O's game blog: Tyler Wilson and Eduardo Rodriguez were teammates on O's farm

Coming up through the Orioles' farm system, right-hander Tyler Wilson and left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez were teammates at four different O's affiliates and often pitched in the same rotations.

Tonight, they face each other at Fenway Park for the Orioles and Red Sox, respectively, with first place on the line. Wilson (2-5, 4.73 ERA) is making his 10th start of the season and Rodriguez (1-1, 6.06 ERA) his fourth. The two teams are 37-27 after exchanging wins the last two nights, with the Red Sox outscoring the Orioles 8-7 in this series.

Wilson and Rodriguez played together at short-season Single-A Aberdeen in 2011, at Single-A Delmarva in 2012, at both Single-A Frederick and Double-A Bowie in 2013 and again at Bowie in 2014 until Rodriguez was traded to Boston for Andrew Miller on July 31.

Orioles starting pitchers have struggled on a road trip where the Orioles have gone 2-4 at Toronto and Boston. They have pitched to an ERA of 7.57 in the six games. Over the last three games, O's starters have pitched 1/3 of an inning, seven innings and three innings for a total of 10 1/3, while the bullpen has had to cover 14 2/3 innings those games. The O's bullpen has allowed one run over seven innings in this series.

Adam Jones homered for the Orioles last night. The O's have hit 15 homers in the six games of this road trip and 33 over the last 13 games. They lead the majors with 102 longballs, with Seattle second at 97.

The Orioles have lost four of five games since going on an 8-1 stretch. Over a longer stretch, they are 23-17 since May 3. The O's are 13-16 in road games.

Wilson has struggled recently, allowing 10 runs over 9 2/3 his past two starts. Over his last five starts, he is 0-4 with an ERA of 6.67. But in two games (one start) this year versus Boston, Wilson has pitched to an ERA of 2.79 (three earned runs over 9 2/3 innings). Wilson has four quality starts and the O's are 4-5 in his nine starts.

Rodriguez made his season debut on May 31, allowing two runs over six innings against the Orioles. He had been out with a right knee injury. But in his two starts since that outing, Rodriguez has pitched 10 1/3 innings, allowing nine runs, five homers and seven walks. In four career starts versus the Orioles, he is 1-2 with a 3.86 ERA and the Orioles are 3-1 in those games.

Shorebirds in the hunt: With five games left in the first-half race in their division in the South Atlantic League, the Delmarva Shorebirds are two games out of first place. Hagerstown leads the Northern Division at 41-25 and Delmarva is at 38-26. The Shorebirds begin a five-game, four-day series at Hickory tonight, with left-hander Reid Love (4-3, 3.30 ERA) on the mound.

Ryan Mountcastle's RBI single in the last of the 11th last night gave Delmarva a 4-3 walk-off win at home over Kannapolis. They completed a 6-1 homestand that also began with a walk-off victory. Mountcastle ended the homestand hitting .444 (12-for-27) with two home runs and six RBIs.

Lefty Brian Gonzalez gave up three runs in six innings in that game and his ERA is 2.51 to rank eighth in the league. Ryan Meisinger pitched three scoreless to lower his ERA to 0.78 and Elias Pinales pitched two scoreless to get the win for Delmarva.