masn-baseballs-orioles.jpgThe Orioles have fallen 4 ½ games behind the Royals in the race for the second pick in next year’s amateur draft.
Isn’t that the race we’re tracking here?
With last night’s walk-off win for the Royals, the Orioles have dropped to 1-7-2 in their last 10 series. They’re 0-83 when trailing after seven innings and have lost 12 of the last 14 games at Kauffman Stadium since May 17, 2014, including six in a row.
Dylan Bundy is 1-6 with a 8.46 ERA in his last 10 starts after starting out 6-7…

The Orioles have fallen 4 ½ games behind the Royals in the race for the second pick in next year’s amateur draft.

Isn’t that the race we’re tracking here?

With last night’s walk-off win for the Royals, the Orioles have dropped to 1-7-2 in their last 10 series. They’re 0-83 when trailing after seven innings and have lost 12 of the last 14 games at Kauffman Stadium since May 17, 2014, including six in a row.

Dylan Bundy is 1-6 with a 8.46 ERA in his last 10 starts after starting out 6-7 with a 3.75 ERA. His 35 home runs allowed are tied for the team record.

Bundy has allowed a home run in 10 straight starts since July 6, the longest streak by an Oriole since his own 11-game run last year.

Mychal Givens dropped to 0-7 and is the only pitcher in the majors with as many losses without a win.

hess-delivers-orange-sidebar.jpgRookie David Hess is back on the mound today for the Orioles after notching three consecutive quality starts and allowing only six runs over 24 2/3 innings in his last four outings.

The splits on Hess in the majors are pretty close. Right-handers are hitting .260/.335/.466 against him and left-handers are hitting .252/.326/.484. He’s registered a 4.82 ERA and 1.321 WHIP in six home games and a 5.22 ERA and 1.400 WHIP in 10 road games.

The Royals didn’t face Hess at Camden Yards. Brian Goodwin is the only player with an at-bat against Hess and he’s 0-for-1.

The unfamiliarity extends to the other side with the Royals starting rookie right-hander Jorge Lopez.

Lopez made 10 relief appearances with the Brewers before they traded him to the Royals in the Mike Moustakas deal. He’s made three starts with his new team and gone 0-3 with a 7.90 ERA and 1.902 WHIP with 12 runs, 18 hits and eight walks over 13 2/3 innings.

Right-handers are hitting .304/.400/.393 against Lopez this season and left-handers are hitting .239/.353/.380.

None of the Orioles have faced Lopez. Jonathan Villar should be able to assist with the scouting report, since they were teammates in Milwaukee.

The Orioles have faced rookies in all three games of the series, including Rule 5 selection Brad Keller on Friday and Health Fillmyer last night. Do you remember the last time it happened against the Orioles in a three-game series?

The Athletics started rookies Tommy Milone, Jarrod Parker and Dan Straily against the Orioles on Sept. 14-16, 2012, according to STATS. Otherwise, you could go back to Aug. 27-19, 1973 when the Rangers started David Clyde, Charlie Hudson and Don Durham.

The Royals used the same trio against the Indians last week. The last time it happened with a non-Royals team was Aug. 20-22 with the Cardinals’ Austin Gomber, Daniel Poncedeleon and Jack Flaherty against the Dodgers.

Meanwhile, the Orioles will be going back-to-back again with rookie starters. Left-hander Josh Rogers opens the Mariners series on Monday, perhaps his last appearance before the Orioles shut him down.

Will Rogers’ cheering section match the one at Camden Yards during his victorious major league debut?

“Oh man, I got my mom, dad, sister, brother, girlfriend, grandma, grandpa,” he said after completing five innings in a 12-5 win over the Blue Jays. “I got two pitching coaches, my high school pitching coach and my college pitching coach. I got friends from Atlanta. I got friends from Southern Indiana drove here. Probably had 30 people here tonight at least.

“I can’t thank those people enough, and I got people back home. A couple of sports bars had extra service people tonight to watch the game. I think they bought the MLB package to watch it tonight. All those people and the support from my hometown has been incredible. I can’t wait to look at my phone to see what my friends had to say about tonight.”

I checked with Rogers the next day and he smiled, shook his head and said his phone was blowing up with messages.

I’m grabbing a flight to Seattle later this afternoon and conducting further tests on how my body adjusts to the three-hour time difference.