BALTIMORE ORIOLES GAME NOTES Oriole Park at Camden Yards 333 West Camden Street Baltimore, MD 21201 Wednesday, August 20, 2014 Game #125 Road Game #65 Baltimore Orioles (72-52) vs. Chicago White Sox (59-67) LH Wei-Yin Chen (12-4, 3.76) vs. RH Hector Noesi (7-8, 4.84) TODAY’S GAME: The Orioles and White Sox meet in the finale of their three-game set and the sixth game of a ODDS & ENDS nine-game, 10-day trip that started with the O’s dropping two of three in Cleveland, and will also take the Birds to Home 34-26 the North Side for three with the Cubs this weekend…The Orioles clinched a series victory last night and are now Away 38-26 3-2 on the trip…The O’s have not had a losing road trip in 2014…Since June 30, the Birds have posted the best Day 18-22 record in baseball (30-13, .698) and lead the AL East by 8.5 games over New York and 9.0 games over Toronto. Night 54-30 vs. LHP 21-15 VS. CHICAGO: The Orioles have clinched a season series victory and currently lead, 4-1 (2-1 in Baltimore and vs. RHP 51-37 2-0 in Chicago)…The O’s won the season series in 2013, 4-3 (3-1 in Baltimore and 1-2 in Chicago)…The Orioles Series Record 24-11-7 lead the all-time series 388-368, going 209-169 in Baltimore and 179-199 in the Windy City…The O’s have not First game of series 26-16 dropped a season series to the Sox since 2008 (4-5), going 27-17 vs. the South Siders since the beginning of 2009. Last game of a series 24-17 Last 10 games 7-3 HIGH-WATER MARK: The Orioles are a season-high 20 games over .500, the earliest in the season they have been +20 since May 30, 1997, when the eventual AL East champions ran out to a 35-15 start…The O’s have been Current W/L streak W3 20 games over .500 by August 19 in 12 different seasons, winning at least 91 games each of the previous 11 Longest W streak 5 (5/6-10) times…The Orioles won 97 or more games in 10 of the 11 previous seasons they have been +20 by August 19. Longest L streak 4 (last 5/27-30) Most games + .500 20 (72-52) SEPARATION: The Orioles extended their AL East lead to 8.5 games last night, the earliest in the season they Most games - .500 3 (last 2-5) have been at least 8.5 games up since the 1997 club did it by May 30 (35-15)…The Birds have been 8.5 games up Extra innings 12-5 by August 19 just five previous times in club history (5/30/97, 8/12/71, 8/2/70, 6/21/69, and 7/8/66). Shutouts 9-9 One-run games 24-18 SWEEP CHANCE: With a win tonight, the Orioles would complete their first sweep of the White Sox in Two-run games 14-9 Chicago since taking all four games, July 6-9, 1995…This season, the O’s have completed two sweeps in series of three games or more (three games at Tampa Bay, May 6-8 and four games vs. Texas, June 30-July 3)…The Lead after 7 innings 54-7 Birds are 2-5 in seven opportunities to sweep three-or-more game series in 2014 (1-2 at home, 1-3 on the road). Tied after 7 innings 13-4 Trail after 7 innings 4-41 PITCH PERFECT: The Orioles current 3.61 team ERA would be their lowest in a full season since 1979, when Lead after 8 innings 59-4 Tied after 8 innings 10-6 the AL champions posted a 3.26 mark…The lowest single-season team ERA in club history is 2.53, done in 1972. Trail after 8 innings 2-42 WOW: The Orioles have allowed three or fewer hits in three consecutive games for the fourth time in club Orioles score first 48-10 history…It was last done July 17-19, 1992 at Texas, when the O’s set the club road record…The overall club Opponent scores first 24-42 record is four straight games, set September 2-6, 1974…In the three previous streaks, O’s starters turned in a Score four or more runs 55-13 complete game in all 10 games, whereas this streak has not seen a starter go the distance. Score fewer than four runs 17-39 ROAD WARRIORS: The Orioles currently own their best single-season road winning percentage since 1997, Orioles homer 61-25 nd Outhit opponents 52-9 when they set a club record by going 52-29 (.642)…The O’s 38 road wins lead the AL and rank 2 in MLB Equal hit total 7-6 (LAD, 40)…In their last 16 road games since July 21, the Orioles are 11-5 and the pitching staff owns a 2.33 ERA Outhit by opponents 13-37 (143.0IP, 37ER) with 45 walks and 126 strikeouts (2.77 for starters; 100.2IP, 31ER and 1.28 for relievers; 42.1IP, Most hits in a game 20 (4/8) 6ER)…Since May 31, the Orioles have the best road record in baseball (23-11; .676). Fewest hits in a game 1 (8/6) THE BOMB SQUAD: The Orioles lead the majors with 158 home runs (Colorado is 2nd with 143) and are on No errors 50-26 pace to hit 206 HR…The Birds have seven 200+ home run seasons in club history (2013, 2012, 1999, 1998, With one error 20-20 1996, 1987 and 1985), but have never done it in three straight years…The Orioles have gone 37-10 in their With two errors 1-4 With three or more errors 1-2 MLB-leading 47 multi-homer games, and they are 61-25 when hitting at least one homer this season. vs. AL 63-47 DOMINANT: Since June 30, the Orioles are an MLB-best 30-13 (.698), while pitching to the fourth-best ERA in vs. AL East 30-19 MLB (2.89; 392.1IP, 126ER), trailing only Seattle (2.40), Tampa Bay (2.65), and San Diego (2.80)…In that time, vs. AL Central 12-16 O’s starters have allowed three earned runs or fewer in 36 of 43 outings and posted 26 Quality Starts. vs. AL West 21-12 vs. NL 9-5 AVOIDING LOSING STREAKS: The Orioles have gone 71 straight games (since May 31) without losing three in a row, the longest stretch without a three-game losing streak in baseball this season. (STATS) Largest home crowd *46,685 (3/31) Largest road crowd *48,142 (4/07) HOT AUGUST: Nick Markakis had his 10-game hit streak snapped in last night’s game…He was 17-for-41 CURRENT ROAD TRIP (.415/.489/.561) with three doubles, a home run, eight runs scored, six walks and three RBI during the streak…In Record 3-2 the month of August, Markakis is batting .391/.468/.580, hitting safely in 15 of 17 games played. nd Team Average .239 (44-184) CRUZIN’: Nelson Cruz launched his 32 home run of the season on Monday and is now one homer shy of his Runs per Game 3.6 (18R/5G) career-high (33 in 2009)…Cruz hit his 30th HR on August 9, becoming the 19th different Oriole with a 30-home th th Fielding Errors 3 run season (the 34 total 30-homer season in club history)…Cruz also became the 18 different Oriole with a 30- homer, 20-double season…Eddie Murray holds the club record with five seasons of 30+ HR and 20+ doubles. Team ERA 2.40 (45.0IP, 12ER) DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT: Caleb Joseph has thrown out 17-of-40 potential base stealers (42.5%) this Starters W-L 3-1 nd Starters ERA 3.06 (32.1IP, 11ER) season…Among catchers with at least 10 steal attempts against, Joseph’s caught stealing percentage ranks 2 in the majors, behind Yadier Molina of St. Louis (16-of-34, 47.1%). Bullpen W-L-S 0-1-1 Bullpen ERA 0.71 (12.2IP, 1ER) SHORTEN THE GAME: Since being acquired on July 31, LH Andrew Miller has posted a 1.23 ERA (7.1IP, Saves/Opps 1/1 ER, 2H, 3BB, 11K) in eight games for the Orioles…Among AL relievers, the O’s own three of the top-15 nd th th Best homestand 4-1 (8/8-13) individual ERAs in 2014: RH Darren O’Day (2 – 0.96), LH Zach Britton (11 – 2.08) and Miller (15 – 2.17). Worst homestand 2-4 (5/9-14) Best road trip 3-1 (last 8/4-7) CENTRAL ISSUES: The Orioles have gone just 12-16 (.429) against the AL Central this season…In their other Worst road trip 3-3 (4/4-9) 96 games, the O’s have gone 60-36 (.625), playing at a 101-win pace…The O’s have a losing record against more teams in the Central (CLE, KC, DET and MIN) than they do against the rest of baseball (OAK and MIL). BEASTS OF THE EAST: The Orioles have gone 30-19 (.612) against American League East opponents, posting the best in-division winning percentage in the American League (2nd-best in the majors): OVERALL VS.