O's game blog: O's face Mariners in series opener

By Steve Melewski

Orioles

August 14, 2017, 12:46pm

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After losing two of three in Anaheim and splitting a four-game series in Oakland, the Orioles have arrived at the final stop of this road trip. They begin a three-game series tonight at Safeco Field against the Seattle Mariners.

The Orioles (58-60) are 3-4 on this trip and continue to chase the .500 mark. They would need to sweep this series to return home on Friday with a record of better than .500.

Seattle (59-60) just got swept four straight at home by the Angels. They lost by scores of 6-3, 6-5, 6-3 and 4-2. In Sunday's loss, former Orioles right-hander Parker Bridwell held Seattle to one run over six innings as he improved to 7-1 with an ERA of 2.88.

The Mariners had won eight of 11 before that series. Seattle is 32-31 at home, 16-13 in the second half and 8-12 versus American League East clubs

This series features the two top RBI leaders in the AL. Seattle's Nelson Cruz is first in the league in with 94 and the Orioles' Jonathan Schoop is next with 85.

A former Oriole, Cruz is swinging a hot bat as this series begins. He is hitting .392 (20-for-51) over his last 13 games with eight homers and 18 RBIs. Cruz has 14 RBIs in his past eight games.

On the mound tonight for the Orioles is right-hander Kevin Gausman (8-8, 5.21 ERA). On Wednesday at Anaheim, he gave up eight hits and four runs over 5 1/3 innings to take the loss versus the Angels.

Going into that game, Gausman had been 3-0 with an ERA of 0.63 in his previous four starts. He was 5-0 with an ERA of 2.87 over his previous eight starts and had allowed one run or less in six of those games.

Former Orioles right-hander Yovani Gallardo (5-7, 5.38 ERA) tonight makes his 23rd appearance and his 19th as a starter for Seattle. Through June, Gallardo was 3-7 with an ERA of 6.06. But he is 2-0 with a 3.49 ERA since July 1.

Lefty batters hit .249 against Gallardo and right-handed batters hit .287. He yields an average of .264 when pitching with runners in scoring position. Gallardo has a first-inning ERA of 9.50.