O's game blog: Yovani Gallardo on the mound in Game 2 against TB

After Monday's 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, the Orioles are 75-62 with 25 games to play in the 2016 regular season. They start play tonight in third place, two games out in the American League East. They are tied with Detroit for the second AL wild card spot with both teams one game behind Boston, which is holding the top wild card berth, while the Orioles and Tigers are two games ahead of Houston.

The pennant push is on. The Orioles have 14 remaining games on the road, where they are 30-37. They have 11 games left at home where they are 45-25. They have seven games left with Boston and three remaining with Toronto. They also play a three-game series in Detroit this weekend.

Right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez allowed a three-run homer in the first inning to Logan Morrison yesterday, but was outstanding after that. He pitched a complete-game two-hitter and retired the last 17 batters and 25 of the last 26 he faced.

Jimenez pitched the Orioles' first complete game since Sept. 3, 2014 when Miguel Gonzalez shut out the Cincinnati Reds. It was the ninth career complete game for Jimenez and his first since 2011. He improved to 6-11 with an ERA of 6.19. He has pitched to an ERA of 2.70 over his last four starts.

The Orioles rotation is trending up:
* An ERA of 2.75 with six quality starts the last eight games.
* An ERA of 3.70 with 10 quality starts the past 15 games.
* An ERA of 4.25 with 26 quality starts the last 52 games.

The Orioles are 10-3 this season against Tampa Bay and have outscored the Rays 61-36. The O's team ERA is 2.76 in the season series and Tampa Bay has a team average of .217 in those 13 games.

O's right-hander Yovani Gallardo (4-7, 5.62 ERA) pitches against Tampa Bay right-hander Jake Odorizzi (9-5, 3.56 ERA).

While Gallardo has recorded five quality starts over his last eight games, his ERA is only 5.53 in that span. It has included starts where he gave up five and eight runs. Gallardo is 2-5 with a 7.18 ERA in 11 road starts.

He allows an ERA of 8.05 in the first innings of his starts, but that drops to 4.42 in the second inning and 2.12 in the third. In two 2016 starts versus the Rays he is 0-0 with a 5.23 ERA.

Odorizzi provides a real challenge for O's hitters. He went 4-0 with a 2.48 ERA in August. In nine starts since the All-Star Game he is 6-0 with a 1.89 ERA. In four starts this season against Baltimore, he is 1-1 with a 4.91 ERA. Over 22 innings he has given up 31 hits and a .348 average with three walks and 13 strikeouts.

Orioles first baseman Chris Davis drove in three runs yesterday. Over his last 19 games he is batting .273 with 10 homers and 15 RBIs. The O's Mark Trumbo has 10 homers and 21 RBIs over his last 24 games.

Mullins honored: Single-A Delmarva outfielder Cedric Mullins is the last Player of the Week in the South Atlantic League. Over his final seven games, Mullins totaled a slash line of .433/.433/.833, going 13-for-30 with three doubles, three home runs, seven RBIs, seven runs and three stolen bases.

His name was all over the final Sally League leaders. He finished second or tied for second with 61 extra-base hits, 240 total bases and 10 triples. He was third with 141 hits, 79 runs and 37 doubles.

This is the first career honor for Mullins in the South Atlantic League. He is the sixth different player to be recognized by the league office this season, joining Yermin Mercedes (twice), Ryan Mountcastle, Cristian Alvarado, Randolph Gassaway and Ofelky Peralta.