O's game blog: Wojciechowski faces Angels in Game 2

ANAHEIM, Calif. - After needing 6 hours, 19 minutes for a16-inning win Thursday and into Friday, the Orioles and Angels are back tonight for Game 2 of this four-game series.

With their wild 10-8 win, the Orioles improved to 33-69. They are 5-3 over the last eight games, 6-7 since the All-Star Game and 11-11 their past 22 games. They are 2-2 on this trip and 18-33 for the season on the road.

Baltimore snapped the Angels' four-game win streak. Los Angeles is 54-50 overall, 27-24 at home, 12-7 in July and 9-4 since the All-Star break.

The Orioles had two doubles, two homers and 18 hits last night. Hanser Alberto went 4-for-8 and raised his average five points to .311. That is the fifth-best average in the American League. Pedro Severino, in addition to catching all 16 innings, went 4-for-8 with a double and scored two runs. He began the game 0-for-11 over his previous four games and was batting .132 his last 13 games.

Over the last eight games, the Orioles have scored 53 runs (6.6 per game) with a team batting average of .298. They have hit at least two homers in all eight of those games, with 18 total. O's pitchers gave up eight runs last night, but have allowed two or less in four of the last eight games.

Right-hander Asher Wojciechowski (1-3, 3.91 ERA) will make his first start since he blanked Boston 5-0 Sunday on one hit over 7 1/3 innings. He fanned 10 for the game and had nine strikeouts through four innings, getting 18 swings and misses on 58 pitches to that point.

In 23 innings, he has walked seven and fanned 31 for an average of 12.13 strikeouts per nine innings. On Sunday, he became the first Baltimore pitcher since Dylan Bundy against Seattle on Aug. 29, 2017 to throw seven or more innings, strike out 10 or more and allow one hit or no hits.

He shut down a Boston team that had scored 17 runs the previous night. A team that leads the majors in runs per game, average and on-base percentage. A team that was 19-3 in its past 22 games at Camden Yards. A team that had gone 81 consecutive games without being shut out since April 16.

So it should make us curious to see his follow-up act tonight. Will his swing-and-miss slider return to confound Angels hitters as it did against Boston and Toronto in recent games?