maid Park. They have won five of seven, eight of 13, 16 of 25, 20 of 32 and 32 of 48 games. Since June 11, the Orioles are 43-25.

Baltimore got great starting pitching in Houston, where Kyle Bradish, Dean Kremer and Austin Voth combined to allow two runs and seven hits over 21 2/3 innings, with five walks to 13 strikeouts. The Astros batted just .104 (7-for-67) against that trio over the weekend. Their combined ERA was 0.83.

O’s starting pitchers have recorded a season-high five straight quality starts, with an ERA of 1.30 in that span. The O’s have 32 quality starts on the year, going 21-11 in those games. Over the past seven games O’s starters allowed two earned runs or fewer each of those games, logging a 1.58 ERA. And Baltimore starters have seven quality starts and a 2.19 ERA the past 12 games.

But the Orioles scored just six runs on 20 hits in three games in Houston, with four doubles and three home runs. They went a combined 3-for-22 in the series batting with runners in scoring position. Since scoring 15 runs versus Boston on Aug. 19, O’s batters have produced just 26 runs over the past eight games.

The Orioles went 1-2 versus Cleveland in early June at Oriole Park. They lost the series opener 6-3, then won 5-4 but lost the series finale 3-2.

The Guardians (67-59), whose record is a just half a game better than the Orioles’ mark, lead the American League Central by 1.5 games over Minnesota and by five games over the Chicago White Sox. Cleveland just lost three of four to Seattle, scoring only seven runs in the four games. The Guardians are 5-6 over the past 11 games.

But Cleveland has played better over longer stretches, winning 19 of 31 and 27 of 45 games. They are 60-47 since April 29. For the year, Cleveland is 32-25 at home and 12-14 against AL East clubs. They are 51-19 when they score first, and 18-11-9 in series for the season.

Cleveland’s bullpen has been outstanding lately and brings a streak of 27 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run into this series. In the second half, Cleveland’s bullpen ERA of 1.91 is the best in the major leagues.

Right-hander Spenser Watkins (4-4, 3.96 ERA) gets the start tonight for the Orioles, his 18^th. The club is 9-8 in his 2022 starts, but has lost four in a row. But over his past two games, Watkins threw well versus the Cubs and White Sox, allowing three runs and 10 hits over 11 2/3 for an ERA of 2.31 with a .222 batting average against and .582 OPS.

In 10 starts since June 25, Watkins is 4-3 with a 2.83 ERA and four quality starts. In that span he has given up a .221 batting average and .624 OPS.

Right-hander Cal Quantrill (10-5, 3.59 ERA) makes his 25th start for Cleveland and has been pitching well recently. He has allowed zero runs in three of his past four games, going 3-0 with a 1.38 ERA. Over 26 innings he allowed four walks with 19 strikeouts, with a .156 batting average against and .412 OPS. 

The team is 15-9 in his starts, winning nine in a row. And in those nine games he is 6-0 with a 3.15 ERA. The Guardians seem to score a lot in his starts and have brought home 66 runs in those nine contests.