Checking a few lists as the season finale arrives

When Jonathan Villar stole his 40th base in the sixth inning Saturday afternoon he joined a short list of Orioles who have recorded that many steals in one year. When Trey Mancini homered to right in the ninth in the win at Boston, he hit number 35 and joined a longer, but still pretty exclusive list of Orioles.

Villar has sure filled up the stat sheet, batting .274/.339/.455 with 33 doubles, five triples, 24 homers and 111 runs scored. But with his 40th stolen base, Villar joins a list of six Orioles who have produced a combined nine seasons of 40 or more steals in team history.

57 - Luis Aparicio, 1964
53 - Brady Anderson, 1992
50 - Brian Roberts, 2007
45 - Corey Patterson, 2006
44 - Al Bumbry, 1980
42 - Al Bumbry, 1976
40 - Brian Roberts, 2008, Luis Aparicio, 1963, and Jonathan Villar, 2019

Villar is expected in the lineup today, which would make him the first Orioles player to appear in every game in a season since Jonathan Schoop in 2016.

Mancini began play Saturday as the only player in the American League (and one of two in the majors, the other being Washington's Anthony Rendon) with 34 or more home runs and 38 or more doubles. By hitting homer No. 35 in the ninth, he joined another list. This group of Orioles have recorded 35 or more homers and doubles in the same year - Rafael Palmeiro in 1996 and 1998, Brady Anderson in 1996, Albert Belle in 1999, Chris Davis in 2013 and Manny Machado in 2016.

There have also been 18 instances where an Oriole produced 35 or more homers and 90 or more RBIs, and Mancini joined that list Saturday.

* Rafael Palmeiro four times (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998)
* Boog Powell three times (1964, 1969, 1970)
* Chris Davis two times (2013, 2015)
* Jim Gentile (1961)
* Frank Robinson (1966)
* Ken Singleton (1979)
* Brady Anderson (1996)
* Albert Belle (1999)
* Nelson Cruz (2014)
* Mark Trumbo (2016)
* Manny Machado (2016)
* Trey Mancini (2019)

These stats courtesy of baseball-reference.com.

The Orioles beat Boston 4-1 Friday and 9-4 yesterday, and go for a three-game sweep this afternoon. This year the Orioles have been swept 13 times but they have zero sweeps to call their own. On the final day, they can get one.

The Orioles have had five chances to complete a sweep this year:

* April 3 - won first two, lost final game at Toronto.
* June 30 - after back-to-back 13-0 wins over Cleveland, lost series finale.
* July 7 - won first two, then lost third game at Toronto.
* July 28 - won first three, lost fourth game of series in Anaheim.
* Aug. 28 - won series opener, but lost second game of two-game series at Washington.

By winning the first two games this weekend, the Orioles have just their fifth road series win of 2019. They won series to start the year at Yankee Stadium (March 28-31) and Rogers Centre in Toronto (April 1-3). They also won a series July 5-7 at Toronto, and one at Anaheim that took place July 25-28.

The Orioles hit four homers yesterday, and that is the seventh time they have hit four or more in a game in 2019. They hit a season-high five on June 4 at Texas, and matched that on Sept. 23 at Toronto. They hit four April 23 versus the Chicago White Sox, May 12 against the Los Angeles Angels, June 29 against Cleveland, Aug. 21 versus Kansas City and yesterday.

So the Orioles go for win No. 55 and a three-game sweep today. Chandler Shepherd (0-0, 7.71 ERA) will pitch for Baltimore, and the Orioles will try to deny Boston lefty Eduardo Rodriguez (19-6, 3.80), a former O's farmhand, his 20th win.