O's game blog: Ynoa set to pitch Toronto series finale

The Orioles can win a series for the first time since April 22-24 if they beat the Toronto Blue Jays tonight. The clubs have split the first two games of this series, with the O's winning 4-2 Tuesday and Toronto 8-6 last night.

Tonight's game is set to start at approximately 7:35 p.m. after a brief rain shower hit Camden Yards before the original scheduled first pitch time of 7:05 p.m.

The Orioles (21-46) are 0-12-1 in their past 13 series. They have lost five of seven, nine of 13 and 17 of the last 23 games. The Orioles are 9-24 at home and 6-34 when scoring four runs or fewer.

The O's pitching staff had allowed 17 runs the previous six games before yielding eight last night. The eight runs all came in the fifth and sixth innings. Toronto's Rowdy Tellez hit a grand slam in the fifth, becoming the first Blue Jays rookie with two grand slams in one season. The Orioles were the last team in the majors to give up a grand slam.

The Orioles went just 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position last night. They began the game batting .234 with RISP - the fourth-lowest average in the American League.

Toronto snapped a seven-game road losing streak. That was the Blue Jays' longest since they dropped seven in a row last Aug. 16-29, which included three games at Oriole Park.

The Orioles Trey Mancini had a triple and hit his 14th homer Wednesday night. Mancini drove a ball 423 feet to center field in the fourth to give Baltimore a short-lived 1-0 lead. Mancini leads the Orioles with 34 extra-base hits and 21 multi-hit games. He is a career .316 (49-for-155) batter against Toronto.

Over his last eight games, Hanser Alberto is batting .389 (14-for-36) with 13 singles and a double. Over his past 20 games he's batting .363 (29-for-80) with five doubles, a homer and five RBIs.

Right-hander Gabriel Ynoa (0-2, 4.96 ERA) gets the start for the Orioles. In his first five appearances this year he posted an ERA of 0.79. Then he gave up 10 earned runs over 6 1/3 innings over a four-game stretch. His last three games have all been starts. In those outings he's thrown 15 innings, allowing 13 hits and nine runs (seven earned), throwing 85, 82 and 88 pitches.

Ynoa recorded a quality start last Friday at Houston, allowing three runs over six innings. In seven home games (two starts) he is 0-1 with a 4.24 ERA.

Right-hander Marcus Stroman (3-8, 3.31 ERA) will start for Toronto. He had one of his poorest starts of the season last Friday versus Arizona, allowing six runs over 5 2/3 innings. But for the year, he has eight quality starts and a 1.322 WHIP. Stroman has averaged 3.1 walks and 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings.

In one start in 2019 against Baltimore, he gave up nine hits and two runs in 5 2/3 on April 2 at Rogers Centre. In 12 career games he is 4-5 with a 3.52 ERA. In five career starts at Oriole Park, Stroman is 2-2 with a 5.47 ERA.

Tides win: Triple-A Norfolk beat Scranton 4-3 this afternoon at Norfolk's Harbor Park. Right-hander Tom Eshelman made a strong O's organization debut. Over seven innings he allowed seven hits, all singles, and two runs, with just one earned run. He threw 101 pitches and lowered his ERA to 2.45 in five games this season in the International League. He was acquired Monday from Philadelphia for international bonus money. Jace Peterson added a three-run homer as Norfolk (27-37) snapped a five-game losing streak.

Norfolk lefty Keegan Akin allowed one run over 1 1/3 innings pitching in relief today. It was his first bullpen appearance in the pro ranks, and I was told the move out of the rotation was made just to help limit his season-long innings total.