O's game blog: Trying to avoid being swept

The Orioles have been swept in a series 12 times this year, yet they do not have one sweep to call their own. That number grows to 13 if they lose tonight.

A couple of bullpen meltdowns - after a 25-game run where the 'pen put up strong numbers - have led to back-to-back losses by 8-5 and 11-10 scores to Toronto. The O's bullpen has allowed 15 runs (13 earned) and 18 hits in nine innings in this series. O's pitchers have allowed 19 runs and 12 walks in the two games.

Jonathan Villar (No. 23) and Anthony Santander (No. 19) homered in the fourth inning last night as Baltimore grabbed a 7-1 lead. In the first four innings, the Orioles went 10-for-22 with five doubles and two home runs. The O's matched a season high with nine extra-base hits Wednesday night. They also did that on Aug. 5 against the Yankees.

O's batters have hit at least one homer in 12 straight games with 18 in that span. They have scored 15 runs in this series and 44 over the last eight games.

The Orioles (49-103) have 10 games remaining. They are 3-5 over the last eight games and 4-13 this month. They are 23-54 at home, 21-48 versus the American League East and 7-8 against Toronto.

The Blue Jays (61-91) are 6-2 since snapping a season-long seven-game losing streak. They are 27-39 within the division and 27-34 in the second half. The win last night was Toronto's third when trailing entering the ninth inning and they are now 3-79 in such situations.

Randal Grichuk's grand slam put Toronto ahead in the ninth inning with two outs. He extended his hitting streak to 10 games with his homer, his 30th. It was his second career slam and the first came Aug. 13, 2016 with St. Louis versus the Chicago Cubs.

Trey Mancini scored his 100th run in the fourth inning. He joined Villar as the first set of Orioles teammates to each score 100 in the same season since 2015, when Chris Davis and Manny Machado did so. It is the 11th time in Orioles history that at least two Orioles scored 100 or more runs in the same season. Mancini extended his hitting streak to six games, having recorded a multi-hit game in five of the six. He has 42 multi-hit games on the season, second-most on the O's behind Villar, who has 50.

On the mound tonight, right-hander Gabriel Ynoa (1-8, 5.74 ERA) makes his 12th start. For the season, Ynoa has a WHIP of 1.395 and averages 10.4 hits per nine with 2.2 homers and walks and 5.5 strikeouts. He gave up two runs over four innings in his last start against Detroit. Over his past five games, he has pitched to an ERA of 3.52, allowing 20 hits in 15 1/3 innings with two walks and eight strikeouts.

Earlier today, the Orioles announced their minor league award winners for the 2019 season. Triple-A Norfolk's Ryan Mountcastle is the Brooks Robinson Player of the Year. Right-handers Grayson Rodriguez and Mike Baumann are the Jim Palmer Co-Pitchers of the Year. Click here for more on all the winners.