The next and final stop on the Braves’ nine-game road trip is Baltimore, where they’ll open a series Friday night at Camden Yards against a team on a 15-game losing streak.
During that dreadful stretch, the Orioles have been outscored 138-42, and their starting pitchers have gone 0-12 with a 9.19 ERA. It’s the second-longest losing streak in the Baltimore franchise’s history, exceeded only by losing the club’s first 21 games of the 1988 season.
So after sweeping the first six games on their current trip against downtrodden teams – three at Washington and three at Miami – the Braves now encounter a team struggling even more than the Nationals and Marlins.
The Orioles are 38-82 overall, already having clinched the franchise’s fifth consecutive losing season. They have the worst record among the 30 MLB teams and the worst run differential, having allowed 227 more runs than they have scored. They are 36 games out of first place in the American League East.
Baltimore’s current losing streak has come against the Yankees (two games), Tigers (three), Red Sox (three) and Rays (seven).
The Orioles also had a 14-game losing streak in May and are the first MLB team since the 1935 Boston Braves to have two separate losing streaks of at least 14 games within a single season.
Since the Orioles last won a game on Aug. 2, the Braves have won 13 times in 15 tries. The Braves have won 10 consecutive road games overall, dating to July 29. They have a four-game lead in the National League East.
The scheduled pitching matchups for the weekend series in Baltimore are: the Braves’ Max Fried (10-7, 3.78 ERA) against Orioles rookie left-hander Keegan Akin (0-7, 8.13) on Friday night, the Braves’ Drew Smyly (8-3, 4.50) against Orioles right-hander Matt Harvey (6-12, 6.25) on Saturday night and the Braves’ Touki Toussaint (2-2, 4.01) against Orioles lefty John Means (5-5, 3.44) on Sunday afternoon.
