O's game blog: Yovani Gallardo on the mound in San Diego series finale

As the Orioles and San Diego Padres complete their brief two-game series this afternoon at Petco Park, right-hander Yovani Gallardo (2-1, 6.04 ERA) pitches against Padres left-hander Christian Friedrich (4-2, 3.60 ERA).

After Tuesday's 11-7 win the Orioles are 46-30 and go for a two-game sweep at Petco Park this afternoon. The Orioles are 31-13 at home and 15-17 on the road. Last night was the opener of a nine-game road trip.

The Orioles' offensive numbers in June continue to be remarkable. They lead the major leagues this month in runs (170), batting average (.303), OBP (.359), slugging (.541) and OPS (.901). They also lead MLB in June in homers (54) and extra-base hits (108) and are 18-8 this month.

With two games left in June the Orioles need one homer to tie the 1996 Oakland A's for the MLB record for most homers in June. They need four to tie the MLB record of 58 for any single month set by the Orioles in May 1987 and by Seattle in May 1999. Five or more homers over the next two games will put the 2016 Orioles atop the record books.

Since returning from the disabled list, Gallardo is 1-0 with a 4.36 ERA against Toronto and Tampa Bay. Over 10 1/3 innings he has allowed 12 hits and five runs with six walks and eight strikeouts.

Gallardo has made six starts this year and has pitched six innings or longer just one time, when he went six allowing four runs April 16 against Texas. He does not have a quality start, but the Orioles have a 4-2 record in those six starts.

In three road starts, he is 0-1 with an ERA of 9.00. Left-handed batters are hitting .333 against him, right-handed batters are hitting .304 and he yields an average of .250 when pitching with runners in scoring position.

Gallardo will bat today with the interleague game in a National League park. He went 2-for-4 as a hitter with a double last year with Texas. In his career he has hit 12 home runs. The 12 home runs are one fewer than the Giants' Madison Bumgarner for most among active pitchers.

He is batting .198 over his career with 12 homers and 42 RBIs in 420 at-bats. In 2010 with the Milwaukee Brewers, Gallardo hit four homers in 63 at-bats.

Friedrich has made eight starts this year. Over his past two starts, against Washington and Cincinnati, he went 11 innings allowing 15 hits and 10 runs and he gave up three homers. In those outings his ERA increased from 2.12 to 3.60.

In four home starts, he is 2-1 with a 5.57 ERA while he has pitched better on the road, going 2-1 with an ERA of 1.88. Friedrich was a first-round draft of the Colorado Rockies, number 25 overall out of Eastern Kentucky, in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft. He gives up an average of .255 versus left-handed batters, .260 against right-handed hitters and just .200 when he pitches with runners in scoring position.