BALTIMORE ORIOLES GAME NOTES Oriole Park at Camden Yards 333 West Camden Street Baltimore, MD 21201
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BALTIMORE ORIOLES GAME NOTES Oriole Park at Camden Yards 333 West Camden Street Baltimore, MD 21201 Monday, July 7, 2014 Game #89 Road Game #45 Baltimore Orioles (48-40) vs. Washington Nationals (48-39) RH Chris Tillman (7-4, 4.21) vs. RH Stephen Strasburg (7-6, 3.53) TONIGHT’S GAME: The Orioles and Nationals meet in the opener of their four-game, two-city matchup…The ODDS & ENDS Birds and Nationals will meet at Nationals Park again Tuesday before heading north for a pair of games at Oriole Home 23-21 Park Wednesday and Thursday…The Orioles began their road trip by taking two of three in Boston, including a 12- Away 25-19 inning win in the series finale yesterday. Day 14-18 Night 34-22 VS. WASHINGTON: In 2013, the Orioles won the season series, 3-1, with the Birds going 2-0 in Baltimore and vs. LHP 12-13 1-1 in Washington, D.C…The Orioles lead the all-time series against the Nationals, 26-20, going 15-8 in Baltimore vs. RHP 36-27 and 11-12 in Washington (3-3 at RFK Stadium and 8-9 at Nationals Park) since the franchise was relocated from Montreal in 2005…Baltimore went 6-9 against the Expos from 1997-2001 (6-3 in Baltimore and 0-6 in Montreal). Series Record 13-9-6 First game of series 15-13 HIGH WATER MARK: The Orioles are a season-high eight games over .500 (48-40)…The last time they were Last game of a series 15-13 Last 10 games 7-3 eight games over was the end of the 2013 season, when they finished 85-77…The last time the Birds were nine games over .500 was September 20, 2013, when they were 81-72. Win/Loss streak W2 Longest win streak 5 (5/6-10) A RARE STREAK: With his victory in Boston Sunday, Brad Brach became the first MLB reliever this season to Longest losing streak 4 (last 5/27-30) earn a win in three consecutive outings (July 2-6)…Since 1991, only Mitch Williams has won more consecutive Most games over .500 8 (48-40) outings as a reliever, picking up the win in five straight appearances from August 2-9, 1991…Brach becomes the Most games under .500 3 (last 2-5) st 81 reliever since 1991 to win three or more straight appearances…The feat was accomplished three times in 2013 Extra innings 7-3 (Brandon League, July 23-28; Tommy Hunter, May 4-10; Bobby Parnell, May 3-9). Shutouts 7-6 One-run games 15-13 INTERLEAGUE PLAY: The Orioles are 4-3 in Interleague Play in 2014…The Birds have a 141-169 record in Two-run games 10-9 Interleague Play since its inception in 1997…The Birds went 11-9 against the National League in 2013, tying the club record for single season wins in Interleague Play (Baltimore went 11-7 in 2012, ’09, ’08, and 1999)…The Lead after 7 innings 37-5 Orioles have finished over .500 vs. the NL four times in the last six seasons (‘08, ’09, ’12 and ’13 as referenced Tied after 7 innings 8-3 above), going 62-55 from 2008-14…Baltimore had a winning record against the Senior Circuit only twice in the Trail after 7 innings 3-32 Lead after 8 innings 41-3 first 11 years of Interleague Play (8-7 in ‘97 and 11-7 in ’99), going 79-114 (.409) from 1997-2007. Tied after 8 innings 5-4 Trail after 8 innings 2-33 HE HAS A BAD NATITUDE: Adam Jones has the seventh-best batting average (.358, 49-137) all-time against the Nationals/Expos franchise with 135 or more at-bats, behind Sean Casey (.398), Greg Colbrunn (.373), Todd Orioles score first 33-9 Helton (.370), Fernando Vina (.365), Dane Iorg (.361), and Miguel Cabrera (.360). Opponent scores first 15-31 Score four or more runs 38-12 OFFENSIVE AGAINST THE NL: Nick Markakis leads all active players (and ranks 4th all-time) with a Score fewer than four runs 10-28 career .339 average (188-554) in Interleague Play…In 2013, Chris Davis batted .427/.506/.920 with nine home Orioles homer 40-21 runs and 18 RBI in 20 Interleague games, leading the majors with a 1.426 OPS, the second-highest single season Outhit opponents 35-8 OPS in Interleague Play history (Albert Pujols, 1.680 in 15 games in 2009)…The nine homers by Davis were tied Equal hit total 6-4 for second-most in a single season in Interleague history (Paul Konerko, 10 in 2002). Outhit by opponents 7-28 Most hits in a game 20 (4/8) BROKEN BATS: Orioles pitchers are 0-for-8 this year at the plate with five strikeouts and three sacrifice bunts Fewest hits in a game 2 (6/10) (one each by Bud Norris, Chris Tillman and Brad Brach)…Bud Norris recorded both hits by Orioles pitchers in 2013…Orioles pitchers are 3-for-46 (.065) over the last three years as they are 0-for-8 this year and were 2-for-22 No errors 32-19 in 2013 and 1-for-16 in 2012…In 2011, current Orioles closer Zach Britton went 5-for-8 (.625) with a double, a With one error 16-16 homer and two RBI in Interleague Play. With two errors 0-3 With three or more errors 0-2 CAREER NIGHT: Nelson Cruz collected a career-high five hits Saturday night at Boston…It was the first five- vs. AL 44-37 hit game by an Oriole since J.J. Hardy did it in a 17-inning game, May 6, 2012 at Boston…The last Oriole before vs. AL East 24-17 Cruz to collect five hits in a 9-inning game was Nick Markakis, July 3, 2011 at Atlanta…Cruz was thrown out vs. AL Central 9-14 trying to stretch a double into a triple in the eighth inning, which would have given him the O’s first cycle since vs. AL West 11-6 Felix Pie, August 14, 2009 vs. the Angels…According to ESPN Stats and Info, Cruz joined Hall of Famers vs. NL 4-3 Jimmie Foxx (May 1, 1929) and Ty Cobb (July 17, 1922) as the only visiting players to collect five hits, a home Largest home crowd *46,685 (3/31) run, and a steal in a game at Fenway Park…The only other Oriole with a five-hit, one homer, one steal game is Largest road crowd *48,142 (4/07) Al Bumbry, May 26, 1979 at Detroit. CURRENT ROAD TRIP BEASTS OF THE EAST: The Orioles have the second-highest in-division winning percentage (24-17, .585 vs. Record 2-1 AL East) in the American League, trailing only Oakland (21-14, .600 vs. AL West). Team Average .298 (37-124) BALTIMORE BOMB SQUAD: The Orioles have hit 107 home runs and trail only Toronto (114) for the major Runs per Game 5.3 (16R/3G) league lead…The Birds are on pace to hit 197 home runs, which would be the eighth-most in club history (the 2013 Fielding Errors 1 Birds hit 212 homers, good for fifth in club history)…From June 21-July 2, the Orioles homered in 12 consecutive games, their longest such streak since they homered in 13 straight games from August 1-16, 2013…The 12-game Team ERA 3.68 (29.1IP, 12ER) homer streak was the second-longest in the majors this year behind Oakland’s 16-game streak from May 23-June 8. Starters W-L 0-0 CRUZ CRUSHING: Nelson Cruz has 27 home runs through 88 games, and is on pace for 50 longballs…Saturday Starters ERA 3.18 (17.0IP, 6ER) night’s homer matched his season total from 2013 (109 games)…His career high is 33, set in 2009 with Bullpen W-L-S 2-1-0 Texas…Cruz’s 27 homers are now the third-most in Orioles history before the All-Star break behind Chris Davis Bullpen ERA 4.38 (12.1IP, 6ER) (37 in 2013), Brady Anderson (30 in 1996). Saves/Opps 2/2 SMALL BALL VS. LONG BALL: Two of the last three Orioles wins (Thursday and Sunday) have come without Best homestand 7-4 (6/23-7/3) the aid of a home run…Their last win prior to those two without a homer was April 26 as the O’s lost 11 straight Worst homestand 2-4 (5/9-14) without a homer…From May 1-July 2, the Orioles had hit at least one home run in all 33 victories. Best road trip 4-2 (5/2-8, 6/16-22) Worst road trip 3-3 (4/4-9) SLUGGING STEVE: Steve Pearce collected a career-high four hits Thursday and hit three home runs in the first two games of the series vs. Texas, homering in consecutive games for the second time this season (also May 8-9)…His 10 homers and 30 RBI are both career- highs…It took Pearce 46 games (150 at-bats) to hit 10 homers this year…He needed 192 games (488 at-bats) to hit his first 10 big league homers. TURN IT: The Birds have turned an MLB-best 103 double plays, seven more than the second-place Giants (96)…The Birds are on pace to turn 190 double plays, which would be the second most in club history as the 1999 Orioles turned 191 double plays (the 1977 Birds turned 188 double plays).