O's game blog: Trying to avoid being swept

In some respects, it has been the year of the sweep for the Orioles. They have swept series from the Rays, Nationals and Phillies. They have been swept by the Yankees and Marlins. So they have completed seven series with five ending in sweeps. They need a win today to avoid being swept for the third time in 2020.

The O's bats were held to five hits in a 7-2 loss to Toronto on Monday. Last night, they scored seven runs and hit three homers, but lost 8-7 to the Blue Jays.

Toronto arrived at Oriole Park having lost four of six and six of nine games, but now can leave with a sweep. Toronto (9-11) is 5-6 against the American League East while the Orioles (12-11) are 5-5.

The O's are in third place in the division, four games behind the first-place Yankees and 2 1/2 back of second-place Tampa Bay. They would hold the eighth seed in the AL playoffs if they began today.

Toronto outfielder Randal Grichuk is 4-for-8 in this series with a double, two homers and eight RBIs. He has three homers and 10 RBIs in his past three games. A player with a career OPS of .781 in 133 career plate appearances versus O's pitching, he is batting .344/.383/.808 with 16 doubles, 14 homers and 34 RBIs.

The Orioles are trying to snap a three-game losing streak today and they have lost four of the last five games. They are 4-10 at home and 2-5 in their past seven one-run decisions.

O's in the team offense rankings:

* Batting average, .261 (fifth)
* Slugging percentage, .462 (third)
* OPS, .788 (fourth)
* First-pitch batting average, .438 (first)
* Doubles, 50 (second)
* Home runs, 35 (ninth)

The Orioles hit three home runs last night and have hit 13 in their last six games and 22 in the last 11. They have hit three homers in a game six times and four homers once.

Left-hander Tommy Milone (1-2, 4.00 ERA) will make his fifth start. He took an ERA of 3.21 into his last one, but allowed nine hits and six runs (three earned) on Friday against Washington. The Orioles are 2-2 in Milone's starts.

For the year over 18 innings, he has given up 22 hits with three walks to 18 strikeouts. He has a WHIP of 1.389 and has allowed just one homer. His walk rate is 1.5 and strikeout rate is 9.0.

This will be Milone's 26th career start (31st appearance) against an AL East opponent. He is 5-15 with a 5.35 ERA in his first 30 games and 154 2/3 innings.

Milone is throwing his fastball 44 percent of the time at a velocity of 86 mph and his changeup 36 percent at 79 mph. He is averaging 16.9 pitches per inning. In three career games versus Toronto, he is 0-2 with a 5.21 ERA.

Right-hander Tanner Roark (1-1, 6.00 ERA) makes his fourth start for Toronto. He allowed three runs and four hits in four innings on Friday against Tampa Bay. The Blue Jays are 3-1 in his starts. He has recorded a 6.8 walk-rate and 7.5 strikeout rate.