O's get series finale and welcome Yankees tonight

The Orioles' 8-1 win Sunday over the Oakland A's - one that snapped Oakland's 13-game win streak - had a homegrown flavor. The Orioles improved to 9-12 and welcome the Yankees to town tonight to begin a four-game series.

The Birds had five homegrown players in the lineup, including Cedric Mullins, Trey Mancini, Ryan Mountcastle, Austin Hays and Ryan McKenna. Those players combined for eight hits and six RBIs. Hays produced his second career two-homer game. And O's homegrown lefties started and finished the game.

O's fans can dream on more days like Sunday, when homegrown Orioles lead the team to impressive wins over good teams.

The Orioles hit three homers in a game for the first time. They had hit just two total in the previous five games.

Mullins was 3-for-3 by the fifth inning and ended the day batting .346 with his eighth multi-hit game. He is now batting .419 (13-for-31) when facing left-handed pitching. Quite an impressive start for him hitting left-on-left.

The O's proved again that in scoring just a few more runs they could have several more wins. They are now 8-2 when scoring four runs or more, but only 1-10 getting three or fewer.

At 9-12 they are playing .429 baseball. Do that over 162 games and your record would be 69-93.

John Means continued to look like an ace pitcher. An ace who was drafted in the 11th round, had a 4.34 ERA when he pitched at Double-A Bowie and almost never appeared on anyone's top 30 prospects list.

But here is what he has done lately, at least since late last year: He has allowed one run or no runs in eight of his last nine starts, pitching to a 1.51 ERA in that span.

Gerrit Cole pitched another strong game for the Yankees, getting the win Saturday night against 2020 American League Cy Young Award winner Shane Bieber and Cleveland. Cole allowed one run in seven innings with 11 strikeouts. His ERA is now 1.71. Bieber gave up two runs over seven and his ERA is 2.48.

So, here is the rundown:

1.50 - Means
1.71 - Cole
2.48 - Bieber

He doesn't have an ERA of 0.31 like Jacob deGrom, but Means' ERA is second-best in the AL (behind Danny Duffy of the Royals at 0.39) and is fifth-best in the major leagues.

Means allowed just two hits as A's batters went 2-for-20 against him. He used his fastball, which topped at 95 mph, on 57 percent of his pitches, throwing his changeup 25 percent, his curve 10 percent and slider eight percent.

Means has now made 42 career starts, going 16-15 with a 3.65 ERA over 232 innings.

Lefty pitching prospect Zac Lowther made his big league debut and put up a zero in the ninth, after allowing a leadoff single. With his family and new baby in the stands, it produced a special moment that no doubt will stay with him forever. Nice debut. He threw 14 pitches, including nine fastballs that topped at 92.8 mph and averaged 91.8.

Add on 2 2/3 more scoreless innings for an O's bullpen that has a 1.81 ERA over the last 12 games.

Tonight the homestand continues as the O's host the Yankees to begin a four-game series.