O's game blog: Wade Miley is on the mound in the Bronx

Coming off a September where they went 16-11, producing the third-best record in the American League, the Orioles try to begin October with a win today at New York.

If they do, they'll take a major step toward clinching a wild card playoff spot, something they could do tonight if Toronto loses to Boston or Detroit loses to Atlanta.

In fact, the Orioles' path today to clinching the first wild card is to win and get a Blue Jays loss. That would ensure the Orioles host the wild card game next week in Baltimore.

The Orioles are 6-1 in their last seven games. They have given up just one run their last two games, three runs in three games and 12 runs in seven games. O's pitchers have allowed two runs or fewer in six of the last seven games.

Meanwhile, their offense broke out with a six-run top of the fifth in Friday night's 8-1 win at Yankee Stadium. They hit three homers in the fifth inning - the 10th time this year they've hit three homers in one inning - and that leads the majors. The eight runs was their highest scoring game since they put up 11 runs on Sept. 10 at Detroit - 19 games ago.

Over his last three games, Jonathan Schoop is 5-for-11 with a double and homer and he drove in five runs last night. He had gone 15 games without a homer or RBI untl the series opener. Mark Trumbo hit his 47th home run last night. Over his past eight games, he is 10-for-28 (.357) with four homers and six RBIs. He has hit six homers his past 14 games.

On the mound today, left-hander Wade Miley (9-13, 5.40 ERA) makes his 11th start as an Oriole and pitches against right-hander Luis Severino (3-8, 5.75 ERA), the 22-year-old Dominican Republic native.

Miley gave up just one run over 8 2/3 innings last Saturday night at home versus Arizona. Over his past two starts he has pitched 12 2/3 innings, allowing just eight hits and one run with one walk and 14 strikeouts. He has three quality starts and the Orioles are 4-6 in his 10 Baltimore starts.

Miley has made one start in 2016 against the Yankees. He gave up four runs in five innings on Sept. 4. In six career starts, he is 0-3 with a 5.77 ERA and 1.427 WHIP.

Severino's last six appearances have all been 2 1/3 or fewer innings and 40 or fewer pitches. But in nine games (one start) in September, he is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA. Over 16 innings he has yielded eight hits and two runs with nine walks and 16 strikeouts. In nine home games this year, Severino is 1-4 with a 5.94 ERA, allowing eight homers over 36 1/3 innings. The Yankees are just 1-9 in his 10 starts this year.

In three games versus the Orioles this season, he is 1-1 with an ERA of 3.00. In four career games (two starts) versus Baltimore, he is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA.

Both these pitchers have had some struggles early on in their starts. As an Oriole, Miley has a first inning ERA of 9.00 and a second inning ERA of 7.00. Severino's ERA is 5.40 in the opening inning, while over his next three innings it is 4.00, 12.46 and 12.86.