Sunday notes: O's starting pitchers are still rolling

The rotation ERA is 2.38 the last 12 games

O’s fans could get used to starting pitching like this.

On a day they put up big offense, they also got great starting pitching - once again from right-hander Kyle Bradish - and the Orioles beat Toronto 9-5 at Camden Yards.

Less than 24 hours ago it looked the O’s would go down 0-3 in this four-game series. But they wind up splitting the set 2-2.

The Orioles, now 28-32 at the 60-game mark, went 7-3 on this homestand.

It was going to be a vital homestand for the club and they handled it well, going 2-1 against Detroit, 3-0 versus Tampa Bay and 2-2 against the Blue Jays.

After Monday’s off day they play six on the road - three at Boston, three in Toronto.

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FOR STARTERS

Over their past 12 games, the Orioles have gone 7-5 with a starting pitcher ERA of 2.38 with seven quality starts. In this stretch they have allowed two runs or less 10 times and one or less eight times.

Today, Bradish went seven innings on 94 pitches, allowing four hits and one unearned run with three walks and four strikeouts. He is now 3-6 with an ERA of 3.44. Bradish got 11 whiffs today including seven on 10 swings against his slider.

Bradish, who had an ERA of 5.03 on May 2, has been stellar since. He has four quality starts his past five games, pitching to an ERA of 1.72 in that span. In this stretch, Bradish has allowed seven runs (six earned) and 19 hits over 31 1/3 innings.

Surprising stat: The O’s now have a lower rotation ERA at 4.60 than bullpen ERA which is 4.71 after Tyler Wells allowed four runs today. The Baltimore rotation ERA ranks 23rd in MLB while their bullpen ERA is now 24th.

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BATS WERE GOING TOO

After playing three one-run games the past three days, this one was not close for most of the day and the Orioles were fine with that.

A rare (mostly) no-drama day for the ballclub.

After Colton Cowser’s RBI groundout in the second, Baltimore took a 6-0 lead with five runs in the third. Pete Alonso’s single made it 2-0 and Samuel Basallo’s RBI double expanded the lead to 3-0.

Then Cowser mashed a long, three-run homer to right-center to blow it open and make it 6-0. Cowser went 2-for-3 with two runs and four RBIs. For the season he is now batting .227 with a .676 OPS. His OPS in May is now .891.

Over his past 12 games, Cowser is 11-for-28 (.393) with three homers and nine RBIs.

Cowser’s last three homers:

Hit 111.5 mph and went 440 feet
Hit 109.3 mph and went 425 feet
Hit 108 mph and went 424 feet

The O’s offense has scored 77 runs the last 14 games, an average of 5.5 per game. After scoring just six runs in losing the first two games this series, they scored 15 in winning the past two.

On Thursday and Friday, O’s batters went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring positon. On Saturday and Sunday they went 7-for-16 (.438).

The O’s ended a six-game losing streak to the Blue Jays Saturday and now have won two in a row in the series.

Baltimore is now 19-15 at home and 8-12 versus AL East teams.

The O’s went 2-3 in March, 13-13 in April and end May with this win by going 13-16.

Note: The O’s announced before today’s game that lefty pitcher Dietrich Enns cleared outright waivers and accepted an assignment to Triple-A Norfolk. So, as it turns out, both Albert Suarez and Enns were DFA but remain with the organization.

Night off for Birdland Territory: There is not a new Birdland Territory You Tube show coming your way later. We reached our quota for the week earlier shooting this show with former O’s skipper Buck Showalter and this one on the current CBA talks and other O’s notes.

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