KANSAS CITY – After the top of the third today, the Orioles were enjoying an 8-1 lead against the Kansas City Royals and former teammate Jordan Lyles. Maybe this would be their rare laughter - a blowout with no late game or even mid-game drama.

Nope.

By the end of the Kansas City fourth, the Royals were hitting rookie right-hander Grayson Rodriguez hard and their 8-1 deficit was now just 8-6. There was nothing to laugh about now. Would the O’s even hold on and get another series win before heading to Atlanta?

Nope, also.

Or so we thought.

KANSAS CITY – The Orioles had won three in a row, five of six, 12 of 14 and 16 of their past 20 games until they were shutout for the first time this year, 6-0 last night at Kansas City. 

So Baltimore (20-10) play the series finale at Kauffman Stadium this afternoon and it is their fifth rubber game of the year. They lost their first two – at Boston and home vs. the New York Yankees. But have won the last two at the Chicago White Sox and home against Boston.

The Orioles are 11-6 on the road and 4-2 on this 10-game trip. They are 7-2 in their past nine road games and are 4-1 in road series.

Right-hander Grayson Rodriguez (1-0, 4.07 ERA) gets the ball this afternoon and he takes a 14-innings scoreless streak into this start. The streak started in the second inning April 16 at Chicago versus the White Sox. It continued in five-inning outings twice against Detroit, once at home and once on the road. His last outing was Game 2 of the doubleheader Saturday at Detroit, when he pitched five scoreless with nine strikeouts and 91 pitches.

In those past two outings, he has allowed seven hits in 10 innings with four walks and 15 strikeouts, allowing a .194 batting average and .525 OPS. He is 1-0 with a 2.40 ERA in three starts vs. teams from the AL Central.

KANSAS CITY – If a formula for producing one of the best records in baseball so far has been to hold your own against the best teams and clean up on losing records clubs, the Orioles are doing a pretty solid job in following the script.

They may have gone off script for a night, being shutout 6-0 by Kansas City last night, as the Royals (8-23) ended a 10-game home losing streak that fell a game short of the franchise record.

But the Orioles have played four series to date against teams with current winning records and they are 6-6 in the 12 games against Boston, the New York Yankees and Texas, going 2-2 in series.

But they are 14-4 through Tuesday’s games against clubs with current losing records, going 5-0 in series. That is a .778 win percentage and that will help a team get into the playoffs. So will a 20-10 record and a .667 overall win percentage that, if maintained through the full year, amounts to 108 wins.

But as noted previously here, the May schedule is about to get more challenging for the team, with series looming against Atlanta, Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, Toronto and New York.