As the rotation turns for the Orioles, it took a turn for the better beginning with the second inning Sunday at Chicago. Grayson Rodriguez allowed a pair of homers in the first and the Orioles were down 4-0 to the White Sox.
But they would rally to win that game and two teams have not scored off Baltimore starters, or any Baltimore pitcher, since. Starting with the second inning Sunday, the Orioles staff has thrown 26 consecutive scoreless innings. The starters since that point have thrown 16 2/3 consecutive scoreless.
The back-to-back shutouts at Nats Park reduced their team ERA to 4.68, which is ninth now in the American League and still not as good the league average of 4.32. But trending up.
The Orioles doubled their total of quality starts from two to four in the series in Washington. They are 4-0 in those games. But they rank 22nd in the majors with four QS. Boston, Detroit and St. Louis are at the bottom of the bigs with just two. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Pittsburgh have 11 and Cleveland is next with 10.
But the O’s hope their young starters are turning a corner and starting to lock in as they did late last year. Right now the rotation features Rodriguez, 23, Kyle Bradish, 26, Dean Kremer, 27, and Tyler Wells, 28.