O's game blog: Orioles look for sweep against Seattle

Last season the Orioles went 1-6 against Seattle. This season they are 3-2 and can complete a three-game sweep of the Mariners today. The Orioles have not swept Seattle three in a row at home since Aug. 6-8, 2012.

The Orioles have won six in a row overall to move to 67-65, are 40-26 at home and two games over .500 for the first time since June 10. A win today would produce a season-high seven straight victories.

With 7-6 and 4-0 wins the last two nights the Orioles have now won three straight series for the first time since they took four in a row from April 13-26.

Dylan Bundy's one-hitter last night with 12 strikeouts was the Orioles' first complete-game shutout since Miguel Gonzalez against Cincinnati on Sept. 3, 2014. The last O's one-hitter was a combined effort by Chris Tillman and Zach Britton at Detroit on July 18, 2015. Bundy's effort was the 40th one-hitter in team history and 33rd by one pitcher. Bundy is 13-8 with an ERA of 3.94 for the season and 4-0 with an ERA of 2.00 in five August starts. The Orioles are 7-0 in Bundy starts since the All-Star game.

On the mound today, right-hander Ubaldo Jiménez (5-9, 6.57 ERA) makes his 27th appearance and 22nd start. Over his past two games, Jiménez has allowed 17 hits and 11 runs in 9 1/3 innings. Two starts ago he pitched at Seattle and gave up six runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Lefty batters have hit .298 with a slugging percentage of .621 and an OPS of .995 versus Jimenez. The Orioles are 10-11 in his starts and he has six quality starts for the season.

Left-hander Ariel Miranda (8-6, 4.62 ERA) will make his team-leading 27th start for Seattle. Miranda was originally signed as an international free agent by the Orioles on May 27, 2015. He was traded to Seattle for Wade Miley on July 31, 2016. Miranda was 4-7 with a 3.93 ERA last year for Triple-A Norfolk at the time of the trade.

In five August starts, Miranda is 1-2 with a 6.12 ERA and has allowed seven homers in 25 innings. He has a first inning ERA of 9.35.

The Orioles hit four homers last night, two by Manny Machado for his 13th career multi-home run game. The Birds have hit four homers or more three times in the last eight games, five times in 14 and seven times in the past 22 games.

Seattle (66-67) was shutout for the 11th time last night. Today they end a 12-game road trip and they are 5-6. Seattle is 13-18 versus AL East clubs.

Álvarez gets IL honor: Norfolk's Pedro Álvarez has been named the designated hitter on the league's postseason All-Star Team.

Álvarez has hit .241 with 26 home runs, 30 doubles and 89 RBIs in 135 games for the Tides this season. He ranks among International League leaders in a variety of categories, including total bases (1^st, 239), extra-base hits (T-1^st, 57), RBIs (2^nd, 89), home runs (T-4^th, 26) and doubles (T-4^th, 30).

The 26 home runs and 89 runs batted in for Álvarez are the most by a Tides player since Norfolk became an Orioles affiliate in 2007. Álvarez is the sixth Tide to be named an IL postseason All-Star since the Tides became an Orioles affiliate, joining Dariel Álvarez (OF, 2015), Oliver Drake (P, 2015), Jairo Asencio (P, 2013), Oscar Salazar (1B, 2008) and Cory Doyne (P, 2007).