First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. ET
Line: Los Angeles -135, Baltimore +125, Total: 8

The red-hot Orioles look to capture their third straight series win when they host the Angels on Wednesday night in the middle contest of a three-game set.

Los Angeles capped off its homestand with three straight wins over Detroit, but fell in the opener of an eight-game road trip on Tuesday, 7-6 in 12 innings, when Baltimore 3B Manny Machado hit a walk-off homer. That result marked the sixth win in eight games for the Orioles, who remain 2.5 games ahead of Toronto for first place in the AL East. The Angels are 2.5 games behind Oakland in the AL West. Los Angeles certainly has the pitching advantage in this matchup with RHP Garrett Richards, who is 11-3 with a 2.62 ERA and 1.05 WHIP this season. Baltimore will counter with 23-year-old RHP Kevin Gausman who is 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA and 1.41 WHIP this year. Even with their loss on Tuesday, the Angels are still 25-23 on the road (.521, 10th in MLB), but the Orioles are a strong 27-23 at home (.540, 11th in majors). Baltimore has an 8-3 record in this head-to-head matchup over the past two years, which includes a 3-1 mark this season. The O's are also 43-25 (.632) in night games this season, but the Angels are 37-14 (.725) when the total is 8 to 8.5 this year. Baltimore could again be without slugging 1B Chris Davis who sat out Tuesday with a stomach virus.

Garrett Richards has been the ace of the L.A. staff this season, leading his team to a 15-6 record (.714) when he takes the ball. His numbers are even more impressive on the road, where he is 6-1 (team is 9-2) with a 1.83 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 78 K's in 68.2 innings (10.2 K/9). But Richards is coming off a poor outing on Thursday when he allowed four runs on seven hits over six frames in a 6-4 loss to the Tigers. Speaking of bad outings, Richards has started versus the Orioles only once in his career, and it was atrocious. Richards lasted only 4.1 innings on that July 5, 2012 outing, surrendering seven runs on 10 hits, including three home runs. In five career appearances versus Baltimore, Richards has a 9.00 ERA and hideous 2.33 WHIP (21 base-runners in 9 innings). He'll have to be careful with 2B Ryan Flaherty, who is 3-for-4 with a walk, homer and 3 RBI against him, but the only Orioles player with more than five at-bats versus Richards is OF Nelson Cruz, who is 2-for-8 with a double and 1 RBI in the head-to-head matchup. The right-hander will also need to pitch carefully to OF Adam Jones, who has 5 HR and 12 RBI in his past seven meetings with the Angels. If Richards gets into trouble again, his bullpen should be able to pick him up, as the unit is 20-13 with a 3.62 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. However, these numbers are much worse on the road (4-6, 4.21 ERA and 1.33 WHIP).

Kevin Gausman has been up-and-down, which is not uncommon for such a young pitcher, but the Orioles are still 6-3 in his nine starts. Gausman's 35 K's and 18 walks over 49 innings is nothing special, but he has allowed just two homers so far. In his most recent start on Friday, Gausman was very effective, giving up only one run in 6.2 frames. However, he allowed 10 base-runners (7 hits, 3 walks), and fanned only three. That marks the sixth time in the past eight starts where the youngster allowed two runs or less. Gausman has never faced the Angels, but L.A. has been in a hitting funk over the past 10 games, scoring only 33 runs with a .234 BA, .300 OBP and .357 SLG. Their lineup also has a K-to-BB ratio of 3.3, fanning 97 times while drawing only 29 walks. Gausman has averaged less than six innings per start this season, so Baltimore knows that its bullpen will need to stand tall in this one. For the season, Orioles' relievers are 20-15 with a strong 3.38 ERA and 1.22 WHIP. These numbers improve at home where the club is 10-4 with a 3.21 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. During the current 6-2 surge, the bullpen carries a stellar 1.50 ERA.