Orioles Stat of the Day: May 2021

MLB.com is keeping track of a Stat of the Day for the Orioles this season, highlighting a unique, interesting or fun nugget from each game.

Orioles Stat of the Day, April 2021

May 31: Twins 3, Orioles 2 -- Losing streak reaches 14
Baltimore extended its losing streak to 14 games with Monday's 3-2 defeat to Minnesota, matching the second-longest losing streak in team history. The Orioles also lost 14 straight in their inaugural season in 1954 and 21 straight to open the 1988 season. They've now also lost 16 consecutive games to the Twins dating back to March 31, 2018, the third-longest streak against any club in team history.

May 30: White Sox 3, Orioles 1 -- Skid reaching historic length
The Orioles extended their losing streak to 13 games by dropping Sunday's series finale in Chicago, matching the longest in the Majors this season and third-longest in club history. The Orioles have endured only two longer losing streaks since moving to Baltimore in 1954 -- their 21-game streak to open the 1988 season, and a 14-game skid in 1954. The O's also had a 13-game streak in September 2009.

May 29: White Sox 7, Orioles 4 (G1); White Sox 3, Orioles 1 (G2) -- Nevin celebrates birthday with debut, first hit
Promoted on Friday to provide coverage with a couple infielders sidelined with injury, Orioles No. 22 prospect Tyler Nevin made his big league debut on Saturday. Doubling and walking in three plate appearances in Game 1, Nevin became the first Orioles player to debut on his birthday and only the 15th non-pitcher to do so since 1901.

May 27: White Sox 5, Orioles 1 -- Santander's hot streak
Anthony Santander, who went 2-for-4, extended his hitting streak to nine games with a leadoff single in the sixth inning of the series opener at Guaranteed Rate Field. He is hitting .400 (14-for-35) with one home run, three RBIs and three runs scored during that span.

May 26: Twins 3, Orioles 2 -- Mancini nearing May history
By homering off Michael Pineda in the first inning and doubling and scoring in the ninth, Trey Mancini was involved in all of the Orioles' offense. His homer allowed him to retake the MLB lead in RBIs with 42. He has driven in 25 runs in May -- the most by an Oriole in a single month since Nelson Cruz had 27 in May 2014.

May 25: Twins 7, Orioles 4 -- No luck in Twin Cities
The Orioles dropped their eighth straight game with Tuesday's loss to the Twins, which also marked their 14th consecutive loss to Minnesota dating back to 2018. It is their longest-ever losing streak vs. Minnesota and fourth longest vs. any opponent.

May 24: Twins 8, Orioles 3 -- Four not the magic number
No pitcher is immune to the O's current bullpen woes -- not even closing sensation Cesar Valdez. Allowing three runs in a six-run eighth-inning bullpen implosion against the Twins at Target Field, Valdez surrendered more runs than in any single appearance since he joined the Orioles in August 2020. He's now yielded six runs in his last five appearances, watching his ERA balloon from 1.23 to 3.93 in that stretch.

May 23: Nationals 6, Orioles 5 -- Four not the magic number
Matt Harvey recorded his fourth consecutive loss of the season, allowing six runs (five earned) in Sunday's 6-5 loss in Washington. This marks the most consecutive losing appearances of his career. He is the first Orioles pitcher since John Means in 2019 to lose four straight appearances.

May 22: Nationals 12, Orioles 9 -- A grand day at the dish
A bit lost by the end of Baltimore's 12-9 loss to the Nationals on Saturday was the first-inning grand slam they got from Ryan Mountcastle, the first of his career. It was also the Orioles' first slam in nearly 21 months, since Pedro Severino on Aug. 24, 2019. Registering at a 113 mph exit velocity via Statcast, it was also the hardest-hit ball of Mountcastle's career by a wide margin.

May 21: Nationals 4, Orioles 2 -- Lopez's fifth-inning struggles
What is it with the fifth inning and Jorge López? The Orioles hoped López got over the hump when he pitched into the sixth inning two starts ago, but his fifth inning struggles returned in Friday's 4-2 loss to the Nationals. Both runs López allowed came in the fifth, ballooning his ERA in that inning to 27.00 this season. His ERA is 2.60 in all other frames.

May 20: Rays 10, Orioles 1 -- Wilkerson returns to bump
Popular utility man Stevie Wilkerson made his return to the mound to mopping up the ninth in his first pitching appearance since 2019. Wilkerson pitched four times that season, famously earning the nickname "Dr. Poo Poo" for the mid-50 mph lobs he threw while recording the first save by a position player in MLB history. Wilkerson is throwing even softer these days. One of his pitches Thursday registered by Statcast as 45 mph -- and Rays shortstop Joey Wendle swung through it. Wendle homered on the next pitch, but the history remained. Wilkerson's 45 mph pitch was the slowest swinging strike ever recorded by Statcast. He's also responsible for the three slowest pitches ever tracked by Statcast.

May 19: Rays, 9 Orioles, 7 -- Means joins another elite group
Despite watching his 19-inning scoreless inning streak snap and settling for a no-decision Wednesday, Means still joined Jim Palmer (1975) and Jeremy Guthrie (2007) as the only pitchers in Orioles history to register a sub-2.00 ERA and a sub-1.00 WHIP over their first nine starts of a season. The lefty’s 1.70 ERA leads all qualified AL starters. His WHIP is 0.75. And this is after being charged with four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings in Wednesday's loss.

May 18: Rays 13, Orioles 6 -- Schedule doing O's no favors
The Orioles dropped to seven games below .500 (17-24), but it's worth noting the quality of opponent they've played over the season's first 41 games. The O's have played 27 games vs. the Athletics (3-3), the Red Sox (4-6), the Yankees (4-6) and now the Rays (0-1), all teams well over .500. All told, Baltimore has played the toughest schedule in MLB by opponents' winning percentage.

May 16: Orioles 10, Yankees 6 -- Career-high for Mountcastle
The O's avoided a three-game sweep in large part due to Ryan Mountcastle, who doubled home a run in the first, sacrificed another in the third and drove in two with an eighth-inning single. The four RBIs were a career high for Mountcastle, who continues to heat up after a slow start. His batting average has increased by 20 points this month, and he has driven in 9 runs in 14 May games.

May 15: Yankees 8, Orioles 2 -- How to contain Aaron Judge?
So far in his career, the Orioles don't have an answer to that question. Judge continued to crush Orioles pitching Saturday night, his two-run second-inning homer contributing to Jorge López's shortest start of the season. It was the sixth homer already for Judge against the Orioles in 2021; he is now 15-for-30 (.500) with eight homers and 16 RBIs in his last nine games against Baltimore dating back to 2020.

May 14: Yankees 5, Orioles 4 -- Homer sets bests for Hays
The more Austin Hays plays, the more he keeps exceeding his personal bests. Hays opened the Orioles' scoring on Friday with a solo home run off Corey Kluber. It was his fifth homer of the season, setting a career high. The home run traveled 419 feet and had an exit velocity of 110.3 mph, making it the farthest and hardest hit ball (of any kind) of his career. Hays appears to be getting comfortable in the No. 2 hole in the lineup; hitting between Cedric Mullins and Trey Mancini, he's scored a run in 10 of the past 13 games.

May 12: Mets 7, Orioles 1 -- Hays' odd luck
Austin Hays' first three batted balls on Wednesday had an average exit velocity of 100.1 mph and traveled a total of 1,093 feet, per Statcast. His reward for all that hard contact? Three outs, including two on stellar defensive plays by Mets outfielders. In his fourth at-bat, he hit a dunker past the mound. Exit velocity: 38.2 mph. Distance: 90 feet. Result? Single.

May 11: Mets 3, Orioles 2 -- Following up the no-no
How do you follow up a no-hitter? No pitcher has the way John Means did in some time. Blanking the Mets for six innings at Citi Field, Means became the first pitcher to follow up a no-hitter with a scoreless outing since Edinson Volquez in 2017, despite getting a no-decision. Means was excellent, holding the Mets to six hits and no walks, needing just 74 pitches to do so.

May 10: Orioles 4, Red Sox 1 -- Jorge López fills up the zone
The key to López's finest start of the season? Command. Pitching into the sixth for the first time, López fired 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball, striking out five without allowing a walk. That last part is most pertinent. It was the first outing in which López did not issue a free pass in his last 13 starts, stretching back to Sept. 29, 2019, against the Twins. It was the sixth start without a walk of López's career (40 total starts).

May 9: Red Sox 4, Orioles 3 -- Mullins keeps raking
Cedric Mullins' solo home run in the fifth inning was his career-best sixth of the season. Through 134 at-bats, Mullins is one home run shy of matching his total in 374 career at-bats entering 2021.

May 8: Red Sox 11, Orioles 6 -- Galvis extends streak
Freddy Galvis homered to extend his hitting streak to nine games. Over that span, he had five extra-base hits, five RBIs and a .357 average. Galvis is hitting .286 this season with 26 hits, 13 runs and 10 RBIs.

May 7: Red Sox 6, Orioles 2 -- Harvey taken deep by surprising foe
Allowing four unearned runs in the fourth after an error of his own, Matt Harvey suffered his first loss in his past six outings. He was done in mostly by Bobby Dalbec's three-run homer. Dalbec was an unlikely nemesis -- the rookie entered play 0-for-his-last-27 before singling off Harvey in his first at-bat. Dalbec then pulled a hanging Harvey slider over the left-field wall in his second, sending the O's toward their 11th home loss in 15 games.

May 5: Orioles 6, Mariners 0 -- Best O's performance ever?
Coming one dropped third strike away from perfection, John Means fired the Orioles' 10th no-hitter and first solo no-no since Jim Palmer on Aug. 13, 1969. In the process, he also enjoyed arguably the best single-game pitching performance in franchise history. Means had a Game Score of 99, the highest by any Orioles pitcher in a nine-inning game. That record had previously belonged to Erik Bedard (July 7, 2007) and Mike Mussina (Aug. 1, 2000), who each had a performance with a Game Score of 98.

May 4: Mariners 5, Orioles 2 -- López searching for answers
While the lack of situational hitting was at the heart of the Orioles' loss, another trend continued involving starter Jorge López, who lasted 4 2/3 innings and got a no-decision. López hit a wall in the fifth, not finishing the inning for the fifth time in six starts this season. Opposing batters are hitting .533 against López in the fifth inning this season, and just .193 against him prior.

May 3: Orioles 5, Mariners 3 -- Kremer lets 'em fly
Twirling six-innings of one-run ball, Dean Kremer enjoyed his best start of the season despite getting a no-decision vs. the Mariners. To do so, Kremer took advantage of T-Mobile Park's spacious layout: 13 of the 18 outs he recorded came on fly balls. That's the most by an Orioles pitcher in a single start since John Means (14) on Aug. 30, 2019, against the Royals. Only one fly ball hurt Kremer -- Tom Murphy’s opposite-field home run in the fifth.

May 2: A's 7, Orioles 5 -- Hays slays the A's
Rhyme scheme can be a beautiful thing. Austin Hays continued a recent surge after excelling at the plate in Sunday's loss in Oakland, extending his season-long raking against A's pitching. Hays' solo homer in the fourth highlighted his two-hit day, and marked his fourth homer of the season. All four have come against Oakland; Hays is hitting .333 (8-for-25) with eight runs, four home runs and seven RBI in six games against the A's.

May 1: Orioles 8, A's 4 -- Road warriors
With a victory over Oakland, the Orioles reached a season-high-tying three-game winning streak, having won five of their last seven games. They are now 9-4 on the road compared to 4-10 at home.