Top draft pick Cody Sedlock doing well at Aberdeen (O's begin big road trip)

The Orioles' 2016 first-round draft pick, right-handed pitcher Cody Sedlock, has now made five pro appearances for short-season Single-A Aberdeen.

Sedlock has made five outings of three innings each, going 0-1 with an ERA of 3.00. In 15 innings, he has allowed nine hits and five runs with eight walks and 14 strikeouts.

"He's been good," Orioles director of player development Brian Graham said. "I've seen him in game action as well as several bullpens. He's got a four-pitch mix with plus velocity. Good changeup and two breaking balls that both work. He's pitched from 93 to 96 (mph)."

Sedlock was drafted 27th overall in June out of the University of Illinois and was signed to a slot bonus of $2,097,200. In 14 starts in college this season, he went 5-3 with a 2.49 ERA and 116 strikeouts over 101 1/3 innings.

"Based on the fact he threw 100 innings in college, he'll be throwing three innings per outing this summer," Graham said. "We have a six-man rotation right now at Aberdeen. It's a great format because it allows him to pitch, have two days off, throw a bullpen, then have two days off and pitch in a game.

"It is just about him getting experience in professional baseball this summer. He is going to end up at about 130 innings, which will give us a few more for instructional league. With young pitchers, new pitchers and our full-time starters in the minor leagues, 140 innings is about the max you want to extend them to."

Sedlock was the Big 10 Pitcher of the Year and a real workhorse in college. He threw nine innings or more in four of his last five college starts, throwing 10 2/3 innings in one game.

"You certainly like anybody that wants the ball." Graham said. "When you combine that with the stuff he has, we have a chance to have a good-looking pitcher. We've seen a guy that looks like he's got a very good aptitude. He's got a tremendous work ethic. He presents himself as a very tough competitor. Early indication is that he is a really good pick."

The road trip begins: After last night's loss to the Rangers, the Orioles are now tied for first in the American League East. The Orioles (61-46) are one percentage point ahead of Toronto (62-47) at .570 to .569 but they are even in the games-behind column.

That puts even more importance on the three-city, 10-game road trip that starts for the Orioles tonight at Chicago against the White Sox. Over the next 10 days, the Orioles play three in Chicago, four in Oakland and three games at San Francisco. During that time, Toronto plays three at Kansas City, three at home versus Tampa Bay and three at home against Houston.

The Orioles are 39-17 (.696) at home and 22-29 (.431) on the road. The Orioles have not had a winning road trip all year. They had one trip where they went 3-3 and that was their first of the year at Boston and Texas with one game rained out that they have since made up. In their three most recent trips, they went 4-5 at San Diego, Seattle and the Los Angeles. They went 3-4 at Tampa Bay and New York and 1-3 at Minnesota and Toronto.

The Orioles offense is still not putting up big numbers. They scored just six runs in the last two games of the Texas series and they've scored 61 runs in 20 games since the All-Star break, going 10-10. They have scored six or more runs in just one of their last 23 games. Before this stretch, they scored six or more in 18 of 34 games and much of that was in June when they averaged 6.6 runs per game.

The White Sox are 52-56 and could be a team that the Orioles can handle and win a series against to get the trip off to a good start. Chicago has lost six of eight and 14 of its last 21 games. Since starting the year 23-10 on May 9, Chicago is 29-46.

Tonight, Yovani Gallardo (3-3, 5.70 ERA) faces former Oriole Miguel Gonzalez (2-5, 4.06 ERA). Gonzalez pitched to an ERA of 9.78 in spring training for the Orioles and they released him before this season started. They were potentially going to re-sign him and send him to the minors, but Chicago added Gonzalez instead. Now, over his last six starts for the White Sox, he has pitched to an ERA of 2.50 with a .204 average against.

So how will the O's fare against their former teammate tonight and how will they do on this important road trip?