O's game blog: The weekend series begins at Detroit

DETROIT - The Orioles tonight play game No. 148 and for the first time in 2024, they will play the Tigers. The clubs open a three-game series at Comerica Park.

The teams will meet six times in the next nine games, playing back-to-back weekends in Detroit and Baltimore.

While the O's have not played well for most of the last couple of months really, the Tigers are a pretty hot team right now despite their 4-2 loss Thursday to the Rockies.

Detroit has won its last two series versus Oakland and Colorado and is 5-1 in its past six series.

At 75-72, the Tigers begin play tonight 3.5 games back of the Twins for the last American League wild-card berth and the No. 6 AL seed.

The Tigers have won four of five, seven of 11 and 13 of 19 games. Detroit is a major-league-best 20-9 since Aug. 11 with a plus-56 run differential. In that span, their hitters have scored 4.9 runs per game with an OPS of .735.

But it is on the pitching side where the Tigers have really excelled. Their team ERA in this span is an MLB-best 2.51. Their pitchers have allowed a .208 batting average and .579 OPS the past 29 games. 

Detroit is 37-35 at home, 13-10 against AL East opponents and 28-22 in the second half.

With their walk-off loss Wednesday at Boston, the Orioles fell to 83-64 with 15 games to play. They have lost four of five and five of seven games, going 9-11 the last 20 and 25-26 since the All-Star break. The O's are 30-33 since July 1.

The Orioles, who scored 11 runs in three games at Boston, have scored 15 in the last seven games, going 2-5. They have hit .199 with an OPS of .578 in this span and are 6-for-46 (.130) with runners in scoring position in the seven games.

From 2017-2022, the Orioles lost the season series five times in six years versus Detroit and the teams did not play in 2020. Baltimore went 11-22 in this stretch.

But last year the O's were 6-1 versus the Tigers, outscoring them 31-21 in the season series where O's pitchers had a 2.86 ERA. 

The Birds went 22-10 last season against AL Central teams and are 16-7 (.696) this season. That is their best win percentage versus any other division. 

Right-hander Zach Eflin (10-8, 3.65 ERA) tonight makes his 26th start of the year and his seventh for the Orioles, who acquired him in a trade with Tampa Bay.

For the season he has thrown 148 innings, allowing 151 hits with just 1.0 walks per every nine innings and 7.6 strikeouts. On the year Eflin has allowed more homers than walks but it's close, 19 to 17.

Eflin has gotten more swing and miss on the O's watch as his K/9, which was 7.12 with the Rays, is 9.00 as an Oriole. His strikeout percentage is up from 18.9 to 24.8.

In six O's-only starts, Eflin is 5-1 with a 2.37 ERA and five quality starts. In 38 innings he has a 1.053 WHIP and the Orioles are 5-1 in those games. As an Oriole, he has allowed two runs or less in five of six games and has allowed one run or fewer three times.

The Orioles 6-1 record in 2023 versus the Tigers produced one of their best single-season win percentages against Detroit:

1.000 - 2004 (6-0)

.909 - 1998 (10-1)

.857 - 2023 (6-1)

.846 - 1996 (11-2)

.800 - 1977 (12-3)